Sex Work Alliance Destigmatization (SWAD)

Stigma has serious consequences for the position of sex workers. Among other things, stigma leads to:

• reduced access to health care or police
• exclusion from essential services, such as mortgages or bank accounts
• negative treatment by family, friends or third parties
• psychological complaints due to internalized stigma
• more violence.

SWAD is an alliance of 20 organizations and initiatives working together to reduce stigma surrounding sex work. The alliance consists of:

• 11 sex work organizations and sex work initiatives
• 9 health, welfare and human rights organizations

Who are in SWAD?

Destigmatize sex work: destigmatizing sex work ensures social inclusion of sex workers and former sex workers in policy and in practice, by institutions, their environment and themselves (self-stigma).
We want to achieve this by focusing on four goals:

Subgoal 1: Inclusive policy implementation and practices by government institutions and other institutions (care, police, banks, tax authorities) for sex workers

Sex workers experience a lot of stigmatization by institutions. According to the 2018 study ‘Sex Work, Stigma and Violence in the Netherlands’, there is a lot of stigmatization by police, care providers, banks and the tax authorities. This has negative effects in various areas. For example, it leads to a low willingness to report to the police after experiencing violence. Neither are sex workers allowed to open a business bank account, utilize payment options such as Visa or PayPal, obtain insurance nor mortgages based on their income. It is therefore very important that the institutions that they are communicating with, become sensitized to these stigma so that sex workers have better access to services and are not discriminated against by these institutions.

We want to achieve this by:

• Improving existing health care and support being offered to sex workers and developing the same in municipalities where it is not yet systematised, to ensure there is national coverage
• Sensitizing relevant institutions
• Setting up chains of collaboration between politics and institutions in various municipalities based on research

 Subgoal 2: Forming a nuanced image of sex work and sex workers, proprietors and clients

In the media, sex work is often depicted in a very stigmatizing manner. The media often connect sex workers with abuse, confuse prostitution with human trafficking and rarely offer a positive or even neutral image of sex workers and their clients. 
Most documentaries emphasize economic exploitation and physical victimization, often highlighted by extremely emotional images. We see the same one-sided representations in the entertainment media. 
Destigimatization requires a more balanced portrayal of sex work, sex workers, their clients and proprietors. Ideally, media should depict the diversity of the sex worker community (there is no such thing as ‘a’ sex worker), focus on the positive aspects of sex work, such as the range of services sex workers can offer clients and present sex workers who are content with their work. 

We want to achieve this by:

• Offering a platform where sex workers can share their own experiences, stories and journalism
• Educating and supporting sex workers and journalists
• Organizing symposiums, debates and events
• Developing and distributing materials that promote positive images

Subgoal 3: Adequate sex work policy and implementation through sex worker participation

Sex workers are not often involved in policy development, whereas they do suffer the consequences. They are increasingly marginalized, while stigma is also increasing. To ensure that adequate policy for sex workers is developed and rolled out, the SWAD has committed to ‘collaborative policy’ or policy development through participation by sex workers at national and municipal levels. In other words: involve sex workers in policy-making related to sex workers. They know best what is going on and what is needed. 
 
We want to achieve this by:

• Organizing and participating in symposiums and debates about destigmatizing sex work
• Participating in and setting up municipal prostitution platforms and roundtable discussions about sex work
• Developing materials that contribute to the destigmatization of sex work

Subgoal 4: a strong and organized sex work community with good infrastructure

Both experience and research demonstrate that the most successful strategies for reducing stigmatization against sex workers are organized and carried out by sex workers themselves. Sex work empowerment, with sex workers uniting to demand their rights, is an effective approach to reducing the stigmatization of sex workers. Research shows that in order to be able to succeed and exert influence, the sex work community needs the following: (1) strong and charismatic leaders who can withstand counterattacks, (2) sufficient means (financing, materials, personnel), (3) connections with media organizations, (4) alliances with other organizations and social movements, and (5) broad support from the beneficiaries (sex workers, clients, proprietors).

We want to achieve this by:

• Uniting the fragmented sex work community
• Reinforcing or setting up a national network of sex workers
• Setting up local focus groups
• Creating a pool of experts made up of sex workers

1. Sex worker participation: significantly involving sex workers in all stages of policymaking and programs. Our goal is to promote inclusivity and diversity. This is both a goal in itself - to promote the emancipation of the sex work community - and a tool for improving policy and interventions aimed at sex workers. Sex workers themselves know best what they need. ‘Nothing about us without us’. 
    
2. Inclusivity: SWAD is an inclusive alliance which fights to both safeguard diversity and embrace it; sex workers and former sex workers of all ethnicities, backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, beliefs and limitations are welcome. Our communications are in Dutch and English, but we are investing in including other languages where possible. In addition, the SWAD operates from an intersectional, feminist perspective. We endeavor to act against racism and are against every form of exclusion of people of color, discrimination, transphobia and homophobia and are also sympathetic to the improvement and emancipation of the position of sex workers of color, along with the various perspectives present in the sex work community. We believe it is very important to attract new members who increase the representation and voice of sex workers (with a migration background), including those of color and/or queers within the SWAD. If new sex work initiatives that support the SWAD’s values present themselves, there is a possibility for them to join. 
    
3. Promoting the decriminalization of sex work: sex work should be considered an ordinary profession that is not subject to separate laws. This gives sex workers and former sex workers stronger rights, normalizes the profession and reduces stigma and discrimination. Total decriminalization means that all laws and policy that prohibit sex work will be cancelled. We adhere to the principle of fair work by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
    
4. The sum of its parts: the SWAD mobilizes initiatives and networks that support the improvement of the position of sex workers and tackle the stigmatization of sex workers and former sex workers. Together, we determine a common direction in order to act with one voice to tackle the stigma against sex workers and former sex workers, without jeapordising the individual identities of organizations and initiatives. The SWAD provides a platform where members can exchange experiences and learn from each other.