In the 10 years since our launch in 2012, Red Umbrella Fund has given 279 grants to 180 organisations in 68 countries. Every year we share our list of grants including the names of the grantee-partner organisations that request to be published on our website. Organisations that wish to stay anonymous do not have their name or country publicly available. Please contact us if you would like to contact any of our former-grantees or discuss their work.
In 2022 Red Umbrella Fund’s PAC awarded €1,300,000 – our first time giving more than a million in a single year – bringing total grants to €7,886,500!
Advocacy Normalizing Sex Work through Education and Resources (ANSWERS)
Canada
Local
English
ANSWERS envisions a community of sex workers that is fully integrated, accepted, and safe so that they can enjoy equal opportunities within Canadian society. To achieve their mission, ANSWERS supports sex workers and their rights through outreach, education, and support services while working to end violence and stigma towards sex workers.
This sex worker-led justice collective believes in the right of all people to choose to do sex work on their own terms. As such, this collective’s work focuses on power building and political education, advocacy, harm reduction and media and culture amongst others.
This regional network has 32 active organisational members in 23 countries that work together to promote the human rights of sex workers of all genders in Asia and the Pacific. APNSW conducts advocacy with regional intergovernmental bodies and the United Nations. The network provides training and technical support to its members on human rights, and quality HIV and health services, sets up sex worker-led legal services, and develops advocacy strategies.
Working mainly with men sex workers, Asociación Civil Cambio y Accion aims to eradicate violence, stigma and discrimination and achieve the recognition of sex work as work. Amongst others, the organisation will use its grant from Red Umbrella Fund to mark International Sex Workers’ Days and to strengthen itself.
Asociacion de las Prostitutas del Estado de Piaui (APROSPI)
Brazil
Local, Subnational
English
This self-led group of women sex workers was created in 2008 to advocate for sex workers’ rights and work together with other social justice movements amongst others. With the grant from Red Umbrella Fund, the organisation will work on a documentary to raise the visibility of the realities faced by sex workers in the state of Piauí, Brazil.
Asociación de Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales 21 de Septiembre (ASOTRASEX)
Ecuador
Local
Spanish
Founded in 1998, Asociación de Mujeres de Trabajadoras Sexuales ’21 de septiembre’ trains sex workers in human rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights and leadership as well as carrying out advocacy to improve the lives of sex workers in the province of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. With this grant, the organisation will organise national and local workshops, produce advocacy materials and strengthen its national and local coordination.
Asociacion de Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales 21 de Septiembre (ASOTRASEX)
Dominican Republic
National
Spanish
OTRASEX first originated in 2012 and had its first Board of Directors in 2016. The organisation fights for the respect of sex workers’ human and labour rights in the Dominican Republic. With this grant, the organisation aims to train and support young activists, strengthen its organisation and organise discussions on trade unions and labour rights.
Centro de Informacion para la Prevencion, Movilizacion y Asesoramiento (CIPMAC)
Brazil
Local, Subnational
Spanish
This sex worker-led group in the State of Paraiba in in the north-east of Brazil was set up in 1987. CIPMAC speaks out on the right to self-organize, sex workers’ rights and social justice. With this grant the group will organise workshops on human rights, organise webinars, strengthen its organisation and produce communication materials.
HARC represents over 5,000 women sex workers mainly in the capital city Dhaka. The group works to improve sex workers’ health by conducting peer outreach and condom distribution, building sex workers’ knowledge on HIV and STIs and by providing referrals to services. The group builds sex workers’ skills in human rights advocacy and collaborates with the National Human Rights Commission and other allies to lobby for changes in laws and policies that negatively impact on sex workers’ lives.
Hommes pour les Droits et la Santé Sexuelle (HODSAS)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
National
French
HODSAS is an organisation for sex workers operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. HODSAS supports its members in managing their health. With this grant, HODSAS will organise trainings on sexual health and rights, distribute sanitary pads and organise radio shows on sexual health and rights and family planning in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
As a trade union, OTRAS works in Spain to defend the economic and labour rights of sex workers. Created in 2018, the organisation will use its grant to strengthen its communication and visibility as well as organising advocacy activities.
Philadelphia Red Umbrella Alliancen was created in 2014 to promote sex workers’ rights through an intersectional lens in the city of Philadelphia in the United States of America. The organisation is dedicated to ending stigma and violence against sex workers through labour organising and advocacy.
Red de Mujeres Unidas por Nuestros Derechos (REDMUDE)
Honduras
Local, Subnational, National
Spanish
Red de Mujeres Unidas por Nuestros Derechos works in Honduras to promote the health and rights of sex workers. To do so, the organisation has coordinated actions with health and justice workers and aims to use its grant from Red Umbrella Fund to continue this work, furhter build the capacity of sex workers to carry out this project, and map relevant organisations.
Red por el Reconocimiento de lxs Trabajadorxs Sexuales (RxRTS)
Argentina
Local, Subnational, National
Spanish
Red por el Reconocimiento de lxs Trabajadorxs Sexuales’s mission is to promote new strategies throughout Argentina to demand and develop public policies for the protection of sex workers’ rights. Formed in 2012, the organisation has been crucial in organising relief for sex workers during the Covid-19 pandemic and took part in advocacy campaigns at Latin American level.
Formed in 2014, this organisation provides services to sex workers, networking opportunities and carries out advocacy activities. The organisation works with a particular focus on outreach and the legal environment and its impact on sex workers in Poland.
Established in 2013, Strong Ladies provides healthcare and carries out advocacy to promote equal rights for sex workers in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. With this grant, the group will organise media events, conduct seminars and provide health services.
Created in 2015, this group unites diverse sex workers including trans people, migrant workers, and people living with HIV. SUCOS promotes the human rights of sex workers by pursuing decriminalisation of sex work and combating stigma against sex workers in Suriname. The group educates community members, law enforcement officers and religious leaders about sex workers’ rights. By training its members in how to engage with media, the group aims to raise visibility for their messages.
Uganda Network of Sex Worker-Led Organisations (UNESO)
Uganda
National
English
This network was established in 2015 to develop a common vision and mission among sex worker-led organisations across Uganda. It creates safe spaces where sex workers can convene in a country with high levels of violence against sex workers and LGBTQ people. UNESO maps sex worker organisations in rural areas and provides leadership, fundraising, and financial management training for sex workers.
In a context where sex work is regarded as a criminal activity that can be subjected to severe prosecutions, this sex worker-led organisation working in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic aims to establish a national socio-political and economic environment in which sex workers’ voices and priorities are duly valued.
This sex worker-led group established in 2012 works to provide female sex workers in Ghana, with a network of peer support, so that they can boldly and confidently claim their rights. To do so, the group builds the capacity of its members and work with law enforcement to diminish abuse from the police.
