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.

  • 837 results found

In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the Consolidated guidelines on HIV, viral hepatitis and STI prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations.

Theme: Health

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

This short video is about using the Global Fund Strategy 2023 - 2028 in advocacy work. Using the Strategy of a Global Institution as an advocacy tool is not easy, especially a 70 page one like the Global Fund Strategy. What we have tried to do in this video is pick out some important areas where we feel referencing commitments in the Global Fund Strategy could make a difference.

‘Social protection’ refers to measures designed to prevent and address situations which negatively affect people’s well-being, as well as measures which reduce vulnerability and facilitate social and economic stability. Sex workers are frequently viewed as requiring protection due to the predominant misconception of sex workers as ‘victims’ of trafficking and exploitation.

Despite the global trend of increasing mobility, migrant workers are still stigmatised and silenced – in politics and media alike. Additionally, migrant sex workers are painted as either victims or criminals in discourses that conflate sex work with human trafficking and deny sex workers the right to migrate. Their human rights are often ignored in favour of driving broader political agendas to restrict migration and criminalise sex work. 

Despite the global trend of increasing mobility, migrant workers are still stigmatised and silenced – in politics and media alike. Additionally, migrant sex workers are painted as either victims or criminals in discourses that conflate sex work with human trafficking and deny sex workers the right to migrate. Their human rights are often ignored in favour of driving broader political agendas to restrict migration and criminalise sex work.

The Sex Worker Implementation Tool (SWIT) offers practical guidance on effective HIV and STI programming for sex workers.

Sex workers all over the world were among the hardest hit communities at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be impacted by this global public health crisis. The structural oppression that sex workers faced before the pandemic as a result of criminalisation, stigma and discrimination was exacerbated as sex workers experienced hardship, a total loss of income, increased harassment, human rights abuses, and health inequalities. The vast majority of sex workers were excluded from emergency responses and national social protection schemes.

Anti-rights movements pose numerous threats to sex workers, with their diverse ideologies, aims, and emerging alliances. These threats must be better understood to promote sex workers’ rights.

This resource is a Community Guide to the Briefing Paper: The Impacts of Anti-Rights Movements on Sex Workers. It provides an overview of the full Briefing Paper, and provides key recommendations for respecting and protecting sex workers’ human rights.

In recent years, movements organised against the rights of marginalised and criminalised groups have grown in influence and impact around the globe. Anti-migrants’ rights groups have lobbied for more restrictive border policies, in violation of the right to move and migrate. Anti-sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and anti-LGBT groups have pushed back access to sexual and reproductive services and gender-affirming care for women, trans, and gender-diverse people, in violation of the right to health.

Sex workers were among the hardest hit at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be impacted by this global public health crisis. The challenges that sex workers faced before COVID-19, as a result of criminalisation, stigma and discrimination, were all exacerbated by the pandemic.

Legislation around sex work can be extremely complex and different legal models exist in different countries, and sometimes even within countries. While understanding the written laws and regulations is important, it does not provide a complete picture of the impact of sex work laws on the lives of sex workers. To understand this, it is essential to understand how the laws are interpreted, enforced, and implemented on the ground.

The 2023-2028 Global Fund Strategy will guide Global Fund approaches, decision-making, and investment for the next 6 years in a 70-page document. It is important because it describes what the Global Fund will do and how it will do it. The Strategy will influence how investment will be disbursed at the country level, how and who will implement programmes, and how and who will be involved in making the decisions.

Theme: Health

This is the fourth set of videos in a series from NSWP called Global Fund Basics.

This set of videos covers the new Global Fund Strategy 2023-2028. 

Video 1 covers an introduction to the Strategy and the Strategy Framework.

Video 2 covers the Evolving Objective and begins to look at the Strategy Narrative in more detail.

Video 3 covers the Mutually Reinforcing Contributory Objectives, maximising engagement and leadership of communities and maximising health equity, gender equality and human rights.

NSWP have written an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Government of Spain, and the leaders of all political parties in the Congress of Deputies regarding the legislative proposals to amend the Spanish Penal Code and introduce new provisions regarding sex work. The proposed reforms include amending the Penal Code to extend the punishment of third parties to include non-coercive relationships and decouple it from exploitation and consent, violating sex workers’ right to housing and the security of sex workers, many of whom live and work in the same place.

Download this resource: NSWP Open Letter, NSWP - 2022

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.

The Annual Report highlights the activities and achievements of NSWP in 2021.

Contents include:

Download this resource: Annual Report 2021