Where our members work

Workers at NSWP member organisation Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project became the newest members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in September. The CUPE is Canada’s largest union, with 700,000 members across the country. Maggie’s and the CUPE released a joint statement to celebrate this milestone, which can be read below or on the Maggie’s website.

Sex Worker Pride began in 2019 and is an opportunity to celebrate and share stories of sex workers’ self-determination and the achievements of the sex worker rights movement. Sex Worker Pride extends to all marginalised by criminalisation, discrimination and stigma across the sex worker movement and celebrates the diversity within our community.

NSWP members celebrated Sex Worker Pride 2021 on 14 September with in-person events, digital events, and sharing achievements across social media and online networks.

NSWP mourn the passing of a leader in the fight for sex workers' rights, Manjula Ramaiah. Manjula passed away in June from COVID-19 complications.

Manjula was a strong leader and frontline worker who founded sex worker community networks and served on the board of several key organisations as a champion for the human rights of sex workers and those living with HIV.

NSWP mourn the passing of a leader in the fight for sex workers' rights, Manjula Ramaiah. Manjula passed away in June from COVID-19 complications.

Manjula was a strong leader and frontline worker who founded sex worker community networks and served on the board of several key organisations as a champion for the human rights of sex workers and those living with HIV.

Red Umbrella Fund provides flexible core funding to support the general coordination, functioning and strengthening of a group, organisation or network and its members.

The All India Network of Sex Workers (AINSW), a collective of 5 million sex workers in India and a member of NSWP, last week wrote to the Delhi government demanding better access to vaccines for sex workers and transgender people.

The Hindustan Times reported on the letter, including quotes from AINSW.

The Multi-Stakeholder Task Force has issued a statement welcoming the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS but also drawing attention to critical omissions and weaknesses within the declaration.

To coincide with the start of the UN High-Level Meeting on HIV & AIDS, NSWP has joined STOPAIDS and over 140 cross-party MPs and leaders in the HIV response in writing to the UK Government.

The Informal Interactive Multi-stakeholder Hearing as part of the preparatory process for the 2021 UN high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS was hosted on Friday, 23 April 2021.

Sex worker groups around the world held events and actions to mark 2nd June, International Sex Workers’ Day.

The Supreme Court of Spain has issued a ruling recognising the right of sex workers to form unions. The ruling comes after an appeal from NSWP member organisation Organización de Trabajadoras Sexuales OTRAS. The judges agree with OTRAS when they consider that its members "enjoy the fundamental right to freedom of association and have the right to organise".

The NSWP Consensus Statement on Sex Work, Human Rights, and the Law details eight fundamental rights that sex worker-led groups from around the world identify as crucial targets for their activism and advocacy. These eight rights, if fully realised, would be a huge step towards safeguarding sex workers' human rights, labour rights, and health.

Organisations in Canada, including NSWP members, have circulated a statement calling on Ontario to stop the expansion of policing powers and put an end to Bill 251.

Ontario’s Bill 251 is named the Combating Human Trafficking Act, but the statement explains that this law will do nothing to prevent human trafficking and will instead target the most marginalised.

UMANDE, HODSAS and ACODHU-TS have released a statement addressing an upsurge of acts of violence against sex workers in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This new statement follows others that have so far been ignored by the Congolese government.

Red Umbrella Fund are looking for two sex workers or strong allies from somewhere in North America and Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Red Umbrella Fund is the first-ever global grantmaking collaborative guided by and for sex workers. Red Umbrella Fund is guided by an International Steering Committee (ISC) made up of sex workers and donors. The ISC decides the grantmaking criteria, approves the annual budget and makes other strategic decisions.