The Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM), formerly known as the Sex Worker Open University (SWOU), was founded in 2009 to provide educational and other resources to
sex workers
A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker"
According to one view, sex work is d ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. It is a sex worker-led organisation. Their activities include educational projects, breakfast drop-ins for sex workers, and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...
's sex worker support effort, ''Confide''. In April 2013, SWOU took a lead role in halting the further criminalisation of sex work in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
by organising a massive grassroots community response which included street protests, public education, sex worker-only workshops on safety, the law, and fighting stigma, and presentations to packed audiences of evidence as to the effects of criminalisation, from sex workers and academics from around the world.
In 2019 the group celebrated a decade of organising by holding a festival where they started the Decriminalised Futures project. The aims of the project are to "highlight the history of the
sex workers’ rights movement and its connections to broader social and labour struggles while celebrating creative expression". In 2022 the
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA ...
in London sponsored the project and hosted an exhibition of the same name.
The exhibition runs from February to May 2022 and brings together 13 artists, 6 writers including
Mercedes Eng
Mercedes Eng is a Canadian writer, poet and educator based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her poetry books are ''Mercenary English'' (2013), ''yt mama'' (2020), and ''Prison Industrial Complex Explodes'' (2017). Eng's poetic work considers theme ...
, sex workers, the
East London Strippers Collective
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
, artists and activists.
See also
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Prostitution in Scotland
Prostitution in Scotland has been similar to that in England under the State of Union, but since devolution, the new Scottish Parliament has pursued its own policies.
In Scotland, prostitution itself (the exchange of sexual services for money ...
*
Prostitution in the United Kingdom
In Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), the act of engaging in prostitution, sex as part of an exchange of various sexual services for money is legal, but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, kerb cr ...
References
External links
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2009 establishments in the United Kingdom
Sex worker organisations based in the United Kingdom
Advocacy groups in the United Kingdom
Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom
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