“Sex Workers Unite!”: U.S. Sex Worker Support Networks in an Era of Criminalization

This article analyzes how sex worker support networks exist at a nexus of support, friendship, and assistance for current and former sex workers, stemming from participation at the Desiree Alliance conference in 2010. During the conference, current and former sex workers engaged in peer-to-peer education on a range of issues and continued to support one another after the conference in ways that value both well-being and work. As social nodes of resilience and care in a neoliberal, carceral society, sex worker support networks embody broad meanings of harm reduction and resistance to traditional, institutionalized forms of protection and labor rights.