Sex worker rights are human rights. They include the right to health, the right to safety, the right to privacy, the right to choose our work and be paid fairly, and the right to personal autonomy.
Sex work as a term covers a broad range of sexual labor, including jobs like camming, stripping, phone sex, and prostitution, to name a few. Some forms of sexual labor are regulated, while others are criminalized. Pornography and stripping are regulated in the US, with states setting rules about things like working conditions, zoning, and obscenity standards. The direct exchange of sex for anything of value, i.e., prostitution, is the type of sexual labor that tends to be criminalized. Our most urgent focus is to decriminalize all forms of consensual sexual labor.
Currently, there are only a few states considering ordinances that would totally decriminalize sex work. However, other types of legislation would make the lives of sex workers safer and protect their human rights. We’ve included those measures in this bill tracker. We’ve also highlighted legislation we oppose, including measures that introduce the “No-Demand” or “Nordic” model, wherein only the client is criminalized. This model was adopted in the state of Maine and a few countries outside of the US. However, this model has actually proved to make the lives of sex workers more dangerous.
Check out what’s happening in your state, and take action!