 What is the Sex Worker Implementation Tool? The Sex Worker Implementation Tool, or SWIT for short, is a guideline on effective HIV and sexual transmitting infections programming for sex workers. It was developed by the Global Network of Sex Work Projects, NSWP, together with sex workers, service providers, UN agencies, and technical experts. Sex workers are at the core of SWIT. Each SWIT chapter was developed by and for sex workers, considering their needs and the strategies that work best to meet those needs. In this video, we'll talk about the first SWIT chapter, Community Empowerment. There are eight key elements of community empowerment. Working with communities of sex workers Meaningful involvement is essential to building trust, establishing partnerships, and ultimately to meeting the needs of sex workers and achieving desired program results. We have our own candidate nomination processes for the meetings, we may need translation, and we may need information about the meeting in a timely manner in order to best decide whether to participate and how. In addition, funding capacity building programs enable us to prepare more efficiently for meetings and dialogues that affect our health and lives. Fostering sex worker-led outreach It is not enough to consult with sex workers before creating a program. The approach must be flexible and adaptable to specific community needs. Different communities of sex workers may have different needs, therefore they may require unique ways of meeting them. We want to be involved as equal partners in the programs, or even better, we can lead the outreach activities based on the priorities of our community. Developing sex worker collectives A good place to start in fostering community cohesion is by providing us with safe spaces where we can meet to talk, share experiences, provide each other with support, do our makeup, and discuss our needs and priorities. We are empowered when we help each other out with childcare, with family issues, around police violence, around prevention and access to healthcare. During the COVID-19 crisis, community support was essential for us. We helped each other out by sharing the costs of living and organizing community actions to help our colleagues with medical treatment, food packages, and personal protective equipment. Adapting to local needs and contexts The sex worker community is diverse. We come from different backgrounds, we live and work in different legal contexts, and we have different ways of organizing. For some sex worker groups, access to health services is a priority. For others, it is about the national laws that affect sex workers. Some sex workers are migrants, or we may have different gender identities and or sexual orientations. To empower the community, we need to reach the community and adapt the programming to the local needs and context. Promoting a human rights framework Sex workers deserve the same human rights as any other citizen. We must have the right to health, right to education, right to travel, right to be free from discrimination and stigma. Our allies and partners support in promoting the human rights of sex workers is equally important in challenging stigma and discrimination as educating our own community about the universality of human rights. Strengthening the collective It is essential to provide funding and resources directly to sex worker organizations and communities who can then determine the priorities, activities, staffing and the nature and content of service provision. Ultimately, sex worker-led organizations may become the employers of relevant staff like doctors, nurses, social workers and outreach workers. Shaping policy and creating enabling environments Recognize our expertise We need to be heard and recognized as experts when it comes to shaping HIV programs and we know best how local and national laws affect us. We also understand what must change in order for the programs to be successful. Sustaining the movement In order for our movement to be sustained we work in solidarity with other key population communities. Partnership with other movements is essential in achieving our goals in terms of human rights and HIV prevention. It is also crucial that our programs be recognized and supported in the long term. Community empowerment is the foundation of all interventions described in SWIT. Recognizing the importance of the value of community empowerment can create a win-win situation for all. Sex workers and their organizations, civil society, local and national institutions, governments and society as a whole. Sex workers' rights are human rights.