{"id":97,"date":"2025-12-30T19:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T19:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/?p=97"},"modified":"2026-11-10T16:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:35:38","slug":"solidarity-as-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/articles\/solidarity-as-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Solidarity as strategy: Diverse organising by sex workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-insight-solidarity-as-strategy-header-1024x512.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-139\" srcset=\"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-insight-solidarity-as-strategy-header-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-insight-solidarity-as-strategy-header-980x490.png 980w, https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-insight-solidarity-as-strategy-header-480x240.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wpm-language-switcher wpm-switcher-list\">\r\n\t\t\t<li class=\"wpm-item-language-en\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\" data-lang=\"en\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-multilang\/flags\/gb.png\" alt=\"English (UK)\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>English (UK)<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t<li class=\"wpm-item-language-nl\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\" data-lang=\"nl\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-multilang\/flags\/nl.png\" alt=\"Nederlands\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Nederlands<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t<li class=\"wpm-item-language-es active\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span data-lang=\"es\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-multilang\/flags\/es.png\" alt=\"Espagnol\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Espagnol<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t<\/ul>\r\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sex worker activism takes many forms. Drawing on her experience, Marin Scarlett shares how different ways of organising build collective power.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSex work\u201d is not an identity, sex work is work and it is often a survival strategy through poverty, marginalisation and capitalism. Unsurprisingly, the ways in which we organise are as diverse as we are. Some days I\u2019m meeting MEPs, others I\u2019m rage-drawing cartoons about them. Our cause intersects with many movements, including labour rights, migrant rights and healthcare rights, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">We are trade unionists, calling for recognition of sex work as work and demanding workers\u2019 rights. We are academics and researchers, contributing to the body of evidence that supports our position. We are artists and performers &#8211; this very article was devised during Red Insight\u2019s retreat! In an increasingly dire funding landscape, many creatives support themselves with sex work, while many sex workers find&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/articles\/the-inherent-artistry-of-sex-workers-is-on-display-in-amsterdam-north\">creativity inherent to the job.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Adaptable approach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Each group reaches different audiences, building diverse solidarity networks that all intersect to strengthen our movement. LGBTQ+ activists challenge discrimination that disproportionately leaves many people in their communities with little choice but to sell sexual services. Supporters of migrants\u2019 rights decry the use of criminalisation to police borders that increase migrant sex workers\u2019 vulnerability to violence. Public health advocates highlight the impossibility of meeting HIV targets while key groups face barriers to accessing healthcare services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In different countries, the decriminalisation movement has found different footholds. In New Zealand, reform was driven by a focus on public health and sex workers\u2019 human rights. In Australia, the failure of previous legal models helped present decriminalisation as a viable alternative. In Belgium, the recent focus has been on labour rights, such as pensions and sick leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>All organising counts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">No single argument will sway all leaders, policymakers and potential allies. We need diversity. Each of us has our passions, work and area of focus that adds value to our movement. Meeting with politicians, participating in health inclusion groups, chanting at protests, performing at festivals; all organising is good organising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">My own activism has included all of the above, and I\u2019ve occasionally witnessed a kind of \u201cwhoreganiser-archy\u201d; criticism of those not doing the \u201creal\u201d organising. Competitiveness is counterproductive; we need to lift one another up. There is no single way to organise that trumps all others. We build mutual support and solidarity across different approaches, and should celebrate this diverse spectrum of organising in our collective struggle for the rights of all sex workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Illustrations and words by Marin Scarlett<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sex worker activism takes many forms. Drawing on her experience, Marin Scarlett shares how different ways of organising build collective power. \u201cSex work\u201d is not an identity, sex work is work and it is often a survival strategy through poverty, marginalisation and capitalism. Unsurprisingly, the ways in which we organise are as diverse as we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redoredinsight.nl\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}