This Is How Sex Workers Win: Organizing Around Sex Workers' Rights

Sex worker activism and advocacy has made great strides in recent years, particularly around the idea that “sex work is work.” This article highlights recent advocacy efforts to promote policies and legislation that decriminalize sex work on the state level.

When sex workers say “decriminalization,” what they mean is repealing laws that make it a crime to sell sex, buy sex, loiter to sell or buy sex, and provide a workplace for sex workers. Something was shifting: In one of the most repressive eras, marked not only by Trump but by new federal legislation targeting sex workers, a majority of voters now say they support sex work decriminalization, as polling released in 2020 showed, including nearly two-thirds of Democrats. All this marks a new turn in the movement for sex workers’ rights.

SOURCE: The New Republic • AUTHOR: Melissa Gira Grant • LAST UPDATED: March 2, 2021