what we're up to
We are currently involved in numerous projects we thought we should create a space to talk about. Our team are a talkative and passionate bunch with a lot to say and we have a lot of exciting projects lined up for 2024 and can’t wait to share them with our community.
This is where we will post what we have going on, stuff you can get involved in, events we will be appearing at and any other news involving our organisation. If you see anything here you want to support us in developing or get involved with feel free to get in touch!
our zine is ready to go
We have just sent our first collaborative zine, ‘It Ain’t All Rosé Volume I’ off to print and are ready to start taking orders!
This volume is an introduction to our organisation and features the sex workers we work alongside and support.
We are using the funds from this issue to pay sex workers for their contributions to our next one!
As part of our creative strategy, we are aiming to publish several zines a year and hope that this will become a valuable way for the sex workers we collaborate with to get their art published.
our upcoming collaborations with sexquisite
$exquisite is a sex worker led performing arts company, passionate about creating paid opportunities for sex workers and showcasing sex worker artists and performers across theatre, cabaret and nightlife.
We’ve been going to their shows a lot and have seen what a truly lovely and safe community space they have created. The performers are incredible, the people that go are all so welcoming and the whole thing gives us so much pride in the community we’re so proud of.
Our 2024 creative strategy aims to improve educational structures, increase the presence of sex workers in creative and academic settings and bring more paid creative opportunities to the community.
We couldn’t imagine trying to do this without Sexquisite and are so excited to be showing our face at their events, collaborating creatively and working together to showcase art from sex workers which they are paid to produce. Sexquisite are going to be collaborating with us on creative projects such as exhibitions and community zines.
We’re going to be running a stall of some of sexquisite’s events for sex workers to come and have a chat to our support workers, whether they want to show their face, find out more about us, buy our goods or have a little sit down for a chat. We’ll be scheduling coffee and cake meet ups for sex workers who find they want to speak another time in a more private setting.
supporting sex workers in custody
In England, there are nine resettlement pathways to reduce reoffending that help determine the support structures offered to women in custody.
- Accommodation
- Education, Training and Employment
- Mental and Physical Health
- Drugs and Alcohol
- Finance, benefits and debt
- Children, family and communities
- Attitudes, thinking and behaviours
- Supporting people who have been abused or experienced sexual abuse or domestic violence
- Supporting people who have been involved in the sex work industry
Since January 2023, In collaboration with The North East Sex Work Forum, we have been providing the peer led element of a participatory project involving women in custody at HMP Low Newton receiving support under Pathway 9.
The project aims to inform a harm reduction approach to improve support services and structures available to women receiving support under Pathway 9.
We met with the women we had the privilege of working with weekly over 25 sessions, meaning we had a long time to become close and it truly was on of the best things we’ve ever got to do. The women benefitted from the group so much they advocated for us to put on a permanent group and were really open with us when structuring a trauma informed response to prison support structures.
The workshops were designed to build on skills which would support the women in interviewing non-uniformed prison staff themselves. The women led the interviews whilst the team stayed quiet and we all came up with the questions together, with them leading the discourse. The interview’s purpose was to identify development areas in staff knowledge and the support options available to the women.
We plan to implement a training package to deliver to staff at HMP Low Newton to improve support avenues for women receiving support under Pathway 9. We have hopes to work with other prisons in a similar structure.
