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About Us
Red Umbrella Fund 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.
Diving Deeper: Under the surface of LGBTI Sex Workers funding data – Global Resources Report (GRR) Factsheet
This factsheet aims to summarize and compile information on funding focused on LGBTQI sex workers from the 2017–2018 Global Resources…
Read MoreInterview: From ‘social evil’ to policy influencer – building sex worker leadership in Vietnam
Former Red Umbrella Fund volunteer, Nathan Desvignes, backpacked through South-east Asia just before the Covid19 pandemic and interviewed two sex…
Read MoreMaster Thesis – Roles of Regional Sex Worker Networks
The 6 Roles of Regional Sex Worker Networks By Hester Scholma, Graduating Student, Master Thesis Sociology, Vrije Univeristeit Amsterdam “Network…
Read MoreAn injury to one is an injury to all
by Nathan Desvignes Sex workers in Europe have been facing grave attacks on their rights in recent years. Although sex…
Read MoreArtivism: A guerrilla tool for sex worker movements
By Aline Fantinatti I was 20 when Daspu was created in 2005 by Gabriela Leite, a pioneer of the sex…
Read More“We are Human Before Anything Else” – Sex Worker Organising in Mauritius
by Claire Gheerbrant Parapli Rouz, meaning ‘red umbrella’ in Mauritian Creole, is the only community-based organization promoting the rights of…
Read MoreTime to Turn Up the Volume
by Nadia van der Linde Please cite this article as: N van der Linde, ‘Time to Turn Up the Volume’, Anti-Trafficking Review, Anti-Trafficking…
Read MoreSTAR: From the Las Vegas of Macedonia to a pop up red light window
Sex work is a topic that receives ‘bad press’ and is often misunderstood. However, we commonly find written articles that…
Read MoreSex Workers are Feminists Too
“Today I want to talk about sex workers.” This was not your regular presentation opening at a meeting with funders….
Read MoreBreaking Barriers to Participation
Five Years of Participatory Grantmaking at the Red Umbrella Fund By Jurre Anema In the past half year I had…
Read MoreNo Bad Migrants
The passport you hold determines a lot of your privileges, access and protection. I have always been able to benefit…
Read MoreThe Creation of the Red Umbrella Fund
Five years after its creation, the Red Umbrella Fund is proud to publish a part of its history. This report…
Read MoreFunders Need to Let Go
“During the conference, it occurred to me that we do not need everyone to become a participatory grantmaker. It makes…
Read MoreChina: A Case Study of Sex Worker Organising
Sex work is illegal in China and it is difficult to effectively organise online due to censorship and repercussions. The…
Read MoreAPROSMIG: A Case Study
[**Texto abaixo em português] “From community outreach to political action, the group has made great strides in empowering sex workers…
Read MoreSisonke: A Case Study
The Red Umbrella Fund developed three case studies to highlight successful stories of sex workers in their efforts to build…
Read MoreNot Victims
I come from quite a conservative religious background. I remember, as a young girl, feeling upset and sad when walking…
Read MoreCovering the World with the Red Umbrella – Reflections of a PAC Member
After a few unsuccessful applications by my organization, Bar Hostess Empowerment & Support Programme (BHESP), to the Red Umbrella Fund,…
Read MoreRed Umbrella Fund: Who Gets to Choose?
This blog was written by Minerva Valenzuela, our Programme Advisory Committee member based in Mexico City. It was initially published…
Read MoreAs Rosas Já Falam: My Love Letter to AWID
From September 8th to 11th, many feminist sex workers’ rights advocates and allies made their way to Salvador da Bahia,…
Read MoreMind the Gap
What we learned about how funders can be moved in the right direction. As human rights and social justice funders,…
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