Alright, so SWAN Vancouver. They ran a workshop yesterday about the "harms of anti trafficking" which is where I heard about them. They say they "promote the rights, health and safety of im/migrant women engaged in indoor sex work". Let's pull this apart, shall we?

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone it is legal to sell sex in Canada. What is not legal is buying sex and living off the profits of prostitution. Living off the profits includes running a brothel. Brothels are not legal in Canada.

So we have this organization who's whole thing is im/migrant woman in brothels. This is the population most likely to be trafficked. Just a fact. So, why the "Harms of anti trafficking" workshop? (All screenshots have been taken directly from their website)

This was already setting off warning bells for me. Let's see the guide. Its a fucking doozy guys. Their whole thing is about how anti-trafficking is a "rescue" industry and these women don't need rescuing.

But I think the most damning part of this guide is a few pages later. This. This is pimps' rights org, make no mistake. This groups entire aim is to promote the sex industry and make it look acceptable.

And then they start getting into debuking "myths". They say 12-14 is NOT the average age of entry, but don't provide their own answer. Nice.

They claim that the idea of rehab for prositutes is paternalistic because they don't need it. They state that prostitution is preferable to say, being a janitor or baking.

If anti-trafficking harms, then how can you help? The very first point is "Be Inclusive" because of course we couldn't get through this without that. Other then that, I'm going to sum up the advice as "Do Nothing." There's nothing about getting involved.

The biggest thing tho, THE BIGGEST, is on the about me page of their website. Not a single person on the board or the team are survivors. Everyone (according to bios) is an academic of some form. This is a huge red flag.

I can't believe I didn't hear about this before. This org has been doing its thing for like, 10 years now. The only people this org is going to benefit is the people profiting off sex work. There isn't a single thing about exiting services on their website.

Organizations like this are something we have to be aware of because on the surface, it doesn't sound too bad, until you realize the point is to keep women in the sex industry and make it acceptable. I don't have a good conclusion. Here's a kitten because that guide depressed me.