SWOP Behind Bars

B/c I love the late Maya Angelou, I want to make an announcement: Maya Angelou did sex work. She never hid it, nor did she allow herself to feel shame b/c of it. Her sex-working past isn't anti-Black. But the erasure of her past due to respectability politics certainly is.

#BlackHistoryMonth

UK's Starmer seeks greater powers to regulate online access British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will seek broader powers to regulate internet access, which he said on Sunday was needed to protect children from fast-changing digital risks.

The UK already has one of the most restrictive internet policies in the west. Starmer seeking broad, extra-parliamentary powers to crack down on VPNs and other access is a troubling sign.

Censorship is always fuels an appetite for more censorship.

Go drink some water and do some stretches. Have something to eat.

Make sure you take care of you today.

@cupcakegirlsorg.bsky.social

@swop-usa.bsky.social

@swopbehindbars.bsky.social

@swaidcollective.bsky.social

Sadly, the nonprofits that both assist trafficking survivors AND defend the rights of sex workers are underfunded and ignored by most of the media.

Anti-trafficking orgs run by sex workers and trafficking survivors

> National Survivors Network @nsn.bsky.social
> SWOP network @swopbehindbars.bsky.social
> Red Umbrella Project
> Global Network of Sex Work Projects
> BIPOCAIC
> Rogue Support Network
> Red Canary Song
> National Survivors Union

It was interesting that fully clothed non white women dancing was considered "pornographic".

Hate the fact that we're losing all our 3rd spaces, both on and offline

Roses are red
This isn't sarcasm
We're all miserable
Because conservatives won't let us orgasm

Not Your Mama’s Feminism: From Budgets to Beliefs - How Money Shapes Feminist Anti-Trafficking Politics If you’ve ever found yourself listening to the exact phrases echo through feminist anti-trafficking spaces - conference panels, grant reports, press releases - and wondered why they never seem to chan...

January was about receipts.

How does #carceralfeminism influence anti trafficking politics?

Find out here!
www.swopbehindbars.org/post/not-you...

#Feminism
#SexWorkersRights
#DecriminalizeSexWork
#CarceralFeminism
#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
#HarmReduction

This week, we follow the money into the nonprofit rescue economy:
After arrests and court dates, another industry steps in - one that often mirrors policing rather than replacing it. The result isn’t healing. It’s control, compliance, and continued harm.
#FollowTheMoney
#HumanTrafficking

Can't wait to be in my favorite city this week! Book me now and don't miss out :) #datenyc

The Economics of a “Human Trafficking” Sting: The Non Profit Spreadsheet During Human Trafficking Awareness Month, the public is encouraged to support efforts that “help survivors.”

After police take their victory lap and courts grind through their caseload, another group steps in to “serve victims.” www.swopbehindbars.org/post/the-eco...

Don’t miss our next Community Panel with @swopbehindbars.bsky.social! Join us on Feb 10 for a powerful discussion on creator de-platforming, de-banking, and digital rights. Get more details and registration info at the blog www.pornhub.com/blog/aylo-x-...

Follow The Money Explore 'Follow The Money' insights on our blog. Discover how 'Follow The Money' impacts financial transparency and accountability. Visit us today!

Taxpayer dollars move fast during trafficking stings.
Accountability moves slow—if it shows up at all.
We did the math so you don’t have to. www.swopbehindbars.org/blog/categor...

#FollowTheMoney #PolicyReceipts #SexWorkIsWork #AbolishTheSting #BudgetJustice

How many times must we watch this story play out?

Sex workers have always been canaries in the coal mine, people still believe policies that were created to be anti sex worker won't come back and bite them. Anti sex work legislation is a litmus test before enacting it on the larger population.

People Are Using Sora 2 to Make Disturbing Videos With AI-Generated Kids Videos such as fake ads featuring AI children playing with vibrators or Jeffrey Epstein- and Diddy-themed play sets are being made with Sora 2 and posted to TikTok.

It's not just Grok folks. OpenAI's Sora and TikTok are both being used to distribute sexualized images of minors, often with links to platforms like Telegram where actual CSAM is distributed.

www.wired.com/story/people...

Seeing people jump in to argue that we should defend porn b/c they use “porn” to go after other stuff. Yes … AND

“Porn” — explicit representation of sex — is good, in the same way that books are good. Some authors are offensive, but as a whole, it’s good to let people access their sexuality.

Government restrictions on speech, even “harmful” and “dangerous” speech, always turns out to be more dangerous and harmful than the speech itself.

Porn sites must block VPNs to comply with Indiana's age-verification law, state suggests in new lawsuit Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita says porn sites must block VPNs to satisfy the state’s age-verification requirements.

Indiana created an age-verification law that would never work. It was warned it wouldn't work. And now that it hasn't worked, it's suing adult companies for failing to make it work.

"It essentially bases liability on the failure to accomplish impossibilities."

In other words, AV was a set up.

we were never invisible.
We were never voiceless.
And we will never stop demanding a world without violence.

#D17 #December17 #IDTEVASW

Tonight, as the candles burn and the names are spoken, we remember that every light represents not only loss, but legacy. Each flame is a promise - that we will not disappear quietly, that we will not accept invisibility, and that we will keep fighting until every sex worker can live free from fear.

Ending violence against sex workers isn’t only about what happens in the streets. It’s about dismantling the structures that make that violence possible - criminalization, poverty, racism, transphobia, and misogyny. It’s about building a world where safety is not a privilege, but a right.

From that first vigil organized by St. James Infirmary, a movement took root. Candles were lit, names were spoken, and grief became a rallying cry: No more stolen lives. No more silence.

Every year since, sex workers around the world have carried that flame.

We gather because we remember.

It began in 2003 in San Francisco, when sex workers and allies gathered to mourn the victims of the Green River Killer - women whose lives were erased not just by one man’s violence, but by a society that barely noticed they were gone.

Just a reminder that our candlelight vigil for #D-17 is happening in two days.

❤️☂️🕯️

#d17 #Seattle

#D17 events:

This vision may feel far from the reality, but it is already being built - in the power of survival stories, in the hands that pass harm-reduction supplies, in the digital spaces where workers share safety tips, and in vigils. Each candle lit is not only a memorial flame but a spark of the future.

Imagine a world where safety is not conditional, where dignity is not negotiable, and where justice does not come with caveats. A world where sex work is recognized as work - where our labor is respected, our boundaries are honored, and no one has to fear that their job will cost them their life.