Respect Inc

Contact email
Who do you work with?

We are Queensland sex workers united to provide a formal medium to communicate sex workers issues and concerns so as to improve the rights of our peers and respond to our workplace health and safety and other needs regardless of gender, age, location, industry sector, cultural background or linguistic abilities.

How are sex workers involved in your organisation?

We are completely affirmative with all our voting members, staff and Management Committee identifying as sex workers, past or present. We encourage diversity and have a range of people with varied genders, cultural backgrounds and people who have worked in and out of the legal framework within our team.

Which of NSWP priority areas does your organisation work on?
Oppose the criminalisation and other legal oppression of sex work and support its recognition as work
Critique the trafficking paradigm that conflates representations of sex work, migration, and mobility
Advocate for universal access to health services, including primary health care, HIV and sexual and reproductive health services
Speak out about violence against sex workers, including violence from police, institutions, clients, and intimate partners, while challenging the myth that sex work is inherently gender-based violence
Oppose human rights abuses, including coercive programming, mandatory testing, raids and forced rehabilitation
Challenge stigma and discrimination against sex workers, their families and partners, and others involved in sex work
Advocate for the economic empowerment and social inclusion of sex workers as sex workers
What are the two main challenges that the sex workers you work with face

With only two limited areas of legal sex work available in Queensland, brothels run predominantly by non sex workers and sole trading (working in isolation), we believe that the criminalisation of many occupational health and safety strategies has lead to increased levels of violence. The lack of recognition as work continues to impact negatively on the social policies round operating a sex work business and occupational health & safety, lack of civil rights and the unnecessarily high levels of discrimination.

Describe other areas of your work

Respect Inc team members are active members of the sex worker’s community/industry within Queensland. We are out and proud and will continue to speak up for our civil and human rights and create avenues for all sex workers to find their voices.

Country
Australia