Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT)
CONTACT PERSON: Eric Harper
PHYSICAL ADDRESS:
Ground Floor
41 Salt River Road
Salt River
Cape Town, 7925
POSTAL ADDRESS:
P O Box 373
Woodstock
Cape Town
South Africa, 7925
TELEPHONE: +27 21 448 7875
FAX: +27 21 448 7857
E-MAIL:eric.harper@sweat.org.zaWEB-SITE:SWEAT websiteBrief History
SWEAT was a birth child of the early nineties, its origin capturing the excitement and hope that went with the transition from apartheid to democracy and a constitution respecting human rights. Shane Petzer, a male sex worker and the founding member of SWEAT, drove forward the work which in 1994 developed into a project of ASET [AIDS Support, Education and Training] with the purpose of establishing a non-governmental service organisation focusing on safer sex educational work with adult sex workers. With the expansion of work SWEAT became independent in 1996, and registered as a non-profit organisation.
Vision SWEAT is at the cutting edge of sex worker advocacy, human rights defence and mobilisation in Africa. SWEAT has determined the discussions on a legal adult sex work industry where sex work is acknowledged as work, and where sex workers have a strong voice, which informs and influences wider social debates. SWEAT has campaigned for the inclusion of sex workers as respected and valued members of society.
Mission SWEAT works to achieve this vision by continuing to find ways to support sex workers to access their human rights in a criminalised system, while at the same time advocating for decriminalisation of sex work. We do this through the continuous improvement to the design and development of our programmes which are: • Outreach and education • Advocacy and networking • Research and knowledge management As an organisation, we will ensure that we have adequate capacity and resources, effective systems for smooth operational functioning, creative use of ICT to achieve our goals. SWEAT creates spaces for sex workers to have a voice by creating alliances, partnerships and networks with other human rights organisation, and by facilitating a coordinated, organised African network of sex workers.
Our programmes SWEAT has three main programmes that collectively aim to address the structural impediments to achieving a legitimate and respected sex work industry where informed, empowered, safe sex workers are able to make choices about their working lives and career options. Whilst having a specific advocacy program, advocacy forms part of the work of all the different programmes.
Systemic approachWe have conceptualised our development approach in three layers which address the whole system, namely empowering, enhancing and enabling. We will continue to find ways to support sex workers to access their human rights in a criminalised system. This means that we aim to empower sex workers through capacity building and linking sex workers to resources. We also aim to enhance this empowerment through improved social cohesion, by building alliances, networks, partnerships and through grassroots mobilisation and activism. We view it as critical that we create an enabling environment or context if our goals for empowering and enhancing are to have a lasting impact. In this regard we will continue to argue for decriminalisation through advocacy for law reform, and through other forms of social activism.
Results based & evidence supportedWe work with a results based approach meaning that we intend to meet our objectives, implement knowledge management systems and used the evidence arising from this to inform our programmes.
Gender sensitive We will also maintain a gender awareness in our work and draw upon different feminist arguments. We see sex work as a central issue within feminist theory and as such feel that we have an important contribute to make within the debate around body politics. We see this as a two way process and are informed by debates taking place within feminism. We see the gender movement and feminist theory, including queer theory, as an ally in our struggle our attempts to conceptualise and understand the lives of sex workers.
Conceptual model of inter-sectionality In the model designed, the 3 programmes in SWEAT intersect, at the centre of the intersection lays Activism, Human Rights Defence and Sisonke. All the programmes are interrelated and each one contributes to the progress of another.
Vision SWEAT is at the cutting edge of sex worker advocacy, human rights defence and mobilisation in Africa. SWEAT has determined the discussions on a legal adult sex work industry where sex work is acknowledged as work, and where sex workers have a strong voice, which informs and influences wider social debates. SWEAT has campaigned for the inclusion of sex workers as respected and valued members of society.
Mission SWEAT works to achieve this vision by continuing to find ways to support sex workers to access their human rights in a criminalised system, while at the same time advocating for decriminalisation of sex work. We do this through the continuous improvement to the design and development of our programmes which are: • Outreach and education • Advocacy and networking • Research and knowledge management As an organisation, we will ensure that we have adequate capacity and resources, effective systems for smooth operational functioning, creative use of ICT to achieve our goals. SWEAT creates spaces for sex workers to have a voice by creating alliances, partnerships and networks with other human rights organisation, and by facilitating a coordinated, organised African network of sex workers.
Our programmes SWEAT has three main programmes that collectively aim to address the structural impediments to achieving a legitimate and respected sex work industry where informed, empowered, safe sex workers are able to make choices about their working lives and career options. Whilst having a specific advocacy program, advocacy forms part of the work of all the different programmes.
- Advocacy and Networking Programme aims to give input to legislative reform processes on a national and local government level and challenge human rights violations. This programme strives to make optimum use of the media in order to raise public awareness and influence public and political attitudes towards sex work. This programme again works closely with sex workers locally in relation to legal rights infringements and mobilises sex workers to take their cases forward in a collective manner in order to impact on changes to law. Central to the program is partnerships work and alliances building. The aim is create broad support for the different campaigns and use of public events to raise awareness around the concerns and challenges that sex workers face from civil society.
- Outreach and Development Programme aims to empower sex workers with skills so as to enhance their capacity to speak on their own behalf, feel more confident to address human rights concerns and make informed choices, including the addressing of health concerns. The program is focussed on interventions that address the immediate health and safety needs of sex workers as well as targeting sex workers collectively with in-depth workshops around safer sex, general health and life skills. In addition to outreach and training, capacity and skills development, increased networking among sex workers, and the bringing together of sex workers from different parts of the region and joint advocacy work around human rights abuses takes place. The development and outreach approach fosters good working relationships and allows for collaborative work to address legal and social issues. This direct contact informs our intervention strategies as well as our advocacy and lobbying work.
- Research and Knowledge Management Programme aims to address the need for a credible and useful research base that is in the interests of sex workers and improves the effectiveness of our interventions and support our work around health and human rights.
Systemic approachWe have conceptualised our development approach in three layers which address the whole system, namely empowering, enhancing and enabling. We will continue to find ways to support sex workers to access their human rights in a criminalised system. This means that we aim to empower sex workers through capacity building and linking sex workers to resources. We also aim to enhance this empowerment through improved social cohesion, by building alliances, networks, partnerships and through grassroots mobilisation and activism. We view it as critical that we create an enabling environment or context if our goals for empowering and enhancing are to have a lasting impact. In this regard we will continue to argue for decriminalisation through advocacy for law reform, and through other forms of social activism.
Results based & evidence supportedWe work with a results based approach meaning that we intend to meet our objectives, implement knowledge management systems and used the evidence arising from this to inform our programmes.
Gender sensitive We will also maintain a gender awareness in our work and draw upon different feminist arguments. We see sex work as a central issue within feminist theory and as such feel that we have an important contribute to make within the debate around body politics. We see this as a two way process and are informed by debates taking place within feminism. We see the gender movement and feminist theory, including queer theory, as an ally in our struggle our attempts to conceptualise and understand the lives of sex workers.
Conceptual model of inter-sectionality In the model designed, the 3 programmes in SWEAT intersect, at the centre of the intersection lays Activism, Human Rights Defence and Sisonke. All the programmes are interrelated and each one contributes to the progress of another.