SWOP BEHIND BARS
Sex Worker Outreach Project
AT A GLANCE
SWOP Behind Bars is a national grassroots social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers, victims of trafficking, and their communities with a focus on those currently incarcerated or seeking re-entry. SWOP BB centers the voices of sex workers and trafficking victims as we work to end violence and stigma by providing resources, community-building projects, educational programs, and advocacy.
What We Believe
Anti-Trafficking
We believe that people who have experienced exploitation should have access and opportunity to receive services and support no matter how they got where they are.
We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran.
Decarceration
We beleive that our criminal justice system is broken and we call for the decarceration & demilitarization of society leading to the eventual abolition of systems of punishment.
We believe that survivors of violence should not be incarcerated and should instead receive restorative services and support so they are able to discontinue the cycle of violence,
Education
We engage in providing education to the public as well as to incarcerated populations about bodily autonomy, agency and self determination for all adults. Our entry program focuses on provision of identification documents, digital and financial literacy and job-readiness skill building
Information
We believe that accurate and timely information is the best way to make sure that the needs of Sex Workers and Survivors of Exploitation and Violence are met with compassion and that they are treated with dignity and respect.
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Communication
We believe that listening is the foundation of excellence in service provision,
Sex Workers and Survivors are entitled and encouraged to participate in their own safety planning and make their own decisions about how to resolve the crisis they are faced with
with supportive care.
Connection
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People who trade sex should be provided with the resources they need and that they have the ability to access. Our wide network of sex worker positive services providers understands our mission and vision and shares our goal of fair and equitable connections to vital services and support.
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Our Team
Ashunte Coleman
Ashunte Coleman is a Florida based advocate and harm reduction specialist. She is not only affiliated with SWOP Behind Bars, hosting weekly workshops and empowerment meetings, but is a member of Florida Rights Restoration Committee and the founder of LIPs Tampa, which is committed to empowering and advocating for the rights and decriminalization of transgender sex workers in Tampa and its surrounding areas. LIPs serves the needs of trans sex workers, particularly trans sex workers of color, and provides access to basic human needs such as food, safe transportation and housing, gender affirmative healthcare, access to low cost mental health and substance abuse services and to build a sense of community throughout Central Florida.
Blair Hopkins
Blair Hopkins is a New Orleans based photojournalist and lifelong adult industry professional. As the Deputy Director of SWOP Behind Bars, she hosts and produces our podcast, All In A Day's (Sex) Work, and published a book of the same name.
Ceyenne Doroshow
Ceyenne Doroshow (pronounced Kai-Ann) is a compassionate powerhouse performer, activist, organizer, community-based researcher and public figure in the trans and sex worker rights’ movements. She works to provide holistic care to LGBTQ sex workers.
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As an international public speaker, her presentations include The Desiree Alliance, Creating Change, SisterSong, Harm Reduction Coalition and the International AIDS Conferences. She was a featured emcee for Toronto Pride and MOMA/PS1’s Sex Workers’ Festival of Resistance, lifting her voice as a trans woman of color.
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Ceyenne has been heavily featured in the media, has performed on television in Showtime’s OZ, for the documentaries Red Umbrella Diaries and Miss Major.
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Known for her skills in the kitchen, Ceyenne co-authored the Caribbean cookbook Cooking in Heels, while incarcerated on prostitution charges. She is currently working on her second book, titled Falling Into the Fire.
Katt Cain
Katt Cain is an experienced harm reductionist and devoted harm reductionist in Central Florida working at the intersection of syringe exchange and sex work. Her networks of invisible workers has created unparalleled opportunities for access to critical human needs.
Chris Victoria
Chris (they/them) has been working towards change in Black communities in the South for years. Lived experience with medical racism, domestic violence, and survival sex work has fueled their passion for grassroots activism, human rights for BIPOC sex workers, increasing access to radical education, and mutual aid. In addition to work with SWOP BB they are on SWOP USA's BOD.
Melanie Dante
M. Dante is a writer who has contributed to research, discussion, and community conversations on social justice and anti violence efforts in the sex industry for 15 years. Since 2013 Ms. Dante has testified on behalf of sex workers for multiple committees around the country.
Experiencing homelessness from a young age, she was a migrant sex worker for over a decade before becoming an independent worker. With 30+ years industry exposure, she is federally defined as a trafficking survivor and identifies as an active consensual adult worker, educator and ally.
In college, she built connections between domestic violence, homelessness, survival sex work, sex trafficking, and the tolls such takes on mind, body and spirit. She focused the final products of her B.A. and M.A. degree work to trafficking and women’s health. She launched Pennsylvania Survivors Workers Community Clearinghouse and an advocacy clearinghouse for legal, legislative and support-oriented discussions related to sex trafficking and sex work.