International Sex Workers' Rights Day screenings and talk

Glasgow’s Sex Worker Open University invites you to a night of film and talk to mark and celebrate International Sex Workers’ Rights day. We'll be screening two films: A Kiss For Gabriela, an affectionate and funny documentary about a sex worker who ran for parliament in Brazil, and Forum Triple X, a short, powerful film about a Canadian festival of sex worker organising.

The night will also be a fundraiser for CONFIDE, the new sex worker-led, community listening support service for sex workers and those in the sex industry. Sex workers aren't victims, and don’t need to be rescued by organisations who want to explain to us that our work is actually “violence”. What we do need, sometimes, is a non-judgemental space to talk stuff through - somewhere that sees us as people exercising agency and navigating our lives, whatever our more or less constrained circumstances, whatever our experiences. Somewhere that unquestioningly believes us when we say we’re sex workers, rather than referring back to institutional guidelines that state “sex work does not exist” and ascribing to us false consciousness (as Jessie Nicole, sex workers rights activist, writes, “Why would anyone in crisis confide in someone who will not accept their lived experience as valid?”).

CONFIDE will offer a non-judgemental, confidential safe space for sex workers and people who have worked in the sex industry to talk - and be listened to. CONFIDE is a sub-project of the Sex Worker Open University, and currently has no funding. While our costs are minimal, they are not non-existent, and any donations on the right are greatly appreciated.