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Our Activities

Networking – UK

UKNSWP supports and promotes regional and networking meetings of sex work projects in the home nations and regions in the UK. UKNSWP also maintains links with other organizations with concerns around sex work. Bilateral networking is promoted through various events such as the annual conference, practice and policy group meetings (see below) and the Home Nation and Regional Forums. Email   briefings and news items relevant to sex work are sent to network members regularly. Networking activity enables the sharing of good practice in the development and delivery of support services.

 

Networking – International

Patterns of sex work in the UK are shaped by developments in the rest of Europe, and elsewhere in the world. It is therefore important for UK projects to have a source of information about developments overseas, and UKNSWP has links with other international networks focusing on sex work and health promotion. UKNSWP itself grew out of EUROPAP (European Network for HIV/STD Prevention in Prostitution) which was funded by the European Commission to share expertise and conduct multi-centre research across the EU, and then candidate countries.

UKNSWP is a member of;

  • The International Committee for the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe. www.sexworkeurope.org/
  • The Global Network of Sex Work Projects, which has membership across, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Carribean. www.nswp.org/
  • Correlation a European network for social inclusion and health www.correlation-net.org/
  • The Global Alliance Against the Trafficking in Women (GAATW) www.gaatw.org/
  • The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) www.ihra.net/
  • The European network TAMPEP (Transnational AIDS/STI Prevention among Migrant Prostitutes in Europe) funded by the European Commission to map trends in migrant sex work and develop multi lingual health promotion materials for migrant sex workers. tampep.eu/

 

Under 18’s and Sexual Exploitation

Many UKNSWP member projects work with under 18′s on the issue of sexual exploitation. UKNSWP has close links with the National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People (NWG). A UK wide network of practitioners, policy makers and researchers working with children and young people who are at risk of, or who experience, sexual exploitation. Has a primary aim of offering support and advice to those working with children and young people affected by sexual exploitation. www.nationalworkinggroup.org/

 

Good Practice Guidelines & Resources

In 2008 the UKNSWP launched several Good Practice Guidelines and Resources:

  • Outreach
  • Migrant Sex Workers
  • Ugly Mugs
  • Exiting
  • Male Sex Work

In addition we have- delete have produced Resources for Sex Workers and an Online Directory of Services. These are all downloadable from add the Resources section of this website.

In 2011 UKNSWP produced an updated Good Practice Guidance for Ugly Mugs.

 

Practice and Policy Group

The UKNSWP has a Practice & Policy group which meets up to 3 times a year in different parts of the UK.  This is open to all UKNSWP members. Given the high volume of government activity regarding the sex industry over recent years, this group is directly involved in responding, in written form and through direct meetings, to Home Office, Scottish Office and police proposals across the UK. The role of the group is to be a UK wide forum where members can contribute to the formulation of UKNSWP responses to and initiatives regarding practice and policy developments relating to sex work and sex work, and sexual exploitation and sex work support service provision across England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland. It is a forum where members can identify and propose practice & policy issues at a local and regional level that may have national/UK significance and require a national/UK response from the UKNSWP.  The group provides a voice for sex work projects on national/UK policy & practice debates on sex work. A core part of this business is also updating on Safety, Violence and Policing issues. This group has promoted protocols for,  and use of the Ugly Mugs,  system for reporting violent and other crimes against sex workers.