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Values
We are sex workers
We only accept members who have experience of providing sexual and erotic services. We use the term sex worker because it's inclusive of persons with different experiences in the sex industry. Some members identify differently since they don't relate to the term sex worker but we all fight for our rights. Together we are stronger than we can be alone and we work hard of counteracting the hierarchies within our industry. Third parties and others who make money from the labour of sex workers are not welcome in our organisation.
We stand for the full decriminalisation of sex work
We believe that sex workers are in a better position to demand their human rights, including labour rights, if sex work is decriminalised. We want all laws and regulations related to selling, buying and organising sex work are removed. Instead sex work should be governed by health and safety labour legislation. The current Swedish model for sex work legislation doesn't only criminalise our clients, it is also illegal for us to work together for safety, rent a workplace (for example an apartment or hotel room) and hire third party help (for example security, driver, assistent). It is also illegal for our family members and friends to live from the earnings of sex work. Naturally, criminal laws against abuse, rape, trafficking etc. will still be valid after a decriminalisation of sex work.
We demand the right to speak for ourselves
We are not “pro sex work”, neither are we a “sex buyer's lobby group” and we reject the simplistic portrayal of us as such. We are fully aware of the fact that exclusion and desperation can be the entry way to sex work, but no matter what reasons and experiences we have, we should be allowed to speak on our own behalf. We firmly reject labels such as victims and oppose those who are trying to silence us when trying to promote their own agenda. We believe that the voices of those with lived experiences takes precedence over all others. For example: strippers should be given space to talk about unfair working conditions at their workplaces rather than someone who has never visited a strip club and the voices of current sex worker who are directly effected by stigma should be prioritised over the voices of people who no longer sell sex.
We stand for workers' rights
We recognise sex work as work. Currently workers in the sex industry have very few possibilities to assert our rights and improve our working conditions. We believe that full decriminalisation is prerequisite for this to change. By organising and working together we can improve safety and working conditions of sex workers just like the international workers' movement has done in other industries.
We stand up for migrant rights
Many sex workers are migrants. We believe that all people should have the freedom to travel, cross borders and search for a better life. The increased racism and xenophobia in society has created a situation where migrants turn to sex work, because of lack of access to public resources and discrimination on the job market . Migrant sex workers are more likely to be the targets of violence than sex workers born in Sweden. They are also targeted by police who surveil them, raid their work places and deport them. We are against every kind of violence and discrimination against migrant sex workers.
We fight for sex workers' rights to family and private lives
We recognise that family members and friends are often supported by earnings of sex work and oppose the instances where sex working parents have lost custody of their children due to sex work, and where partners of sex workers have been convicted for assisting their partners in their work.
We fight for LGBTQIA rights
Many of those who sell sex in Sweden today identify as LGBTQIA. They become completely unaccounted for when sex work is framed as ”men's violence against women”. The prevalence of transphobia in society makes trans people extra vulnerable to discrimination. For people facing gender discrimination, sex work becomes tool for survival, or the best out of limited choices and this is especially true for people facing multiple kinds of marginalisation, like LGBTQIA people, people of colour, trans women, differently abled people and single parents. If more people are expected to refrain from doing sex work, focus has to be on providing more alternatives, not make our working conditions harder.
We are feminists
But we reject the kind of feminism that excludes us and aims to worsen our lives and work conditions. Sex work is largely done by women and gender non-conforming people in a society where men own most of the resources and power. We have to work for liberation from gender discrimination instead of blaming sex workers trying to survive in this world. Initiatives that increase violence against marginalised people will not make oppressions fall and we can't be expected to live in the present as if it was a future utopia when our lives as sex workers are so marginalised. We call all feminist groups and organisations to listen to sex worker led initiatives and be open to work with us to stop gendered violence. As it is today many sex workers feel so let down by feminism that they, despite their struggle for women's rights don't want to call themselves feminists.
We are in solidarity with the disability rights movement
Amongst both sex workers and clients, there are people with varying psychological and physiological abilities. We reject a world view where disabled clients’ need for intimacy and sexuality is seen as being in opposition of sex workers’ rights. We know that many sex workers sell sex because their psychological and physiological variations prevent them from doing other jobs. We believe that the knowledge about disabilities need to be broadened to end discrimination, for example from a labour rights point of view, since many disabled sex workers are not protected by society.
We are in solidarity with the drug user movement
Drug users and sex workers are both stigmatised and criminalised groups, and we share many experiences. We support the struggle to end the criminalisation of drug use, and for policies based on evidence and harm reduction. Sex workers who use drugs face a double stigma: our lives are often reduced to stereotypes and our agency denied, which leads to a worse treatment from society at large.
We are in solidarity with people living with HIV
We support the struggle to remove the stigma facing people living with HIV/AIDS, and particularly of sex workers living with HIV. More knowledge is necessary in order to eradicate the prejudice surrounding the diagnosis. Sex workers living with HIV are integral to our movement and community and we will not turn our backs against them. Sex workers’ movements have historically and internationally been a part of the fight against HIV/AIDS and we will continue that legacy.