Outdoor Sex Work and COVID-19 resource

Back in July, the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) held a webinar to launch a new harm reduction resource we developed in collaboration with GOSHH in Limerick and Sexual Health Centre in Cork. The information card provides practical advice for anyone selling or trading sex on the street or outdoors during the pandemic and was created […]

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Images from vigil 2019

Structural and actual violence against sex workers did not end under COVID

December 17th marks International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Kate McGrew, director of Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) says “This year the review of the sex work laws has begun and we worked to ensure that sex worker’s voices were heard in the policy decisions that govern our lives. These laws have kept […]

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woman looking at phone with creepy ghost behind her

SWAI statement on leaked nudes 

Consent is vital for any sexual relationship, whether online or in-person, whether transactional or not. The leaking and distribution of sexual images which have been reported recently breaches the consent and trust of those involved.   Misogyny, rape culture and consent are at the heart of this, issues sex workers are all too familiar with. We […]

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We deserve to be safe image

Press release: Ireland is a safer place thanks to sex workers coming forward

“When sex workers work together with Gardaí we can make society better,” says Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) commenting on two court cases involving attacks on sex workers which were reported on today. She continues “In the case in Tralee the judge warned the accused to […]

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14th June Blood Donor Day

Blood donation and sex work in Ireland

by Adeline Berry The world appears to be in turmoil and many of us are looking for ways to be part of the progress in making things better. In that spirit I recently emailed the blood donation service in Ireland to ask about their restrictions on donating. I must confess that it’s been a while […]

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International Whores Day

Time to get real about sex work in Ireland on International Sex Workers Day

 “Today is International Sex Workers Day and we are marking it while slowly emerging from the throes of a global pandemic”, says Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI). She continues “Even a global pandemic cannot successfully eradicate the in-person sex industry in Ireland. Over half of the […]

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Neon sign of workers holding a hammer and a vibrator

International Workers Day – Sex Work is Work

Has your income dried up because of the pandemic? Do you put in more hours online for less money than you would have before Covid-19? As a freelance worker do you find it hard to prove where your money came from to apply for emergency welfare? Well, then your experience of the coronavirus is much […]

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Press release: Over 100 European NGOs endorse a statement calling for emergency support to sex workers amid the COVID-19 crisis

The International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE), a network of more than 100 organisations supporting sex workers has published its demands to European institutions and national governments, including emergency income replacement, a moratorium on fines, arrests and prosecution related to sex work and immigration status, access to health care for […]

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Harm reduction, sex work and Covid-19

For sex workers As sex workers ourselves, we know that when everyone is being told to isolate our work gets hit. If you can take some time off to stop working and social distance now is a good time.  We also know that some people will need to work to survive. This blogspot outlines a […]

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Stethoscope

Press Release: Sex workers need supports too says Sex Workers Alliance Ireland

Kate McGrew current sex worker, director of The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) and co-convenor of the European Network for Sex Workers’ Rights (ICRSE) is calling for the Irish government to urgently act to ensure that sex workers, along with their families and communities, can access social protections during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says “As […]

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