Resources from Funders and Allied Organisations Supporting Sex Workers’ RightsWe have organised the growing community of organisations supporting sex worker rights and provided brief introductions to strengthen the support available to the sex worker rights movement.
We have categorised them (funders, sex worker-led networks, and allied organisation) as well as created tags for key topics that intersect with our work.
Positive Women’s Network (PWN) – USA “is a national membership body of women living with HIV and our allies that exists to strengthen the strategic power of all women living with HIV in the United States. Founded in 2008 by 28 diverse women leaders living with HIV, PWN-USA develops a leadership pipeline and policy agenda that applies a gender lens to the domestic HIV epidemic grounded in social justice and human rights.”
Protect Defenders is the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism. The consortium of 12 NGOs “Operates a permanent and rapid response mechanism to provide urgent assistance and practical support to Human Rights Defenders in danger, their families, and their work. Manages a programme of temporary relocation for Human Rights Defenders at risk to relocate inside their country, within their region, or abroad in case of an urgent threat. Supports the creation of shelters for HRDs at risk and coordinates an exchange platform for stakeholders working on temporary relocation for Human Rights Defenders, the EU temporary relocation platform. Provides training, financial support, accompaniment, and capacity-building to Human Rights Defenders and local organisations. Monitors the situation of human rights defenders, including in the field, and advocates for a protection agenda for Human Rights Defenders at local, regional, and international level. Promotes coordination between organisations dedicated to support for Human Rights Defenders, EU institutions and other relevant actors.”
Red Umbrella Fund (RUF) is the first and only global fund dedicated to supporting the rights of sex workers. It was established in 2012 to respond to the lack of funding available for sex workers’ rights organising. In line with its core values of autonomy and ownership, Red Umbrella Fund is a sex worker-led, participatory fund.
Red de Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales de América Latina y El Caribe (REDTRASEX) [The Network of Women Sex Workers of Latin America and the Caribbean] was born in 1997. RedTraSex is made up of organizations of women sex workers and/or former sex workers. The network is made up of organizations from 14 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Mexico). Their communication language is Spanish.
“The Robert Carr Fund is the world’s leading international fund focused on funding regional and global networks led by and involving and serving inadequately served populations (ISPs).
As a cooperative effort of donors and civil society, the Robert Carr Fund is structured to maximize participation, empowerment, equity, transparency and accountability in our fundraising and grant making.
The Robert Carr Fund works to mobilize and deliver core and strategic funding for regional and global networks to achieve four outcomes:
Protecting and promoting human rights
Improving access to HIV services
Mobilizing and monitoring national and international funding for human rights and health
Building capacity of civil society and community networks”
The Sex Work Donor Collaborative (SWDC) is a network of funders that have come together to increase the amount and quality of funding to support sex workers’ rights. To read the SWDC FAQ, learn more about this network, and join: visit SWDC’s website which includes further resources. SWDC does not make grants, but does share information about how to apply for funding from its membership organisations.
“The SWGC is a cross-class, multi-racial, intergenerational giving circle made up of a group of Fellows with current or past experience with sex work or the sex trade. The Fellows make all high-level funding decisions and grantmaking recommendations, and lead many of our fundraising activities.”
Sex Workers’ Advocacy Network (SWAN) unites sex worker-led organisations and their allies in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The network works to create societies where sex work is decriminalised and empowered sex workers can live free from violence, stigma and discrimination. SWAN provides capacity building to sex worker-led groups to advocate for their rights, support community mobilisation efforts and provides a space for its members to share resources and experiences.
Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society is recognized as the preeminent academic journal of women’s and gender studies. Signs is currently based at Northeastern University and is published by the University of Chicago Press. The journal was founded in 1975 and has been in continuous publication since. Signs publishes pathbreaking articles, review essays, comparative perspectives, and retrospectives of interdisciplinary interest addressing gender, race, culture, class, nation, and sexuality.
Stella’s primary mission is “to improve the quality of life and working conditions for woman-identified sex workers, to educate the greater public on the different ways that sex work happens as well as about our lived experiences as sex workers, so that sex workers might also enjoy and benefit from the same rights to safety and security that are commonplace for other people.”
“The Lancet began as an independent, international weekly general medical journal founded in 1823 by Thomas Wakley. Since its first issue (Oct 5, 1823), the journal has strived to make science widely available so that medicine can serve and transform society, and positively impact the lives of people. Over the past two centuries, The Lancet has sought to address urgent topics in our society, initiate debate, put science into context, and influence decision makers around the world. The Lancet has evolved as a family of journals but retains at its core the belief that medicine must serve society, that knowledge must transform society, that the best science must lead to better lives.”
The Other Foundation is an African trust dedicated to advancing human rights in Southern Africa, with a particular focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. Their primary purpose is to expand resources available to defend and advance the rights and well-being of LGBTI people in the Southern African region. They do this by working both as a grant-maker and a fundraiser.
“The Racial Equity Index believes that individuals and institutions are products of the larger society and environment in which they exist, and also have the agency and responsibility to live up to the change we claim to want to see in the world. Across the global development sector, philanthropists and global development actors, organisations and institutions are rarely, if ever, expected to assess how they themselves are upholding and perpetuating racial inequity both internally and external to their institution. In direct response to this gap in the field, we are producing an index and advocacy tools that will provide greater accountability for racial equity within and across the global development sector in order to dismantle structural racism and create a more equitable system and culture, with justice and dignity at its core. “
RFSL (the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex rights) was started the year 1950. “The organisation is one of the oldest surviving LGBTQI rights organisations in the world. RFSL works locally, nationally and internationally. We are an ever growing organisation with more than 7 000 members and 36 branches all over Sweden. The organisation runs many different activities and projects. For example, RFSL has a crime victim support unit, the project Newcomers (a support group for people who are newly arrived in Sweden) and a unit that works exclusively with HIV and health. Additionally, RFSL is the owner of RFSL AB, a company that educates companies and government agencies on LGBTQI issues. We also provide LGBTQI certification.”
For 25 years, Third Wave Fund has resourced youth-led, intersectional, gender justice movements to advance the community power, well-being, and self-determination of young Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color (BIPOC).” They provide a variety of funding opportunities including rapid response funding through the Mobilize Power Fund and host the sex worker-led Sex Worker Giving Circle.
