POWER

Since: 2018
Contact: pedro.machado@apdes.pt

POWER – Promotion Of sex WorkErs Rights – is undertaken by APDES/PortoG and is funded by Open Society Foundations (OSF). Launched in November 2018, POWER complements and reinforces APDES’ advocacy efforts in promoting sex workers rights.
POWER emphasizes that sex workers must be acknowledged as protagonists in identifying their needs and assessing the impact of public policies in their activities and their rights.

The main goal of POWER is to promote the influence of SW and civil society through a concerted advocacy strategy that comprises actions to foster the visibility of sex workers needs and demands and their exercise of political influence. Its components are closely related and interdependent. Power consists in a dynamic model that articulates three interdependent areas:empowerment of sex workers’ collective, dissemination of international advocacy tools in the field and a multidisciplinary think tank to improve policy making regarding sex workers and their rights.

Empowerment of sex workers’ collectives: It urges that the voice of sex workers is acknowledged as an authority to speak for their needs. The
empowerment of SW collectives intends to help and reinforce the self-organization of a SW led group, supporting fundraising, co-creating organizational tools and other activities the collective finds important;

Multidisciplinary Think Tank: It urges to increase the political influence of
sex workers and assure the protection of their human rights. The think tank brings together specialists of distinctive areas to produce knowledge, create recommendations and advocacy tools in accordance to the claims of sex workers;

Translation of advocacy tools: It urges to raise awareness about the global movement of sex workers and assure the access of important international and widespread advocacy tools, usually written in English. The tools considered as important references by specialists will be translated and disseminated through sex workers; networks that speak Portuguese.