1 Community Empowerment
It is crucial to note that community-led( i. e. sex worker-led) processes and organizations are not synonymous with generic community-based organizations( CBOs). In community-led organizations, power and decision-making lie in the hands of community members( sex workers), whereas in a CBO, power may reside only with some members of the community, or with non-community members who act as administrators. It is the self-determining and self-governing nature of an organization, and its commitment to pursue the goals that its own members have agreed upon, that make it a collective.
Box 1.3
Bringing sex workers together
• Organize group activities at safe spaces( drop-in centres) based on the interests of the group members.
• Plan activities for special occasions, such as the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers( 17 December).
• Invite sex worker activists or community outreach workers from neighbouring areas to speak at a gathering of local sex workers.
Sex worker organizations come into being in various ways. Two primary ones are:
• growing out of a community empowerment process or other process supported by another organization, including national, regional or global sex worker-led networks
• sex workers independently forming an organization.
The advantage of the first is that the partner organization may be able to support the process through funding, the provision of space, assistance with activities and advocacy to remove any barriers. This support is often necessary and welcome and should include connecting the local group to existing national and regional sex worker-led networks. However, if a sex worker organization is to be a true collective, ownership must rest with the community, and its form and function should be based on the needs and priorities identified by its members. It is crucial that the outside partner understand that the organization needs to be given the freedom to find its own way.
In some cases, sex worker groups hire consultants to lead them through the process of forming an organization, or receive crucial support from one or two nongovernmental organization( NGO) employees. Alternatively, they may do it themselves with the help of a partner NGO’ s lawyer, or with support from national or regional sex worker-led networks. An organization experienced in project management, financial management, monitoring and reporting, communication and fundraising can help build the capacity of sex workers by providing training and opportunities to practise skills.
1.2.4 Adapting to local needs and contexts
Sex workers face diverse legal, political, social and health environments. Sex work may be criminalized or an accepted occupation; it may be predominantly establishment-based or street-based. Sex workers may be undocumented migrants, highly mobile or selling sex in their own locality. HIV programmes need to be sensitive to the diversity of cultures of people working in the sex industry. What it means to be part of a sex work“ community” varies depending on the culture, ethnicity, language, location and socioeconomic position of the particular sex workers. As a result of these different contexts,
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