Sex Workers Outreach Project
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Mission Statement
Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA is a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. SWOP, at its most basic, is an anti-violence campaign. As a multi-state network of sex workers and advocates, we address locally and nationally the violence that sex workers experience because of their criminal status.
About This Cause
On the national level, SWOP helps build stronger communities and a stronger movement through technical assistance, funding, and direct support and advocacy. On a local level, our Chapters address structural, cultural, and interpersonal violence individuals in the sex trade face by working to change attitudes, change policies, and create alternative community-led systems of support. Media Outreach & Advocacy: We engage in direct media outreach and advocacy and help facilitate inter-organization research, campaigns and projects. We also directly support grassroots organizers and develop resources they can use in their work, including media lists, template press releases, media guides, advocacy toolkits and fact sheets. In 2014, some of our media accomplishments included: — Quoted or cited in 113 articles, including in the Washington Post, Time Magazine, the New York Times, the New Republic, New York Magazine, LaSur TV, USA Today, the Nation, Vice, Buzzfeed, and the Pacific Standard. — 16 Huffington Post blog articles which were shared over 1,400 times by facebook users. — 5100 Twitter followers reaching ~10-12,000 accounts each day. — 4,800 Facebook followers with 25,000 post views each week. — Created a national media list, available to Chapters. Fiscal Sponsorship of Local Initiatives: We offer fiscal sponsorship and funding to local, sex-worker-led initiatives. In 2014, we awarded over $50,000 in grants which supported direct services, service provider trainings, sex worker conferences, planning retreats, conference fees and travel, office space, and advocacy costs. Advocacy and Action Toolkits: We create online tools that include talking points, printouts, web graphics, and information for activists to use when advocating around certain issues or occasions. In 2015, we have published activist toolkits for the following topics: - Amnesty International defense kit (for their historic recent stance on decriminalization) - Expanding Good Samaritan laws (laws which provide overdose immunity protections) to include sex workers. - Organizing for March 3rd, Sex Worker Rights Day - Organizing for Pride month - Responding to the withdrawal of Visa and Mastercard from Backpage As of July of 2015, our most recent toolkits (2014-2015) have been viewed 1,600+ times, with 400+ downloads. These toolkits are made available to local Chapters and advocates, and to the general public seeking to better comprehend or take action on sex worker rights issues. Shared Infrastructure and Online Tools: We maintain websites, newsletters, and social media local Chapters can utilize in their work, to amplify their activism. We also help new chapters and grassroots projects acquire newsletters, online toolkits for taking action, community forums, email addresses, newsletters, affordable start-up supplies and web domains, and teach Chapters to use basic online tools such as Google Drive, dropbox, phone/video conference software. We have recently started hosting monthly webinars on intersectional social justice topics, which are available for download and replay. SWOP-USA bottom-lines the coordination of december17.org, the primary website for Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers information. On this site, a global memorial list of sex workers who have passed away due to violence is compiled from data we collect and process. This website listed 95 events in 35 countries and at least 28 U.S. cities, with all web content, organizing toolkits, and a memorial list translated into Spanish, French, Russian, German, and Mandarin. Each year, we collect the names of those who have passed, assess their demographics, and ensure their names are heard around the world during vigils, marches, and memorials.