Resources

Sex workers and their allies face significant obstacles in the fight to improve the health and wellbeing of sex workers globally. In the Smart Sex Worker’s Guide: Addressing the Failure of Anti-Sex Work Organisations, NSWP explore the effects of anti-sex work programming and anti-trafficking initiatives that deny sex workers their human rights. The Smart Guide explores organisations whose work puts sex workers at risk, directly or indirectly, and provides key strategies from NSWP members on how to combat these approaches.

REAL: Resources, Education, Advocacy for Local Sex Work (formerly STREET) in collaboration with Dr. Stacey Hannem have published a report entitled Let's Talk About Sex Work: Report of the REAL working group for Brantford, Haldimand, & Norfolk, Assessing the Needs of Sex Workers in Our Community. This report addresses the needs of rural-based sex workers in Ontario, Canada under Canada's anti-sex work legislation introduced in December 2014. They interviewed 30 sex workers and 12 social service and health service providers.

In Australia, certain sexual acts performed in pornography are deemed offensive and degrading in criminal law. Zahra Stardust demonstrates how performer-producers are resisting government classification and criminal laws by engaging in sex workers' rights activism through creating performer-centered spaces and pioneering best practices labour standards. This article was published as a part of Research for Sex Work 15: Resistance and Resilience.

Jorge Flores-Aranda, Jonathan Bacon, and Claude Poisson provide an overview of the Sex Work Programme at Rézo, an organisation for men who have sex with men in Montréal, Canada. They argue male sex workers demonstrate resilience and resistence through the publication of the magazine the “Cowboy Urbain”. This article was published as a part of Research for Sex Work 15: Resistance and Resilience.

In Kampala, Uganda, there is a large network of sex worker-led organisations that unite under the umbrella organisation Uganda Harmonized Rights Alliance (UHRA). Paula Pönkänen and Hanna Jörneus argue that sex work organising in Uganda is a great example of how sex workers develop and implement their own programming. They provide an overview of sex worker-led programming in Kampala.