Reprinted from www.RealityCheck.org  - Melissa Ditmore’s Blog

May 6, 2008 -- Even those who mean well sometimes confuse the human rights abuse of trafficking in persons with the human occupation of prostitution, or sex work. It's understandable because of the history of the two fields, but it creates rather than solves problems. Let me try to sort it out here. More

Excerpts from the Media Survival Guide for Sex Workers by Alexandra Beesley
As a documentary maker and sex worker I have worked with such people as Sky Television, Granada, ABC, BBC, SBS and ITV, and have experienced first hand how easy it is to manipulate, titillate and use footage and sound bites out of context.

The media's power to influence our culture is obvious and mainstream media's tendency to gravitate towards the superficial and sensational means that people who work in the sex industry are generally portrayed under a negative light, enforcing and perpetuating stereotypes. More

In this easy-to read Q&A prepared by our consultant and Anna-Louise Crago, we try to find out what are the international AIDS conferences, why are they important and why they matter to sex workers? You can also find out how to participate at one such conference and – how to get a photo with Richard Gere. More

In this issue of the Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy School, we will talk about documenting police abuse. Many SWAN members get reports from sex workers in their countries about being routinely approached by the police with requests for money or sex. Police do not even refrain from using force and physical abuse. What can be done in such situations? Sex workers often keep quiet only to find situation further deteriorating. Our consultant Anna-Louise Crago outlines an easy plan of action for SWAN members and other readers who are facing similar problems. More

Maria Tosheva, Director of Program for Support to SW in the Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS), SWAN member from Macedonia, shares with SWAN News her experiences in planning, opening and running the first drop-in center for sex workers in Macedonia.
“Before opening the drop-in center, we prepared a needs assessment that identified basic services that the center needed to offer.
It is very important to have a decision on that before you start searching for proper premises. More

Many SWAN members participating in the December 2007 Campaign for human rights of sex workers used red umbrella as their symbol. What does red umbrella mean? Here is an article about its symbolism and history, already published in SWAN News last year. More

Sex Worker Rights Communications Kit is intended to introduce sex worker health and rights issues by breaking down common prejudices and stereotypes. Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center will disseminate the toolkit to sex worker rights advocates and their allies around the world. Through translation hubs the materials will be made available in Russian, Thai and French. Copies of the press kit can be downloaded here.

Sex workers organizations around the world continued working on review of the UNAIDS Guidance Note. In this article written by Anna-Louise Crago, we are giving a short review of the paper, the controversy it stirred, and the global response and successful advocacy by the sex worker community. More

The red umbrella was used by sex workers of Venice, Italy in 2001 as a symbol of beauty and the resistance to humans' and sky's attacks, red. On the occasion of the Venice Biennale in 2001 they walked the streets together out and proud. While the red umbrella started as a simple idea, it is quickly becoming an international symbol for the rights of sex workers. More

By Nebojsa Radic

Youtube, website that originally started as a place where visitors can easily upload videos and share them with friends, has become a powerful tool used by advocates around the world. Although it is limited to those who have broadband internet access, in reality it is very simple to use, even for those of us who do not have much of technological literacy.