INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTS

Support services can be provided either in-person or via email, text, telephone, WeChat and What’sApp.  Our services are low-barrier and we do not require a legal name or other identifying information. 

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SWAN can:

• provide information and referrals to health, legal, immigration, housing and social services

• accompany and provide advocacy in appointments

• translate during appointments (Cantonese and Mandarin)

• case co-ordination and crisis management

• provide emotional support

SWAN’s Abuser Alert system provides im/migrant women engaged in sex work a platform to disclose experiences of violence or injustice with a goal of increasing safety for others. Reports are entered into an SMS messaging system that affords instant distribution. 

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Women can share information regarding violent/abusive clients, non-payments, robberies, police raids, employment or management issues, and problematic intersections with bylaw officers.

OUTREACH

Our Outreach program is the catalyst through which we continue to build and sustain on-the-ground relationships with the women we serve while pioneering effective service and advocacy to meet their needs.  Through this program, our trained volunteers and staff connect with im/migrant women engaged in indoor sex work all across the Lower Mainland, providing supports as women’s situations and needs warrant.  Regular routes include: Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Delta, Langley, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Richmond, and Surrey.

SWAN can:

• distribute safer-sex supplies 

• connect you with safe healthcare providers

• facilitate access to STI & HIV testing and treatment 

• answer questions and provide information regarding sex work laws, police, municipal bylaws and enforcement, immigration, housing and tenancy issues (including eviction), health, safety and social issues

• provide emotional support

• reduce isolation and build community with women who would otherwise be unaware of the specialized support, information and advocacy available to them through SWAN

NETREACH

Netreach is simply outreach via internet and communication technologies. Recognizing that women access and participate in online spaces as part of their work, we developed Netreach in 2014 to meet the needs of the ever-changing indoor sex work sector. While the internet is thought by many as a facilitator of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, few give thought to how sex workers use the internet and communication technologies as critical safety mechanisms or how organizations such as SWAN can connect with women while respecting anonymity and confidentiality.

In 2017, NSWP in a report on ICT and Sex Work featured  SWAN's Netreach program as a case study and best practice.

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Trafficking Signals: Know the Laws, Know Your Rights

Resource includes: 

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• information on prostitution & trafficking laws

• scenarios in which law enforcement confuses im/migrant sex work with trafficking

• how to differentiate between different law enforcement agencies and their different legal powers/authority

• im/migrant sex workers' rights during anti-trafficking raids

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You Matter: Your Health Matters 

Resource includes: 

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• culturally competent & im/migrant sex-work specific STI/HIV prevention & treatment information

• communication and negotiation strategies for safer sex  practices

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My Legal Rights: Statement for Police & Government Officials

This is a bilingual rights card that can be given to police during raids.  It includes: 

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• a statement confirming your first language

• a request for an interpreter if necessary

• a statement of your legal rights

• a clear statement confirming that you wish to retain legal counsel before making any decisions

Working in Canada

Without Canadian Citizenship (Stella)

Immigration Status

and Sex Work (Stella)

Legal Information

for Migrant Sex Workers (Butterfly)

Criminal Law

and Sex Workers' Rights (Butterfly)

Municipal Law

and Sex Worker's Rights (Butterfly)

Immigration Law

and Sex Workers' Rights (Butterfly)

MIgrant Sex Workers'

Labour & Employment Rights (Butterfly)