About
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.
Operating in one of the most prominently violent societies today,
sex workers in America experience this phenomenon pointedly in the
context of their criminal status. Yet, sex workers are seldom afforded
protection or recourse from violent acts committed against them
because of the precarious, often graft-ridden relationship between
sex work and law enforcement. Society tolerates violence against
sex workers because of the stigma and myths that surround prostitution.
Only until these falsehoods are corrected and sex workers are legitimized
will we be able to effectively prevent and minimize the structural
and occupational challenges of sex work.
Serial killers like Gary Leon Ridgeway, the Green River Killer
who preyed on prostitutes, managed to evade law enforcement for
over 2 decades. Meanwhile women, like Robyn Few and Shannon Williams,
who as adults had consensual sex for money, are routinely targeted
for elaborate high budget police stings. This gross misappropriation
of public resources systematically entraps sex work to be a profession
that is unsafe and stigmatized. The system, effectively, is institutional
violence against the people who exchange money for sex.
SWOP works to educate policy-makers and the public on the institutional
harms committed against sex workers, and advocates for alternatives.
Our first major action was to organize the first annual International
Day to End Violence against Sex Workers in 2003 with the Green River
Memorial to the victims of Gary Leon Ridgeway. In 2004, SWOP spearheaded
a voter ballot initiative to decriminalize prostitution in Berkeley,
CA. Some of our more recent work focuses on amending so called "protective"
legislation like the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of
2000 (and now its reauthorization in 2005 with the new End Demand
provisions) which has increased criminal penalties and the stigma
associated with sex work.
SWOP promotes proven and effective social policy approaches to
the sex industry. In order to reach its goals, SWOP adopts the principles
and practices of nonviolent action in order to reduce violence and
achieve dignity and rights for sex workers.
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