The Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) is a national grassroots movement which focuses on improving the lives of sex industry workers by promoting safety, dignity and diversity in sex work, and fosters an environment that affirms individual choices and occupational rights.
SWOP-Tucson is the Tucson, Arizona chapter of SWOP-USA. Tucson has been one of the nation’s foremost cities in the Sex Worker Rights Movement, hosting international events and festivals since 2001, and raising the awareness of our fight for equal protection under the law.
We work with all sex workers. LGBTQI, people of colour, men and women both street based as well as carpet walkers and immigrant workers. We are also working on establishing relationships with LE and health professionals.
Our group is mainly comprised of sex workers with allie's being the vast minority. We are sex worker led, sex worker organisedd and all decisions are sex worker based.
The biggest challenge I see currently is dealing with anti trafficking movement. We are repeatedly excluded from trafficking conferences as well as other events which need our voices and input. When we attend these events anyway, we are classified as 'having a false sense of consciousness' and told we are victims and do not realise it.
We also deal with repeated arrests of adult consensual workers during the anti trafficking raids seeking youth workers. We cannot come close to the funding.
We work directly with all sex workers to eradicate stigma, provide harm reduction as well as help. Educate the general public of basic sex worker/human rights.