SWOP Behind Bars Advocacy from the Margins

December 17 – Day 14: Funding Justice, Not Violence

If we want to end violence against sex workers, we need to start following the money.
For decades, billions in public and private funding have flowed into systems that cause more harm - police raids, carceral “rescue” programs, and anti-trafficking initiatives that erase the difference between consensual sex work and exploitation. These programs are often packaged as “safety.” Still, the reality is far darker: they produce arrests, family separation, deportations, and lifelong criminal records for the very people they claim to save.

December 17 – Day 13: How Allies Can Show Up

Solidarity is not abstract - it’s something you practice.
For sex workers, real allyship means moving beyond hashtags and sympathy into consistent, tangible action. It means showing up, speaking up, and putting your values into action - not just on December 17, but every day of the year.

Bad Girls of the Bible: Jezebel - The Bible’s Original Bad Girl, or Just Another Woman Men Couldn’t Handle?

Say the name Jezebel, and most people immediately picture the ultimate bad girl of the Bible - the woman so scandalous she got her own eternal insult. She’s the gold standard of "don’t be that girl". But let’s look a little closer at her story and ask: was Jezebel truly evil, or was she just guilty of existing in a man’s world without apologizing for it? Spoiler: history doesn’t look kindly on women who refuse to stay in their lane.

December 17 – Day 12 Decriminalization is Prevention

When we talk about ending violence against sex workers, one of the most powerful tools we have isn’t another round of policing or another set of restrictive laws-it’s decriminalization.
Because the evidence is clear: criminalization makes sex work more dangerous, while decriminalization saves lives.

December 17 Day 11- Art as Resistance

Art has always been one of the fiercest weapons of survival for sex workers. When our histories are erased, art rewrites them. When the world refuses to see us, art makes us visible. When grief threatens to swallow us whole, art transforms it into something we can hold, share, and use to fight back.
On December 17, as we remember those taken by violence, we also honor the beauty and power that emerge from within our communities - the murals that reclaim the streets that pushed us out, the poetry that tells truths no courtroom ever would, the portraits, zines, and altar pieces that insist: we were here, we are still here, and we will not disappear quietly.

December 17 Day 10: Chosen Families, Chosen Safety

For many sex workers, “family” is not a word that brings comfort. Too often, biological families, faith communities, and social institutions turn their backs on us. Some reject us for the work we do, others for our gender, sexuality, or survival choices. What’s left behind is a painful truth: sometimes, the people who were supposed to love us unconditionally are the first to abandon us.
But out of that rejection, something powerful is born - chosen family.

December 17 Day 9: Centering Lived Experience

In every conversation about sex work - whether it’s policy, research, or “rescue” - one question should guide us: who is speaking, and who is missing?
Too often, the people most directly impacted by laws, policing, and stigma are left out of the room. Decisions are made about sex workers, not with them. Policymakers draft legislation without consultation. Journalists tell our stories through a lens of pity or scandal. Anti-trafficking organizations design interventions that criminalize the very people they claim to protect.

December 17 Day 8: Resilience as Resistance

Sex workers do more than survive - they resist. Every act of joy, every community project, every gathering beneath the red umbrella is an act of defiance against erasure. In a world that so often reduces sex workers to victims or statistics, simply existing, thriving, and loving openly is revolutionary. Resilience is not just about endurance; it’s about creation. It’s about building something beautiful and free in the face of stigma and violence. It’s about refusing to disappear when every system - from the law to the media - tells you that you should.