Resources

This infographic summarises the Briefing Paper: Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers.

This infographic summarises the Smart Sex Worker’s Guide to Community-led Responses to COVID-19.

Universal Health Coverage speaks to the global goal of providing all people with the health care they need without creating undue financial burdens on the individual. In many parts of the world, health provision and access to health services remains extremely poor, particularly for criminalised and marginalised populations such as sex workers and other key populations.

This infographic summarises the Briefing Paper on Sex Workers’ Lack of Access to Justice.

Sex workers around the world face a wide range of barriers to accessing justice, both as victims of crime and when charged with crimes. Since sex work is widely criminalised, most sex workers are denied access to the benefits and rights afforded to other workers under labour laws and face the risk of criminalisation, detention, deportation and legal sanction.

By recognising sex workers as experts and meaningfully involving them in all policies, programmes, discussions, and decisions which affect their lives, allies can play a crucial role advancing sex workers’ human rights and supporting sex worker-led organisations. At the same time, allies can also undermine, invisibilise, and exclude sex workers – whether intended or not – when these principles are not upheld.

The Global Fund has established Codes of Conduct which employees, resource recipients, suppliers, Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) members, and governance officials must uphold while carrying out their work. One of the requirements, which applies to all parties under these codes, is to prohibit ‘sexual exploitation.’ Due to widespread conflations of sex work with ‘sexual exploitation,’ however, there is concern that this provision may be misinterpreted to exclude sex workers.

The right to participation in public and political life is enshrined in international human rights law. Broadly, ‘public life’ refers to the realm in which political processes and activities occur. Participation in public life can be formal or informal, taking place from the grassroots to global levels. Through diverse forms of engagement in public life, sex workers have successfully influenced policies, programmes, practices, and discussions which affect their lives.

This infographic provides a short summary of the key points in The Smart Sex Worker’s Guide to SWIT. The Sex Worker Implementation Tool (SWIT) offers practical guidance on effective HIV and STI programming for sex workers.

This infographic looks at sex work through a labour framework, and advocates for the recognition of sex work as work. Where sex work is criminalised, sex workers’ workplaces are often excluded from national labour laws. 

The  Sex Work as Work infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

This infographic describes the different legislative frameworks used to criminalise and oppress sex work and sex workers, including oppressive regulatory frameworks.

The Sex Work and the Law infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

This infographic looks at the harms caused to sex workers in countries where the Nordic Model has been introduced and  is intended as a tool to strengthen and support NSWP members and sex workers’ rights advocates’ ability to actively challenge proposals to introduce the Nordic approach in their countries.

The Challenging the introduction of the Nordic Model infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

This infographic discusses the extent to which sex workers are currently meaningfully involved in the development of healthcare services that are aimed at them. It examines the background to meaningful involvement in healthcare provision and how this has interacted with sex workers’ right to health. It also provides key recommendations for future policy and practice.

The Meaningful Involvement of Sex Workers in the Development of Health Services Aimed At Them infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

This infographic examines the impact of laws that criminalise sex work, informed by NSWP members’ submissions to an e-consultation. It examines the impact of criminalisation at three distinct phases: the surveillance and policing of sex workers prior to arrest; arrest and formal involvement of the criminal justice system; and release and return to the community.

The Impact of Criminalisation on Sex Workers’ Vulnerability to HIV and Violence infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

Trafficking in persons has generated increasing global attention in recent decades, largely due to the development of international frameworks, pressure from fundamental feminist and abolitionist groups, and as a reaction to increased migration for labour. International policies on trafficking frequently contain vague or ambiguous language, which can cause harm to sex workers in a number of ways. 

The Smart Service Provider’s Guide to ICT and Sex Work is a resource for service providers who want to better understand how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have impacted sex workers and the prevention of HIV. 

The Smart Service Provider's Guide to ICT and Sex Work infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

This infographic summarises the research on the decriminalisation of third parties. It sets out why NSWP and its members call for the decriminalisation of third parties and explores some of the key harms that are caused to sex workers as a result of the criminalisation of third parties. 

The Decriminalisation of Third Parties infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

The Consensus Statement details eight fundamental rights that sex worker-led groups from around the world identify as crucial targets for their activism and advocacy. Following a global consultation with members, the NSWP Consensus Statement reaffirms NSWP ’s global advocacy platform for sex work, human rights and the law. 

The Consensus Statement infographic is a new tool for sex workers' advocacy worldwide. It was designed and created by Smo Sienkiewicz.

Misinformation on sex work has flourished for centuries, fuelled by age-old stereotypes, myths, and moral judgments which continue to shape policies and public opinions. Whether falsehoods are disseminated to deliberately deceive, or are shared unknowingly, the spread of inaccurate and misleading information on sex work has significant consequences.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) has launched an open consultation on the development of the next Global Fund Strategy. A number of emerging issues in the wider global health environment mean this is a particularly important consultation for sex workers; this is an opportunity to influence the future strategy and ensure that sex workers’ needs are included, and health inequalities addressed.

2020 is the 25 year anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). This Briefing Note outlines the Beijing+25 review process, how sex workers have engaged in this process thus far, and the priorities for inclusion in Beijing+25 actions.

True progress towards gender equality, gender justice and fulfilment of women’s human rights must be inclusive of women in all their diversity, including sex workers. Sex workers face intersecting forms of criminalisation, discrimination and marginalisation, which cannot be addressed in isolation.