SWOP-USA Annual Fundraiser 2018

This has been a significant year for SWOP-USA. It is the 15th anniversary of SWOP's founding and we have been through tremendous growth and learning.  SWOP-USA is the largest sex worker-led organization in the United States and we have had rapid expansion in our chapters and membership in 2018. Despite the increasing need for sex worker community and advocacy traditional philanthropy still does not  significantly provide for this vital organizing. Unlike most non-profits we are primarily funded by individuals, by our community, and during this season of giving we ask you once again to consider supporting our work of creating safer spaces for sex workers and other vulnerable communities. 

The passing of SESTA/FOSTA in April presented another tremendous hurtle for sex workers rights and our movement. 

Through generous community contributions, we were able to send 12 sex workers to DC to meet with Congressional staffers to explain the dire impacts of SESTA/FOSTA on our communities. 

We have 19 chapters throughout the United States engaging in: street outreach, community events, local advocacy, public education, art projects, and peer support. These chapters are champions of fighting sex work stigma, reforming problematic laws, and building power in their communities. SWOP-USA exists primarily as a fiscal sponsor and and infrastructural support to these incredible grassroots advocates. 

Breakdown of where your donations will go:

Mini-Grants to Chapters 

A significant portion of our resources to go supporting the amazing sex worker organizers and activists working at the local level as part of SWOP. Grassroots organizing is notoriously hard to fund, and access to capital is a barrier to building strong and successful organizations. Our mini-grant program allows chapters to access funding while receiving guidance and mentorship on how to write and administer grants. 

Creation of a Memorial Website 

Presently we manage and maintain the list of sex workers who have lost their lives in the previous year for honoring on December 17th. We plan to do a complete redesign of our website and create individual memorial pages for those that have lost their lives. This will allow for friends, family, and community to share their memories and love for those that have passed and exist as a long term memorial. 

SWOP Behind Bars 

SWOP Behind Bars is a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of people who face discrimination from the criminal justice system due to the stigma associated with the sex trade. SBB advocates for full decriminalization of consensual sex work, ending cash bail, drawing attention to the effects of generational poverty on sexualized violence against marginalized and vulnerable women while providing services and support with a focus on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. They also run a pen pal program and help with conviction relief, they are a project of SWOP-USA.

Community Advisory Board

We currently have four amazing people on our CAB creating anti-racist and anti-oppressive educational material that will be crucial in promoting intersectionality within SWOP and the broader sex workers rights movement. These modules will meet individuals where they are at while also challenging them to understand and confront all systems of oppression. 

Technical Assistance to Chapters

In addition to our mini-grant program our staff provides direct support to our chapters. This takes many forms, but some examples are: strategic planning, facilitation training, mediation, event planning assistance, and movement building consulting. 

As a medium sized non-profit we have a lot of other expenses, but we are committed to sustaining and funding our on-the-ground organizers first and foremost. We are facing an increasingly challenging political environment, and building power in sex working communities is essential to our survival.