Sex Workers' Rights Movement


The Sex Workers' Rights Movement is a movement in many countries worldwide which works to improve working conditions, increase benefits and eliminate discrimination on behalf of individuals working within the sex industry, whether legal or criminalized.

Australia

The national organisation in Australia is named Scarlet Alliance.

England

The English Collective of Prostitutes was founded in 1975.

France

In Lyon 1975 100 sex workers occupied Saint-Nizier church to protest against working conditions. Today there is the Syndicat du travail sexuel.

Germany

One of the first projects in Germany was Hydra formed in Berlin 1979. The Bundesverband erotische und sexuelle Dienstleistungen was founded in 2013.

Ireland

The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland was established in 2009.

United States

coined the expression sex workers in 1978.
COYOTE is an American advocacy group for prostitutes.
BAYSWAN is a non-profit organization for sex workers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Latin America

Sex workers in Latin America and the Caribbean have a long history of organising. In 1888, a group of Havana sex workers founded a newspaper, La Cebolla, and called for the establishment of a political party led by sex workers. Today there are sex worker rights organisations in almost all Latin American and Caribbean countries and two regional networks - Red de Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe and Plataforma Latinoamericana de Personas que Ejercen el Trabajo Sexual.