For those who are not sex workers, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to material support. Educating yourself on the struggles sex workers face is admirable, but if you’re not using that knowledge to provide aid then there’s very little impact from it. So, here’s a resource you can use to get some ideas on how to provide help:
Ways you can offer support financially:
- Donate to sex worker organisations and mutual aid funds; specifically, seek out organisations and funds that are run by sex workers and which fund activism work or give money to sex workers in need.
Depending on where you live, there will be some that are more local to you which you may want to prioritize your support for.
UK: Hookers Against Hardship campaign (redistributing money to sex workers in crisis), SWARM (sex worker collective), National Ugly Mugs (organization protecting sex workers and improving community safety), ECP (network of sex workers campaigning for decriminalization and safety).
USA: SWOP (social justice network for sex workers), Red Canary Song (collective of Asian sex workers providing support particularly to migrant Asian sex workers), Las Vegas Red Umbrella Collective (resource-providing group for sex workers in Vegas), St. James Infirmary (sex worker clinic), Philly RUA (collective organising for sex worker rights, with a relief fund for sex workers in need), SWAID Collective (group providing micro-grants to sex workers in need).
France: STRASS (a sex worker syndicate fighting for sex worker rights).
Don’t only rely on the links here; these are a small fraction of those which exist! - Give money directly to sex workers who need it.
You can make friends who are sex workers and support them, keep up to date with sex workers around you and send money when they are struggling, or pay attention to if a sex worker’s Gofundme is being shared on social media. - Support porn sites and social media platforms which treat sex workers well on the platform.
When it comes to porn sites, you can do this either by paying for your porn from sites which give sex workers a good cut of the money or by watching intentionally free videos uploaded by sex workers themselves. You might want to subscribe through sites like OnlyFans or JustForFans or Fansly, through sites that sell videos like IWantClips or ManyVids, through paying sex workers directly, or through some of the most popular tube sites like Pornhub by finding videos from the profiles of sex workers you know of.
Regarding social media sites, take some time to look into which ones allow sex workers and what contexts they are allowed to use the site in. All social media platforms will have some drawbacks. By using the platforms which allow sex workers on them, whether you pay for sexual services yourself and want to follow advertising and client-facing accounts or whether you’re following activists, choosing the platforms sex workers are active on allows you to stay up-to-date on what’s going on and to become aware of causes to support. It also keeps those platforms alive and sense the message that permitting sex workers is a good business decision.
Ways you can support with your time:
- Write to your local officials in support of the decriminalization of sex work and against bills in your country or state or region which harm sex workers. This may mean calling or e-mailing your MP, your senator’s office, sending letters to your local government officials – whatever makes the most sense for you in the area you live in!
- Use any existing job you have to advocate for us when you can; this might mean advocating for us or thing that will help us within the workplace, or using your platform to uplift our stories or voices if you work in the media.
Writers can cover our protests by pitching articles about them, or by using connections to get sex worker writers you know hired by publications you work with. If you have a platform online, you can promote sex workers’ causes through TikToks or Youtube videos or tweets. Businesses can make sure they take cash, and you can advocate for that wherever you work if your employer is thinking of going cashless, as sex workers often have issues accessing banking (this had the extra positive outcome of also helping homeless people and Romani or Traveller groups in your area who may not have banking access!)
Many jobs involve “modern slavery” training, with advice about how to spot people who are being sex trafficked. A lot of the suggestions for behaviour which should be reported and seen as evidence of sex trafficking are actually just evidence of sex work. Be mindful of not reporting sex workers and having them hassled or put into contact with the police. - Educate yourself and advocate for sex workers in your social spaces. Don’t let people mock prostitutes, don’t let them spread happy hooker narratives or claim that all sex workers are victims, and help signpost sex workers that people can listen to about these topics.
While I’d like to recommend my own blog as one of those resources, there are also many more:
What do sex workers want: Ted Talk
An 18-minute talk about what laws are best for sex workers, from a sex worker.
Revolting Prostitutes
A book about sex workers rights, written by two sex workers.
We Too
A collection of personal essays from sex workers.
SWARM Zines
Zines from sex workers’ perspectives, including survivors and trans people.
Symposium Introduction on Sex Work
An overview about modern sex work as an introduction, by Moses Moon. - Volunteer.
Lots of sex worker organisations will only accept sex workers or people with experience selling sex to be involved in direct activism or support for sex workers, but there are still ways that you can offer your skills.
Plenty of organisations will need translators, designers, people to help advertise and distribute their resources. There’s no harm in asking if there’s help you can provide, as long as you make it clear that you’re not a sex worker yourself and don’t mislead!
Tips for when you come into contact with sex workers:
- Don’t call the police on street sex workers and discourage others from doing the same.
- Seek out resources about sex work for yourself, before asking individual sex workers to put in the work. Not all sex workers are activists who have the desire to spend their personal time educating you, and among those who are activists they don’t always have the capacity to respond to each individual person. Look for resources that have already been created to educate you on certain topics, which have been created by sex workers.
- Keep invasive questions about their work to yourself. Asking someone about their experiences with clients may potentially bring up memories of trauma and this should be avoided with people you aren’t close friends with.
- Don’t make assumptions about their experience. They may hate selling sex or they may like it and find it to be the best job they’ve had, or most likely they have a complex web of feelings about their experience in sex work. Learn about their experience based on what they tell you, rather than placing them into a mental box.
- Speak about sex workers you know with whatever language they prefer, and in general default to the most accepted terms which are considered respectful. That will often be the term “sex worker”, or perhaps “onlyfans creator”, depending on the type of sex work.
- If you become close with a sex worker, offer to be their emergency contact. This will involve things like getting texted the information about where they’re meeting a client, calling them to help them have an excuse to get away from a bad date, or taking note of a license plate for them.
Your support for sex workers needs to be integrated into your life. You cannot make a one-time donation or say one supportive statement and consider yourself an ally. Advocate for decriminalization of sex work continuously, don’t let your friends and coworkers get away with mocking sex workers around you, and if you’re in a position to help financially then consider making that something you do continuously rather than only once to resolve yourself of guilt.
Jack Talks About Sex Work 