THURS-021 - Swearing About Sexual Health: Addressing the Needs of Sex Workers in Health Education
Thursday, April 17, 2025
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM PST
Location: Pacific I/II, 2nd Floor
Area of Responsibility: Area II: Planning Subcompetencies: 1.3.3 Identify the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors that impact the health and/or learning processes of the priority p, 4.2.8 Adopt, adapt, and/or develop instruments for collecting data. Research or Practice: Practice
Sexual Health education specialist Hetrick-Martin Institute new york, New York, United States
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Define the unique needs of LGBTQIA+ sex workers aged 18-24 in New York City.
Implement strategic programming focusing on sexual health education, sex worker activism and community resources.
Intentionally create educational and resourceful material for the target population.
Brief Abstract Summary: LGBTQIA+ sex workers are often unrecognized in sexual health education. As a result of a needs assessment for LGBTQIA+ young people aged 18-24 in NYC, SWEAR, or Sex Workers Education, Activism and Resources was formed as an intervention to target this underserved population. With a trauma-informed, sex-positive lens, health education and resources are provided through an eight workshop series that includes historical context, harm reduction resources, financial literacy and job readiness skills beyond sex work. The series aims to provide young sex workers access to resources and community while building skills that can be used both within and outside of sex work.
Detailed abstract description: This presentation aims to provide information for educators working with sex workers. Very little health research addresses the variety of needs of young sex workers. By hosting the pilot workshop program for SWEAR, HMI facilitators are able to connect with this population and hear direct insights on the strengths and weaknesses of the material presented within the HMI therapeutic milieu model. The HMI Model is a milieu-based program that creates community, safety, and belonging for LGBTQ youth and their allies between the ages of 13 and 24, and utilizes trauma-sensitive, strengths-based, positive youth development frameworks, and leverages harm-reduction, sex positive, and youth empowerment approaches inside of a community-based organization. HMI provides wrap-around services in addition to the workshop series, which provide a more holistic approach into education, activism and resources for sex workers.
