North America and the Caribbean
Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project Staff Unionise
Workers at NSWP member organisation Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project became the newest members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in September. The CUPE is Canada’s largest union, with 700,000 members across the country. Maggie’s and the CUPE released a joint statement to celebrate this milestone, which can be read below or on the Maggie’s website.
COVID-19 Impact – North America and the Caribbean
In April 2020, NSWP launched a global survey to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers. The survey received 156 responses in total from 55 different countries, out of which 53 responses were from 6 countries – Canada, Guyana, Mexico, Suriname, Trinidad, United States – in the North America and the Caribbean region.
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Jamaica SW Coalition
Jamaica SW Coalition (JSWC) works with female, male and transgender sex workers with a focus on human and workers’ rights, education and advocacy at all levels of Jamaican society.
What is the history of the organisation? How and why was it formed?
Regional updates: North America and the Caribbean
Our members are listed on the left or you can click the red umbrellas on the map.
Regional Board Members
Shaunna-May Trotman (Guyana Sex Work Coalition), Guyana
Natasha Potvin (Peers Victoria Resources Society), Canada
Canadian Activists Issue Statement to Stop Bill 251
Organisations in Canada, including NSWP members, have circulated a statement calling on Ontario to stop the expansion of policing powers and put an end to Bill 251.
Ontario’s Bill 251 is named the Combating Human Trafficking Act, but the statement explains that this law will do nothing to prevent human trafficking and will instead target the most marginalised.
Tikkun Olam Belize
Tikkun Olam Belize is pioneering human rights investigation, legal advocacy, trial advocacy, and victim’s rights advocacy organisation working for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls including sex workers.
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Sex Worker Fest - San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival
(Image: Laure McElroy and Carol Leigh of the Sex Worker Festival. Laure passed away in 2018.)
The San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival has provided a forum for sex worker film and video makers since 1999. The Festival has since expanded to become a vibrant venue for performances, workshops, visual arts, political organising, skills sharing and ever-expanding events for sex workers from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and from around the world.
Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center issue statement on prohibitionist ‘Nordic Model’ legislation in New York
NSWP member organisation the Sex Workers Project (SWP) of the Urban Justice Center (UJC) provides legal advocacy to survivors of human trafficking and people who engage in sex work. They engage in advocacy, education, and organising to build a movement to protect the human rights of sex workers.
The Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center have issued a statement opposing the harmful “sex trade survivors justice and equality act”, a new bill introduced to state senate in January.