First as the Winnipeg Working Group for Sex Workers’ Rights, and now as the Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition, our members have participated in numerous actions around sex work in Winnipeg.
Our members have been a vocal (and visible!) contingent in the annual Dyke Marches, May Day celebrations, and the National Day of Action for Sex Workers’ Rights.
We have delivered over a dozen presentations on the needs and realities of sex workers to classrooms of nursing, medicine, women’s & gender studies, and other students at Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions.
We have collaborated for years, now, with the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, as their Manitoba chapter.
For December 17th, 2020, we worked with Winnipeg Police Cause Harm for this interview, “Policing Sex Work in Winnipeg: Q&A with SWWAC.”
In December 2017, for the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers, we collaborated on a letter chain to share love, affirmation, and other positive thoughts between different groups who are, include, serve and/or care for people who sell sex in Winnipeg. For more information and to see some of the amazing cards people made, click here.
In April 2016, we met with University of Manitoba researchers to advise on the development of the Sex Work Database, a digital activist archive.
In February and March 2016, we organized focus groups on how to improve the ‘Bad Dates’ reporting system in Winnipeg.
In February 2016, we co-hosted, with Love Positive Women, the Sex Worker Evening of Art, as part of Genderfest.
In January 2016, one of our members delivered a TEDx talk called Sex Work, Rights and Stigma.
In October and November 2015, we took a public stand against Buying Sex is Not a Sport, a faith-based campaign imported by the Manitoba government opposing all paid sex.
In April 2015, we sent letters to every candidate for Mayor of Winnipeg, asking them how they would respond at the municipal level to Bill C-36. Only one candidate responded (and he didn’t win).
In November 2015, we co-hosted Sex Work: Experience, Evidence, and Rights, a panel discussion featuring Anlina Sheng (Winnipeg Working Group), Naomi Sayers (Kwe Today), and Amy Lebovitch (Sex Professionals of Canada). The audio can be accessed from the panel and from the Q&A session.
In December 2014, we hosted What to Expect from C-36, in anticipation of what eventually became the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. We also created a resource for the occasion.
In December 2014, we wrote to the then-Attorney General, requesting that he refer Bill C-36 to the Manitoba Court of Appeal for a constitutional reference. He responded with a form letter.
If you’d like to see work we’ve done that has been featured in the media, check out our Past Media page.