For most people, safety means calling 911, trusting social services, or turning to institutions for protection. For sex workers, those options often don’t exist - or worse, they make things more dangerous.

Too often, when sex workers make the news, it’s because of tragedy. The headlines focus on loss, sensationalize violence, and erase the person behind the story.

What happens when sex workers seek justice? Too often, the system betrays them. Reports are dismissed before evidence is even reviewed. Investigations stall without explanation. Prosecutions - if they happen at all - are token gestures that rarely result in accountability. Courts treat sex workers as unreliable witnesses or, worse, as criminals. When families of murdered sex workers plead for justice, they encounter indifference, closed doors, and coded language about “lifest

Stigma is a shadow that follows sex workers everywhere—often more destructive than the law itself.

For many people, laws are supposed to protect. For sex workers, laws often do the opposite. Criminalization - whether full, partial, or through the so-called “Nordic model” - creates conditions that make violence more likely, not less.

Violence against sex workers doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. It is created and sustained by the systems around us - criminalization, stigma, and neglect.

December 17 is recognized worldwide as the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers—a day of remembrance, resistance, and solidarity.

If you’ve ever heard Rehab’s name in church, it almost always comes with a label:  “Rehab the prostitute.”  Out of all the things she did, all the roles she played, the one word attached to her forever is her occupation.

As we move toward December 17 - the 22nd Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - we remember those we’ve lost and honor the fight that continues.

Say the name Bathsheba, and most people picture a beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop, luring poor King David into sin. She’s been cast for centuries as the biblical seductress - the woman who tempted a man after God’s own heart.

What if the power to end violence wasn’t locked inside a politician’s office or a police budget - but sitting right in your hands?

When you give to SWOP Behind Bars, you’re not just donating — you’re investing in someone’s comeback story. You’re helping people move from surviving to thriving: from waiting on a bunk in county jail to stability, from a DOC number to a driver’s license, from isolation to connection.

In what could be seen as the most expensive DUI in Massachusetts history, Karen Read was found Not Guilty this week of second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.

Good morning, Red Umbrella fam. Hope your coffee is strong and your boundaries stronger, because this weekend delivered a full-course meal of carceral nonsense, QAnon fever dreams, ICE agents crashing into elementary school zones, and a grown man throwing himself a military parade for his birthday.

There’s a version of feminism out there that wears a pussyhat, clutches her pearls, and still calls the manager when a sex worker speaks at a panel.

Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is a day dedicated to memorializing the lives of trans individuals who have lost their lives to...

Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is a day dedicated to memorializing the lives of trans individuals who have lost their lives to...

Introduction to International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers December 17th 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of International Day...

The sex work community breathed a sigh of relief when news of the arrest of a suspect in the Long Island Gilgo Beach murders was...

This Friday, December 17, 2021, SWOP Behind Bars joins sex workers, allies and advocates from around the world in recognizing...