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Website: http://www.projectrespect.org.au – (info)
Address: Melbourne, Australia
Countries served: Australia
Geographic scope: Local
Geographic scope (detail):
Melbourne, Victoria Australia
Phone:
Twitter: @Projectrespect1
Type: Other non-profit
Status: Active
Faith-based: No
Adult focused (NSFW): Yes
Sex work positive: No
Female led: Yes
Sex worker led: No
About Project Respect
Project Respect’s vision is for a world where women are free from trafficking, prostitution and sexual exploitation.
Our aims:
Supporting women in the sex industry – through direct outreach, practical assistance, referral, ongoing emotional support, social inclusion and a sense of community.
Empowering women who have been in the sex industry – using a strength-based, woman-centred approach, facilitating access to new education and training, and working to foster their sense of self-esteem and self-worth.
Educating the community, informed by women from the sex industry – to bring about greater awareness of the impacts of the sex industry and trafficking, and the prevent the exploitation of women.
Advocacy and activism, informed by women from the sex industry – to address the demand, violence and structural inequalities that maintain the sex industry.
Research on the sex industry – to inform evidence-based practice and provide tools for social change.
Leading the way in Australia – as experts in specialist support for women who have been trafficked into the sex industry.
Public facts about Project Respect
Funding from state and local governments
In 2016 they announced they would be mapping unlicensed brothels in Victoria as well, although currently they only do outreach to licenced brothels
Sex work focus for Project Respect
Sex worker demographics focus for Project Respect
Services offered by Project Respect
They offer pamphlets which advertise their organisation and what they offer
They offer used make up and toiletteries as well as things like cotton sticks and sometimes tampons and pads.
They claim to offer public transport cards although I haven’t seen this in reality
They claim to offer women whatever we need, however when I asked for condoms and sterile injecting equipment they explained they could only provide cotton sticks and info brochures and possibly “feminine hygiene products” (I didn’t ask for that)
Reviews, ratings and feedback for Project Respect
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Project Respect visited my workplace – they handed out a ‘resource’ that they said was their new worker resource. It was like it had been a deliberately written to frighten new workers rather than provide health information or useful tips for working.
In one section it said:
“One woman says she worked with a girl who claimed she got pregnant when a client rubbed his penis against her while she was wearing underpants.”
This is not medically sound information and I seriously wonder if a health authority reviewed this book.
In another section it says:
“It can be hard to put a condom on a very overweight men. Sometimes, it is not possible to have intercourse with them at all!”
Right, thanks – we’ll all just give up then. It doesn’t provide a listing of condom options or the MULTIPLE ways of managing this…
I asked the Project Respect people when they were there why they wanted to criminalise sex work (as I know they support the Swedish Model) and they said they support decriminalisation. When I pointed out that I knew they were for the Swedish Model – they said that they “saw that as decriminalisation”. I said that I “saw them as liars” and asked whey they weren’t more interested in what sex workers thought? – as in we want full decriminalisation of our work. They said that is “just my opinion”.
So yeah I thinks that pretty clearly sums up Project Respect:
1) terrible resource
2) lying to sex workers
3) what we think is “just your opinion”