SW5 > Our Work

Our Work

SW5 is an organisation working with men and transgender people who sell sex

History

The organisation was originally established in 1985 by Richie McMullen and Father Bill Kirkpatrick (now a Patron of the organisation). The aim was to provide support, advice and care to young men selling or exchanging sex. This was initially through provision of a Drop-In service in a flat of one of the founders. The service developed in Earl’s Court in London as there was a large visible group of young men selling sex in and around this area.

The organisation moved to its present location and started working in partnership with Barnados, who staffed a four person outreach team. This involved regular street sessions and referring contacts made on the streets back to the Drop-In service. This partnership continued until it was dissolved in 1993.

The closure of the organisation was a concern as it was seen as the loss of a unique and important service. A new Management Committee was formed and a report was produced by Kensington and Chelsea Health Authority to recommend the ongoing provision of such a specialist service. The new Management Committee went on to develop the basis of the current service. There were new staff recruited and the organisation was re-launched to clients in December 1994 with the name Streetwise Youth.

At the time, the name appropriately reflected the client group the organisation worked with. The majority of young men and pre-op male to female transgender clients Streetwise Youth came into contact with were selling sex on the streets, mainly around Earl’s Court and Piccadilly. Many were also street homeless. The Drop-in service was re-established and the work continued. Clients could come in and get free food and access shower and laundry facilities, medical services and get advice and information on a variety of issues. Streetwise Youth worked with young people under 26 years old and it was considered very much a youth provision.

The need for a specialist service

A lot of the young people Streetwise Youth came into contact with were in very vulnerable situations and could be at risk of exploitation and abuse. Selling or exchanging sex was a means of survival for some and they had very little choice or were coerced into getting involved in prostitution.

A lot of the young Streetwise Youth came into contact with stated that they would not disclose that they sold or exchanged sex to their families, friends or other professionals through fear of being judged or stereotyped. They also expressed concerns and fears when disclosing information about their involvement in prostitution because of the fear of legal implications.

At Streetwise Youth young people were offered a safe and secure environment where they could speak freely and openly about their involvement in prostitution without the fear of being judged or rejected. They were also offered advice, support and information around the issues involved in selling or exchanging sex and a variety of other issues.

The changing world of sex work

The world of male and transgender sex work has changed enormously in the last five years or more. With things like the advent of mobile phones and the internet, changes in the laws around the age of consent for men having sex with men and pornography, the sex industry has developed rapidly.

There seems to be less visibility of sex being sold and exchanged on the streets in London and more through mobile phone contact via cafes, bars, adverts in the press and also through the internet.

Less and less clients also seem to identify as street homeless. They choose instead to stay in a variety of other environments they considered safer, such as with punters or on floors and sofas at friends homes or staying up all night in saunas and clubs. There was a move away from being street homeless to becoming the hidden homeless.

Male and transgender prostitution also seems to have less taboo surrounding it than it had in the past. A lot more individuals are making the choice to enter the sex industry rather than simply having to as a means of survival, or having been coerced. This is also coupled with a growing demand and support for the recognition of and rights of sex workers.

Streetwise Youth review

During a month-long period of building work, Streetwise Youth under went a major review involving clients, staff and the Management Committee in March 2003 and as a result the service changed. The service was broadened out to try and work with a greater variety of male and transgender people involved more widely in sex work. The way the service was delivered was also altered.

We acknowledged that there still are individuals that may have had less choice or have been coerced into selling and exchanging sex, and we wanted to continue providing a service to meet their needs.

However we also wanted to extend the service to male and transgender sex workers who had made more choices to become involved in selling or exchanging sex. Historically the organisation hadn’t so readily attracted these individuals and it was believed we could still offer them a service although they might have different needs to the traditional client group.

We had also become aware of a large increase in the visibility of transient sex workers coming to London from countries all over the world. We wanted to ensure the services developed to include this group of sex workers and escorts and met their needs.

In order to do all this we lifted the age restriction and the decision was made to move away from the idea that the service was a youth provision. It was also decided to try and change the perceived image that we only worked with homeless people, selling or exchanging sex on the streets.

We decided to expand the service to include male and transgender people who were or had been involved in all forms of sex work (or who were contemplating it), as apposed to just those who were involved in prostitution. We also wanted to open up the service to include all transgender sex workers and not just pre op, male to female sex workers.

So we changed the old style Drop-in into a more modern Café setting. We created an environment where people could come to relax, socialise and chill out. We moved away from the space being somewhere you could come to speak to a worker about your individual personal issues. Instead we encouraged people to attend appointments to do this.

We also wanted to change our name to something more neutral and more encompassing. Streetwise Youth as a name still endorsed the idea that we only worked with youth who were on the streets. The name we chose was SW5.

The name was thought to have a number of meanings that hopefully suited everyone. ”SW” could still stand for Streetwise for those who identified with the old service. However it could also stand for Sex Worker and of course SW5 is the first part of our postcode.

Today’s services

The Café

SW5 currently provides a café style service three times a week in Earl’s Court. The sessions are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The café is open to clients under 30 years old and free food and drinks are available. There is free internet access available. Free access to laundry facilities and shower are also still available for those that don’t have other access to these. Clients can also pick up free condoms and other safer sex materials.

Satellite workers

SW5 has satellite workers who come in from other professions to offer a specific service to clients. We have a doctor who comes in on a weekly basis, a nurse who comes in fortnightly, plus a counsellor, a masseur and a Reiki practitioner who each come in weekly. The Satellite workers are available to see anyone and access can be by appointment or through using the café.

Individual appointments

Clients can arrange to have an individual appointment with the project team. A member of the project team will be allocated to each client wanting appointments and will have primary responsibility for addressing the individual needs of that client.

The appointments usually involve working with the client to offer advice, information and support around the issues they identify as wanting help with. This may be around emotional support (someone to listen to them or offer informal counselling) or practical support (help with completing a benefits form, applying for housing). Appointments can also involve the worker advocating with other professionals or organisations on behalf of clients.

Workshops/Activities

SW5 offers clients the chance to participate in a program of group workshops and activities on and off site. Workshops tend to be led by external facilitators with the emphasis on learning. Activities are intended to be more of a social opportunity.

Outreach work

SW5 offer a variety of outreach services, some of which are done independently and some of which are done as joint work with other organisations.

We regularly visit a local male brothel to give out condoms and inform the men about SW5’s services.
We contact escort workers advertising on websites on the internet via e-mail to inform them of SW5’s services.
We have a satellite session weekly at the offices of BOYZ magazine, to make contact with escorts placing adverts in the magazine, give out condoms and inform them of our services.
We text male and transgender sex workers advertising through the press or via calling cards in telephone boxes.
We advertise our services on our own website and through the press.
We send out free condoms and lube via the internet if clients are unable to come in to collect them.

Client issues

The clients SW5 come into contact with have a whole variety of issues, in relation to sex work or not, that they may or may not wish to address. These issues can often be interlinked. This is not to say however that all male or transgender sex workers will share or have any of these issues.

Some of the specific sex work issues we deal with are:

Negotiation with punters, personal safety in sex work, sex work and personal relationships, sex work and the law, sex work and culture, safer sex, rights for sex workers, personal boundaries around sex work, exiting sex work.

Some of the more general issues we deal with are:

Homelessness, drug and alcohol dependency, self esteem, sexuality identity, racial identity, gender identity, masculinity, body image, suicide and self harm, eating disorders, child protection issues, relationships, family, health, mental health, HIV and sexual health, benefits, life skills, communication skills, legal issues, immigration and asylum seeking, education and employment.

Philosophy

SW5’s philosophy is not to persuade clients to stop being sex workers. We work with people with whatever issues they bring and we are client-led in our approach. We actively welcome comments and suggestions from clients about the service provision.

We aim to offer clients immediate and longer term advice, information and support to enhance the choices available to them. We work from a risk reduction perspective, whether this is in relation to safety when selling sex, safer sex or safer drug and alcohol use. We also specifically target work around sexual health.

We do however actively support clients who wish to exit prostitution.