The Birth of Butterly: Bringing Migrant Sex Workers' Voices into the Sex Workers' Rights Movement

In this article, founding member of Butterfly Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Network, Elene Lam, argues that migrant sex workers are excluded from the North American sex workers’ rights movement. Abolitionist feminists argue against sex workers’ rights by using the missing voices of migrant sex workers. Lam provides arguments for the inclusion of migrant sex workers in the movement to prevent this from happening. This article was published as a part of Research for Sex Work 15: Resistance and Resilience.

Contents include:

• Challenges Faced by Migrant Sex Workers
• The Birth of Butterfly
• Migrant Sex Workers Labeled as Trafficking Victims
• Strategies for Including Migrant Sex Workers in the Movement
• Conclusion

This resource is useful for sex workers and programme implementers who want to be inclusive of migrant sex workers.

You can download this 4 page PDF above. This resource is available in English and French.