Sex Workers bring Resolution to Support Full Decrim AND Reject Nordic Model Influences to the National Organization of Women
June 27th and 28th, 2026
SWOP Behind Bars seeks support to send a delegation of directly impacted sex workers, survivors, and advocates to the National NOW Conference to present a panel examining the real-world harms of the Nordic Model and advocate for full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work. This effort is intended to create direct dialogue within one of the nation’s most influential feminist organizations about how criminalization-based policies increase stigma, surveillance, economic instability, and vulnerability to violence for those in the sex trade. By centering the voices of people most impacted by these policies, we aim to encourage National NOW to reject Nordic Model frameworks and align with evidence-based, human rights-centered approaches that prioritize bodily autonomy, labor rights, and community safety over punishment and criminalization.

Mission
SWOP Behind Bars seeks support to send a delegation of directly impacted sex workers, survivors, and advocates to the National NOW Conference to present a panel examining the real-world harms of the Nordic Model and advocate for full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work. In collaboration with Boston Sex Worker Advisory Council and New Moon Network / New Moon Fund, this effort is intended to create direct dialogue within one of the nation’s most influential feminist organizations about how criminalization-based policies increase stigma, surveillance, economic instability, and vulnerability to violence for those in the sex trade. By centering the voices of people most impacted by these policies, we aim to encourage National NOW to reject Nordic Model frameworks and align with evidence-based, human rights-centered approaches that prioritize bodily autonomy, labor rights, and community safety over punishment and criminalization.

Get The History of NOW
For more than a decade, sex workers, survivors, and allied feminist organizers have worked to challenge the influence of Nordic Model policies within mainstream feminist spaces and to advocate for evidence-based approaches rooted in bodily autonomy, labor rights, and harm reduction. That work has culminated in a collaborative effort led by Florida National Organization for Women (Florida NOW), alongside Boston Sex Workers Advisory Council, SWOP Behind Bars, and allied advocates, to introduce a formal resolution before the National Organization for Women calling for the rejection of Nordic Model interventions and support for the full decriminalization of consensual adult sex work. The resolution seeks to move feminist organizing away from criminalization-based frameworks that increase stigma, surveillance, economic instability, and vulnerability to violence, and toward policies that center the leadership and lived experiences of directly impacted communities. This effort represents both a significant organizing milestone and a rare opportunity to reshape feminist policy conversations at a national level.


Attend the Conference and Advocate with us.
Conference Information
Dates: June 26–28, 2026
Location: The Westin Alexandria Old Town, 400 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Theme: “Celebrating 60 Years of Feminist Power, Progress, and Possibility”
Conference Focus
The conference is being framed as a major strategy and organizing summit for the future of feminist activism, with workshops, caucuses, speakers, bylaws discussions, and resolutions shaping NOW’s future policy direction. Topics highlighted by NOW include reproductive rights, economic inequality, racial justice, gender-based violence, and LGBTQIA+ issues.
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Many Sex Workers staying at an offsite hotel. Email us with your registration to the conference and we will give you the location!
Tabling and Networking with Feminists
ALL HANDS WELCOMED
Friday, June 26
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8:00 am - 7:00 pm - Exhibitors open Foyer
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1:45 pm - 2:45 pm Workshops
Saturday, June 26
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8:00 am – 7:00 pm Exhibitors & Vendors
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9:00am-10:00am Issue Hearings
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Workshops 12:45 - 1:45 PM
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Lunch (on your own)
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2:00PM-3:00PM Issue Hearings
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3:15PM-4:15PM Special Constituency Caucuses
Some spaces are "members only"​
