International Day of Sex Worker Visibility is coming up this January 1st! Share #EndWhorephobia on social media to spread the word
Welcome to #EndWhorephobia
End Whorephobia is a volunteer-run organization that seeks to aid sex workers in heightening their visibility in the global political space, and shed a light on the mistreatment they suffer. We believe that sex work is work and that all sex workers deserve to have their human rights protected. Our mission is to empower and support sex workers in their fight for justice and equality.
What Is Whorephobia?
Definition: Whorephobia refers to the negative stereotypes, stigma, and marginalization sex workers face, which stems from a pervasive fear and hatred of sex workers.
This fear and hatred frequently intersects with the fear and hatred of other marginalized groups. Meaning, some sex workers are more likely to suffer from the consequences of their society's whorephobia, specifically disabled, LGBTQIA+, street, migrant or survival workers (those who engage in "survival sex" e.g. the exchange of sex for money, food, clothing, shelter, or other basic needs), sex workers of color, and depending on what country the sex worker is living and working in.
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The level of marginalization and stigma that affects sex workers also depends on whether or not they are able to concurrently maintain another non-sex work related job (without fear of being fired) or be hired at a new job after they have done sex work, whether or not they live in a place that criminalizes the buying or selling of sexual services, the level of sex positivity in their social circles, whether they are "out" as a sex worker (their sex work persona is connected to their person, or people in their lives know they're a sex worker), and what type of sex work they do (e.g. paid modeling for budoir photoshoots, online content creation or camming, professional pornography, dancing in a club, sugar babying, escorting, prostitution, or brothel work) and the dangers and risks associated with each.
It is important to note that any and all institutions & political movements that imply that adult sex workers cannot under any circumstances consent to sex work, that target sex workers, organizations, and companies with baseless accusations of aiding or approving of trafficking or child exploitation, or that work to pass legislature under the guise of protecting trafficking victims and children (but that actually target sex workers) and who refuse to work with sex workers who are educated & experienced organizers, advocates, and often survivors themselves, are using the issues of trafficking and child exploitation to promote whorephobia in every sense - personally, economically, societally, and legally - and in the process not only are they often hurting the very victims they are claiming to support, they are actively destroying all the work that the sex work community has tried to do for those issues over the decades.
How do we "End Whorephobia"?
We can start by:
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Uplifting sex worker voices, especially the most marginalized
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Humanizing Sex Workers
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Sharing Support Resources
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Fighting Stigma and Misconceptions
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Advocating for decriminalization and fighting against the Nordic Model
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Raising awareness on legislative and cultural setbacks that harm sex workers
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Combating systemic, state/governmental, and personal violence against sex workers