Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around COVID-19 Crisis

March 30, 2020

The COVID-19 virus is a global crisis. There is not a single community that hasn’t been impacted by this pandemic. Businesses are shutting down, people are being laid off in droves, and the systems many of us depend on for survival have been suspended for the foreseeable future.

Sex workers are a financially vulnerable and criminalized community, and thus their lives are greatly impacted by times of uncertainty and strife. In the same way that the financial crisis has endangered the vocations of gig workers, street vendors, performers, and service workers, sex workers have seen their livelihoods turned upside-down in a matter of days.

Sex workers are incredibly resilient. Many are pivoting to online content, finding other ways to hustle and to survive. Community members and allies are sharing resources and establishing grant funds, organizing to prepare for the coming months. Organizations like SWOP BrooklynLysistrata Mutual Care Collective, and the Butterfly Asian and Migrant Sex Worker Support Network are working to provide emergency relief to those most in need. Others have created harm-reduction guides and social support resources for sex workers and allied communities.

DSW has created a database of relief materials, offering critical support in these uncertain times. Our COVID-19 Resource Guide can be accessed here. We urge you to email us additional resources and share the guide with your networks and anyone who might be in need.

From the DSW community to yours: stay safe, stay inside if you are able, and support one another. Now more than ever is a time for sex workers and allies to come together and show the world our strength.

This was the Red Umbrella Installation from the Sex Workers’ Pop-Up in New York City. The exhibition closed early to support NYC’s containment effort around COVID-19. (Photo: DSW, 2020)

DSW Newsletter #12 (March 2020)

Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around COVID-19 Crisis

March 30, 2020 The COVID-19 virus is a global crisis. There is not a single community that hasn’t been impacted by this pandemic. Businesses are shutting down, people are being...
Read More
Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around COVID-19 Crisis

DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance

February 13, 2020 DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey sat down with the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA) at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. ASWA is a Pan-African alliance of sex worker-led organizations....
Read More
DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance

Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

March 1, 2020 This month, DSW honors Ms. Seema Fokla as our Sex Worker Hero of the Month. Ms. Fokla is the current president of the Durbar Mahila Smanwaya Committee...
Read More
Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2020 Sex workers and allied communities celebrated International Sex Worker Rights Day, a holiday that commemorates the tireless efforts of harm-reduction advocates around the world. The holiday began...
Read More
Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker Rights Day

DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass the #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal

March 3, 2020 On International Sex Worker Rights Day, the Walking While Trans Coalition gathered at the Million Dollar Staircase in the Albany Statehouse to speak out about trans rights...
Read More
DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass the #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal

Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets: International Women’s Day in NYC

March 8, 2020 The International Women’s Strike, also known as Paro Internacional de Mujeres, is a global movement of coalitions in more than 50 countries, organizing around International Women’s Day...
Read More
Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets: International Women’s Day in NYC
Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around COVID-19 Crisis Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around...
DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet...
Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla,...
Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker Rights Day Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker...
DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass the #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass...
Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets: International Women’s Day in NYC Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets:...

DSW Newsletter Archive