The CSPH believes people have the right to control their own bodies and as such, advocates for the decriminalization of sex-work in order to ensure safety for sex workers.
Sex-work is term to explain providing an erotic labor in exchange for an agreed upon exchange of money, goods or services. Examples of sex work could involve prostitution, phone sex dispatching, professional submissive/dominatrix services or working in the pornography industry. One does not necessarily engage in touching another person to be involved in sex work. For instance, someone could be a sex worker if they are the lighting director on a porn set. The person is not engaged in any direct physical contact with another person, but they are making money off of their service in the sex field.
It has been implied many times that people who are sex workers are victims of sexual trafficking. These are two separate issues. A number of sex workers are in their job freely, consensually and yes, are happy to engage in this type of work.
Trafficking, on the other hand, specifically sexual trafficking (as The CSPH focuses on sexual issues), is a non-consensual activity, and is illegal. Understanding the difference between the two is important to combat trafficking and ensuring that individuals are safe in the jobs they perform.
Decriminalizing sex work ensures that sex workers are more likely to disclose their employment to medical providers (ensuring better health care) and to report abuse (being assaulted or robbed) to the proper authorities.
It is important to note that consensual sex work involves a person being able to legally give consent to engage in this field. Those that are under the influence of drugs, coercion, under legal age or duress cannot consent to performing sex work in a safer, fully present manner.
Sexual freedom involves understanding, choice, safety and control of one’s body.
Desiree Alliance
The Desiree Alliance is a diverse, volunteer-based, sex worker-led network of organizations, communities and individuals across the US working in harm reduction, direct services, political advocacy and health services for sex workers. We provide leadership and create space for sex workers and supporters to come together to advocate for human, labour and civil rights for all workers in the sex industry.
Global Network of Sex Work Projects
The standard paradigms through which sex work is currently viewed – AIDS, trafficking, and violence against women – fail to fully address the human rights of sex workers. It is therefore crucial that sex workers represent their own realities and fully participate in dialogues and decision making about issues that affect them. Achieving these requires sex workers to organise at local, national, regional and international levels. Local level organising helps to identify the actual issues faced by sex workers at grass roots level, and enables sex workers to respond through action with the local communities and authorities that discriminate against them. National level organising helps to feed the concerns of grassroots groups into national level forums, helps reset the agenda, and helps to identify factors such as legislation and resource allocation that affect sex workers.
The Sex Worker’s Project
Using human rights and harm reduction approaches, the Sex Workers Project (SWP) protects and promotes the rights of individuals who engage in sex work, regardless of whether they do so by choice, circumstance, or coercion. In addition to providing direct legal and social services to over a hundred individual clients a year in immigration, criminal legal, civil, and police misconduct matters, we offer “know your rights” trainings for sex workers and people who have been trafficked, and conduct training and outreach to service providers and community organizations who may come into contact with trafficked persons or sex workers.
Sex Workers Outreach Project
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.
Network of Sex Work Projects
NSWP is a legally constituted international organisation for promoting sex workers’ health and human rights. With member organizations in more than 40 countries, the Network develops partnerships with technical support agencies to work on independently-financed projects.
Prostitutes’ Education Network
The Prostitutes’ Education Network is an information service about legislative and cultural issues as they effect prostitutes and other sex workers. The service is comprised of information for sex workers and activists/educators who study issues of decriminalization, human rights in the context of prostitution, violence against prostitutes and women, sex workers and pornography, as well as current trends in legislation and social policy in the U.S. and internationally.
Prostitutes of New York (PONY)
Support and advocacy for sex workers, providing legal and health referrals, as well as a point of contact for the sex work community.
The Best Practices Policy Project
The Best Practices Policy Project is an organization dedicated to creating excellence amongst organizations and advocates working with sex workers, people in the sex trade, vulnerable and related communities in the United States. We produce materials for policy environments, address research and academic concerns and provide NGOs with technical assistance. Everything that we do is guided by principles that protect the rights of people who engage in commercial sex in all its forms.
BAYSWAN
Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network, provides information for sex workers and others about diverse sex industries. BAYSWAN links individuals to resources provided by sex workers’ and other rights based organizations. BAYSWAN organizes to improve working conditions, increase safety and services for workers, and to eliminate discrimination on behalf of individuals working within both legal and criminalized adult entertainment industries.
St. James Infirmary
St. James Infirmary offers free, confidential, nonjudgmental medical and social services for sex workers (current or former) of all genders and sexual orientations. We are the first occupational safety and health clinic for sex workers run by and for sex workers!
The Red Umbrella Project
The Red Umbrella Project (RedUP) amplifies the voices of people who have done transactional sex, through media, storytelling, and advocacy trainings, at our monthly storytelling series in New York City, and with support for advocacy projects and campaigns that promote the human rights of people who trade sex for something they need.
HIPS
(Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) was founded in 1993 by a coalition of service providers, advocates, and law enforcement officials as an outreach and referral service. HIPS mission is to assist female, male, and transgender individuals engaging in sex work in Washington, DC in leading healthy lives.
Utilizing a harm reduction model, HIPS’ programs strive to address the impact that HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, discrimination, poverty, violence and drug use have on the lives of individuals engaging in sex work.
HIPS is a nationally recognized program that meets the needs sex workers and assists them in their efforts to eliminate the transmission of HIV, increase sexual health, and reduce violence and harm associated with sex work and drug use.
HIPS programs serve an estimated 2,000 sex workers a year on the streets and in our drop-in center, providing a full spectrum of programs to address basic & immediate needs, long-term goal setting and life skills development.
The PROS Network
The PROS Network (Providers and Resources Offering Services to sex workers) is a coalition of sex workers, organizers, direct service providers, advocates, and media makers. We exist to collaborate on programs and campaigns around sex work-related issues in the New York metropolitan area. We work with people of all genders who, by choice, circumstance, or coercion, engage in sexual activities for money, food, shelter, clothing, drugs, or other survival needs. Grounded in principles of social justice and human rights, the PROS Network embraces a non-judgmental, harm reduction approach.
