Population

Sex Workers, 2017

Sex workers are adults who receive money or goods in exchange for consensual sexual services or erotic performances, either regularly or occasionally. Human rights funding for sex workers recognizes the agency, bodily autonomy, and self-determination of sex workers, and distinguishes between sex work and human trafficking. It funds initiatives to address and reduce harms related to criminalization, stigma, and discrimination and supports the development of movements pursuing these goals.

<1%
Share of foundation
human rights funding

$5.3 Million out of
$3.2 Billion for all rights
149 Grants

Top Foundation Funders

  1. Mama Cash $1.2 M
  2. Red Umbrella Fund $912.7 K
  3. UHAI EASHRI $702.9 K
  4. American Jewish World Service $681.0 K
  5. Women’s Fund Asia $460.4 K
  6. Levi Strauss Foundation $335.0 K
  7. African Women's Development Fund $240.0 K
  8. The Tudor Trust $196.6 K
  9. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation $118.0 K
  10. Trust for London $104.9 K
  11. Ford Foundation $100.0 K
  12. Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres $85.5 K
  13. Arcus Foundation $75.0 K
  14. Foundation for a Just Society $75.0 K
  15. Fund for Global Human Rights $30.0 K
  16. Brazil Fund for Human Rights Foundation - FBDH $24.7 K
  17. FRIDA - The Young Feminist Fund $21.0 K
  18. Third Wave Fund $20.0 K
  19. MATCH International Women's Fund $20.0 K
  20. Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights $13.5 K
  21. Ms. Foundation for Women $12.0 K
  22. Urgent Action Fund - Africa $9.9 K
  23. Ben & Jerry's Foundation $8.5 K
  24. The Global Fund for Women $8.5 K
  25. Fondo de Acción Urgente de America Latina $5.0 K
  26. M = Millions

Bilateral and Multilateral Funding

<1%
Share of OECD
human rights funding

$2.3 Million out of
$3.9 Billion for all rights
9 Disbursements

Top Funders

  1. Sweden $1.2 M
  2. Norway $654.5 K
  3. Germany $376.3 K
  4. Finland $67.1 K
  5. United States $11.0 K
  6. Italy $4.5 K
  7. M = Millions

Key Findings:
2017 Funding

Key Findings

Foundation Funding by Region

Asia & Pacific

$1,349,017 (25%)
29 Grants (19%)

Caribbean

$238,881 (5%)
6 Grants (4%)

Eastern Europe, Central Asia, & Russia

$40,183 (1%)
1 Grants (1%)

Global Programs

$129,962 (2%)
4 Grants (3%)

Latin America & Mexico

$799,567 (15%)
28 Grants (19%)

North America

$528,546 (10%)
14 Grants (9%)

Sub-Saharan Africa

$1,841,712 (35%)
60 Grants (40%)

Western Europe

$548,878 (10%)
11 Grants (7%)

Region totals include both foundation grants directly to recipients based in the region specified and foundation grants to recipients located in other regions to do work benefiting the region specified. Grants may mention more than one region of benefit and therefore be counted in more than one category.

Foundation Funding by Issue

Issue totals include foundation funding that could be identified as meant to address a specific issue. In order to provide unique totals and avoid double-counting, each foundation grant has been assigned to exactly one issue category within the human rights taxonomy.

Foundation Funding by Intersecting Populations

In order to show the intersections of multiple population groups, these graphics indicate other population groups supported within funding towards the group highlighted on this page.

Foundation Funding by Strategy

Strategy totals include foundation funding that could be identified as supporting a specific strategy. Grants may employ multiple strategies and would therefore be counted in more than one category.

* Red Umbrella Fund, Mama Cash, and Open Society Foundations recently conducted an in-depth analysis of sex worker rights funding in 2013 and identified a total of $11 million in support. This additional support was identified through targeted data collection, including from non-governmental organizations, from which we do not collect funding data. To learn more: www.redumbrellafund.org/report/.