About Sex Work Awareness

Mission Statement
We believe that all sex workers have a right to self-determination; to choose how we make a living and what we do with our bodies.

We aim to empower our diverse community by building the capacity of sex worker-serving and sex worker member-based institutions as well as the skills and resources of sex workers themselves.

We also conduct research about sex workers and the sex industry in order to better understand it, develop public education initiatives, and advocate for the rights of sex workers.

Projects

Sex Work 101 - many people are curious about the sex industry and want to support sex workers in their struggle for rights, but they have no idea where to start. This site is an attempt to fill that gap in public education in an approachable, easy to understand, and engaging way. Sex Work 101 is meant to add to public knowledge about sex work and to encourage discussion about the issues sex workers face.

Speak Up! - a day-long media skills training that empowers sex workers to make informed decisions about when, why, and how we should engage with media. Both theory and skills-based.

Sex Blogger Calendar - a group of supportive sex bloggers joined together in the fall of 2008 to create a gorgeous full-color calendar for 2009, the sales of which benefit Sex Work Awareness and have made the Speak Up! workshop possible.

History
Brought to life by four former $pread magazine staff members (Eliyanna Kaiser, Audacia Ray, Susan Rohwer, and Kevicha Echols), the birth of the organization couldn’t come at a better time.

On March 13, 2008 we had our first fundraiser, hosted at Arena Studios in SoHo, which was well-attended by a group of very supportive people. In this video, three of the founders of the organization step forward to talk about what we hope to accomplish and what is driving us to do it. We also hear from elected officials NYS Senator Thomas K. Duane and NYS Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, who were in attendance.