Sex Workers Outreach Project USA

Sex Workers Outreach Project USA
Formation August 13, 2003 (2003-08-13) (9 years ago)
Leader Liz Coplen
Website www.swopusa.org

Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA (SWOP USA) is a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. The organization was founded by Robyn Few on August 13, 2003, and their first major action was to organize the first annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (December 17) with the Green River Memorial to the victims of "Green River Killer" Gary Leon Ridgeway.

Failed Berkeley Ballot

In 2004, SWOP spearheaded a voter ballot initiative to decriminalize prostitution in Berkeley, CA. Other recent work focuses on amending so called "protective" legislation like the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 (and now its re-authorization in 2005 with the new End Demand provisions) with the goal being to increase its efficacy in protecting trafficking victims while decreasing the number of arrests of independent sex workers who have never been victims of human trafficking.

The US branch of the original Sex Workers Outreach Project, based out of Australia, is the largest sex worker rights organization in the United States, with chapters active in Tucson, AZ; Michigan; Chicago, IL; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles / UCLA, CA; San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; New York City, NY; and Seattle, WA; with a forthcoming chapter in Portland, OR

↑Jump back a section

Sources

↑Jump back a section

References

↑Jump back a section

External links


This article about an organization in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
↑Jump back a section
Last modified on 12 April 2013, at 16:21