On the 17th of December, which is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, we will be hosting a Goodbye Party at 7pm in Connolly Books in Dublin, so please come along to say goodbye and celebrate our collective victories over the past years.
We have also developed a “Sex Worker Awareness Toolkit” for distribution that we are happy to email to any organisation interested in order to enhance their knowledge on sex work and how to provide non-judgemental support to sex workers.
Too many to mention. We leave it to you to ensure that sex workers are not left behind in Ireland.
Before we close at the end of 2025, we will be delivering several sex worker awareness training sessions, so if your organisation is interested in receiving our training please get in touch.
We have not shied away from critiquing the systemic barriers sex workers face in Ireland. Our failing laws have increased violence against sex workers and we have been silenced time and again.
We want to thank the many organisations and individuals who have helped us along the way.
If you are an organisation that provides services for those people, it should concern you that SWAI cannot secure funding to remain open.
This community deserves better than the laws, stigma and discrimination they face at the hands of the state, the Gardaí and some parts of civil society.
Sex workers exist at the intersection of women living in poverty, trans and LGBTQI+ people, single mothers, migrants, undocumented people, people in addiction, homeless people and those in insecure housing, disabled people and people with mental health issues.
We want to reiterate that other organisations that work with and represent marginalised communities should be extremely worried about the closure of SWAI. Sex workers have always been the canaries in the coalmine.
Ireland is still a country mired in Catholic shame and sex workers bear the brunt of that. We have focused on a harm reduction approach to ensure the health and safety of sex workers has been prioritised.
Our CEOs and board brought essential lived experience to the discussion around sex work, workers' rights and the human rights of sex workers in Ireland. We have not evaded difficult discussions and thorny topics.
A voice that has centred the wants and needs of sex workers in Ireland. A voice that does not speak over sex workers. A voice that will soon be lost.
We are proud of the work we have done in the past 16 years.
SWAI Statement on Closing
We are heartbroken to announce that the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) is closing our doors after over 16 years, due to a lack of funding.
Since our foundation in 2009, we have brought an alternative voice to the dominant narrative about sex work in Ireland.
When tributes roll in for Margaretta D'Arcy, remember she was an incredible ally to sex workers. Rest in Peace Margaretta
I am devastated to leave this organisation at such a crucial point. I will continue to advocate for the health and safety of sex workers by calling for sex work to be decriminalised in Ireland.”
Due to lack of funding, SWAI will close our doors at the end of 2025.
I took this information into the work I have done with SWAI. I’ve learned so much from the sex workers and allies I have interacted with.
I am incredibly proud of my work with SWAI. I hope I have helped shape the conversation around sex work in Ireland.
Through my activism with the Abortion Rights Campaign, I learned the importance of bodily autonomy, of affected-led organising, of feminism and that criminalisation does nothing to support health and safety.
“When I started in SWAI in October 2018, it was on the back of the successful referendum to get abortion access in Ireland.
She has been the face behind our social media posts, ensuring that the voices of sex workers are heard in Ireland. We will miss you, Linda and wish you all the best for the future <3
During her time with SWAI, she has spoken up for sex workers’ rights by speaking to the media, commenting on news items, promoting attendance at our events, shaping the visual identity of SWAI, honing our messaging, and communicating with politicians and policymakers.
We are sad to say goodbye to our Communications and Advocacy manager, Linda Kavanagh, who has been with SWAI for 7 years.
We would also like an explanation as to why organisations that ran Magdelene Laundries in Ireland have a say in what happens to sex workers. Client criminalisation has pushed sex work underground in Ireland and increased violence against sex workers.
www.thenational.scot/news/2557575...
If you are a sex worker in Ireland, please check out our website. You can find information about your rights and get signposted to services that can help you.
sexworkersallianceireland.org
Transphobia harms all women, part 4,586
Violence against sex workers hasn't gone away. It was incredibly brave of the sex worker involved in this case to come forward, as we know that most sex workers do not.
www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts...
Geila's murder stands as a grim reminder of the dangers faced by sex workers under the Nordic Model of client criminalisation, which prioritises ideology over evidence and endangers the lives of those it claims to protect.
In Memory Love & Rage End the Violence
We're continuing to highlight the work of SWAI. In April 2023, Geila Ibram, a sex worker in Limerick, was murdered.
Along with other sex worker organisations, we held a vigil outside the Department of Justice to highlight the lack of concern about sx workers' safety in Ireland.
Full decriminalization is the way; the Nordic model 'isn't' the way. #sexwork #sexworkerrights #listentoallsexworkers #sexworkiswork #sexworkisnotsextrafficking #decriminalizesexwork #sexworkerrightsarehumanrights #europeansexworkers #rejectthenordicmodel #sexworkers
Next year, organisations will go to the Western Cape High Court to argue for the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa. Like in Ireland, condoms are used as evidence that sex work has occurred, and sex workers often face discrimination and judgment.
www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...
Ireland continues to be criticised for our lack of action on identifying trafficking victims, prosecuting traffickers and the lack of implementation of the National Referral Mechanism. The sex work laws are failing! Time to decriminalise.
www.socialjustice.ie/article/irel...
Self-Advocacy as a Pregnant Trans Person
An article covering how to advocate for yourself when accessing pregnancy care, correcting misinformation that medical professionals might give you, and going over what kinds of misgendering you can expect and how to avoid it when possible.
