Resources

NSWP collects resources about sex work and makes them available on our website. You can search NSWP’s online resource library via themes, resource types, language, region and year. The resource types include NSWP publications, member publications, international guidelines, research papers and other publications.

NSWP publications include a range of resources:

  • Briefing Papers and Community Guides examine issues affecting sex workers globally and provide recommendations for policy and practices. They are developed through sex worker-led policy analysis and an in-depth consultation process with NSWP members.
  • Policy Briefs and Community Guides examine issues affecting sex workers globally and provide recommendations for policy and practices. They are developed through sex worker-led policy analysis and e-consultation with NSWP members.
  • Global and Regional Reports document the lived experiences of sex workers on particular issues and make recommendations for future policy and good practices.
  • Research for Sex Work is a peer-reviewed journal, which explores a different theme in each issue.
  • The Sex Work Digest provides a quarterly round up of news stories, events and other information relating to sex work issues.
  • Smart Guides provide basic information on key issues that affect sex workers globally.
  • Case Studies reflect on the results and lessons learnt of activities and policies affecting the lives of sex workers.
  • Statements provide responses from NSWP and our members to emerging global issues that undermine sex workers’ human rights.
  • NSWP documents include organisational documents such as NSWP Strategic Plans and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and NSWP Consensus Statement.

NSWP publications that are available in Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish are featured on the language-specific sections of this website.

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Conflicts and humanitarian crises, such as natural disasters, pandemics, civil and cross-border wars, and other emergencies, are increasingly impacting communities globally. Sex workers are disproportionately affected by humanitarian crises and conflicts due to structural barriers and intersecting forms of oppression which increase their vulnerability to violence, economic hardship, and human rights abuses. 

This resource is a Community Guide to the Briefing Paper: The Right to Housing and the Unmet Needs of Sex Workers. It provides an overview of the full Briefing Paper and shares key recommendations.

You can download this resource above. This resource is available in Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic. 

The right to housing is fundamental to international human rights and is essential for ensuring an adequate standard of living. It is protected under international human rights law and includes safeguards against discriminatory eviction and the provision of legal remedies for those facing forced eviction. However, sex workers often experience violations of their right to housing due to criminalisation, stigma, and discrimination. Their access to housing is restricted by barriers such as lack of identification or documentation, bank accounts, or proof of income.

Many people are influenced by judgemental and sensationalist narratives and language in the media around sex work, and by the words of those who would deny sex workers a voice. The language used is rarely neutral or unbiased, most often it is discriminatory, stigmatising, disempowering, and offensive.

Words are important because they shape the way people see and make sense of the world and the people around them. By changing the words we choose to use when talking about sex work, we can begin to alter the way wider society views sex workers and sex work. 

This resource is a Community Guide to the Policy Brief: Sex Workers in Conflict Zones and Humanitarian Crises. It provides an overview of the full Policy Brief, and provides key recommendations to ensure that sex workers’ health, safety, and human rights are upheld in the response to humanitarian crises and conflicts worldwide.

Conflicts and humanitarian crises, such as natural disasters, pandemics, civil and cross-border wars, and other emergencies, are increasingly impacting communities globally. By the end of 2022, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), reported that 108.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to humanitarian crises. Sex workers are disproportionately affected by humanitarian crises and conflicts due to structural barriers and intersecting forms of oppression which increase their vulnerability to violence, economic hardship, and human rights abuses.

This is the 38th issue of NSWP's quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’, covering the period October - December 2023. 

Features include:

This is the sixth video in a series from NSWP called Global Fund Basics.

It is not easy for a sex worker to become a member of the CCM, for a whole host of reasons: stigma, discrimination, criminalisation, prejudice, political manipulation, power dynamics etc. But it is possible. This video looks at the role of a sex worker or community representative on the CCM, from election to serving on the CCM itself.

Young sex workers (aged 18-29) have diverse needs and priorities. 

This infographic summarises the Briefing Paper: Meeting the Needs and Priorities of Young Sex Workers.

This resource is available above in a screen version and a downloadable print version. It is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic.

The 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) took place from the 3rd to the 17th of March 2023 in New York City. NSWP delegates were present during the first week, attending parallel events, side events, meetings with UN stakeholders and networking with allies.

Download this resource: NSWP at CSW67 - NSWP, 2023

NSWP has developed a global monitoring system to track and analyse the concluding observations relevant to sex work that are published by the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) three times a year for those countries that have ratified the CEDAW Convention. The purpose of the monitoring is to track which types of recommendations that CEDAW makes for different countries to improve the status of women and what this shows about CEDAW’s awareness and inclusion of sex workers’ rights. 

Sex worker-led organisations are the core of the sex worker rights movement and must be adequately resourced and capacitated to address their communities’ priorities. Yet globally, sex worker-led organisations remain chronically under-funded, and are often excluded from critical discussions with key stakeholders, including donors.

Sex worker-led organisations and networks struggle to obtain sufficient, sustained funding for their work. For many years, the Open Society Foundations (OSF) was a leading funder of sex worker-led organisations, providing essential core flexible funding, including funding for advocacy, capacity strengthening and movement building.

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created in 2002 as an international financing and partnership organisation to respond to what were then the deadliest pandemics confronting the world.

This infographic gives a brief introduction to the Global Fund, looks at how Global Fund partnerships work, and outlines NSWP's capacity-building programmes.

This resource is available above in a screen version and a downloadable print version. It is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

Global and regional networks of sex worker-led organisations, express support for the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls’ position paper, “Eliminating discrimination against sex workers and securing their human rights

You can download this resource above. This resource is available in English only. 

This is the fifth video in a series from NSWP called Global Fund Basics.

HIV Programme Essentials are a list of what should be evidence-based interventions and approaches to achieve the goals set out in the UNAIDS Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026; the 2022-2030 WHO Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and Sexually Transmitted Infections; and the 2023-2028 Global Fund Strategy.

Young sex workers (aged 18-29) have diverse needs and priorities and face multiple structural barriers and increased vulnerabilities. However, young sex workers are often excluded from meaningful involvement in the development of policies and programming that affect their health and lives. 

Young sex workers (aged 18-29) have diverse needs and priorities and face multiple structural barriers and increased vulnerabilities. As young people, young sex workers face particular challenges around housing, income security, and access to opportunities such as education and employment. At the same time, structural barriers, combined with increased isolation, create conditions that make it difficult for young sex workers to access vital resources, including peer support from sex worker-led organisations.

STRASS submitted this shadow report in 2023 to the CEDAW committee as a complement to the ninth periodic report submitted by the French government in March 2022.

This is the 37th issue of NSWP's quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’, covering the period July 2023 - October 2023. 

Features include: