SWAN Vancouver
@swan-vancouver.bsky.social
We promote the rights, health, and safety of im/migrant women engaged in indoor sex work through frontline service and systemic advocacy.
swanvancouver.ca
swanvancouver.ca
Pinned
Seventy per cent of calls from the im/migrant women we support are about accessing healthcare. Help us ensure Healthcare Without Fear this #GivingTuesday - because no one should have to choose between their health and their safety.
DONATE on GivingTuesday or give early: swanvancouver.ca/donate/
DONATE on GivingTuesday or give early: swanvancouver.ca/donate/
Your gift goes twice as far this #GivingTuesday! For the second year, Blackbird Fabrics is matching donations up to $1,000 to our "Healthcare Without Fear" campaign — supporting healthcare access designed to protect im/migrant sex workers’ safety and privacy. swanvancouver.ca/donate/
November 21, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Your gift goes twice as far this #GivingTuesday! For the second year, Blackbird Fabrics is matching donations up to $1,000 to our "Healthcare Without Fear" campaign — supporting healthcare access designed to protect im/migrant sex workers’ safety and privacy. swanvancouver.ca/donate/
SWAN fills the gaps left by systems that exclude or endanger im/migrant women in sex work - from STBBI testing and healthcare accompaniments to safer sex supply delivery. Ahead of the launch of our Healthcare Without Fear campaign, we’re highlighting donors who help make these services possible.
November 14, 2025 at 1:20 AM
SWAN fills the gaps left by systems that exclude or endanger im/migrant women in sex work - from STBBI testing and healthcare accompaniments to safer sex supply delivery. Ahead of the launch of our Healthcare Without Fear campaign, we’re highlighting donors who help make these services possible.
Our supporters give because they believe every woman deserves to access Healthcare Without Fear -- without arrest, stigma, racism, or discrimination. At SWAN Vancouver, we make that possible through programs designed to protect im/migrant women’s safety and privacy. swanvancouver.ca/donate/
November 14, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Our supporters give because they believe every woman deserves to access Healthcare Without Fear -- without arrest, stigma, racism, or discrimination. At SWAN Vancouver, we make that possible through programs designed to protect im/migrant women’s safety and privacy. swanvancouver.ca/donate/
Seventy per cent of calls from the im/migrant women we support are about accessing healthcare. Help us ensure Healthcare Without Fear this #GivingTuesday - because no one should have to choose between their health and their safety.
DONATE on GivingTuesday or give early: swanvancouver.ca/donate/
DONATE on GivingTuesday or give early: swanvancouver.ca/donate/
November 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Seventy per cent of calls from the im/migrant women we support are about accessing healthcare. Help us ensure Healthcare Without Fear this #GivingTuesday - because no one should have to choose between their health and their safety.
DONATE on GivingTuesday or give early: swanvancouver.ca/donate/
DONATE on GivingTuesday or give early: swanvancouver.ca/donate/
We attended the GAATW Canada conference in Winnipeg, where we spent two days connecting with organizations across Canada that are fighting exploitation, dispelling harmful misinformation, and finding ways to collaborate due to limited resources.
October 24, 2025 at 12:18 AM
We attended the GAATW Canada conference in Winnipeg, where we spent two days connecting with organizations across Canada that are fighting exploitation, dispelling harmful misinformation, and finding ways to collaborate due to limited resources.
Our Community Program is in full swing! Being a newcomer in Canada can be isolating, but our English classes, cooking sessions, outdoor activities and more bring im/migrant women together for learning opportunities and social activities. Your support helps run this program: swanvancouver.ca/donate
October 8, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Our Community Program is in full swing! Being a newcomer in Canada can be isolating, but our English classes, cooking sessions, outdoor activities and more bring im/migrant women together for learning opportunities and social activities. Your support helps run this program: swanvancouver.ca/donate
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋節快樂!
October 3, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋節快樂!
We’ve expanded beyond the Lower Mainland. Through a multi-year project, our staff trained settlement agencies, sex work organizations and harm reduction groups on the barriers im/migrant sex workers face, to ensure women are accessing safe services wherever they work.
October 3, 2025 at 6:37 PM
We’ve expanded beyond the Lower Mainland. Through a multi-year project, our staff trained settlement agencies, sex work organizations and harm reduction groups on the barriers im/migrant sex workers face, to ensure women are accessing safe services wherever they work.
We’re looking for a fluent Japanese speaker to join our Outreach Team! You’ll meet women where they work and deliver safer sex supplies, collect samples for STBBI testing, and provide client-centered support, advocacy and case management. APPLY NOW: swanvancouver.ca/who-we-are/#careers
September 24, 2025 at 10:52 PM
We’re looking for a fluent Japanese speaker to join our Outreach Team! You’ll meet women where they work and deliver safer sex supplies, collect samples for STBBI testing, and provide client-centered support, advocacy and case management. APPLY NOW: swanvancouver.ca/who-we-are/#careers
Our 2024–2025 Annual Report is here! This past year, we:
• Expanded services beyond the Lower Mainland
• Launched an Advisory Group pilot project
• Diversified funding to secure programs and organizational stability
• Welcomed more supporters to SWAN
FULL REPORT: swanvancouver.ca/wp-content/u...
• Expanded services beyond the Lower Mainland
• Launched an Advisory Group pilot project
• Diversified funding to secure programs and organizational stability
• Welcomed more supporters to SWAN
FULL REPORT: swanvancouver.ca/wp-content/u...
swanvancouver.ca
September 17, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Our 2024–2025 Annual Report is here! This past year, we:
• Expanded services beyond the Lower Mainland
• Launched an Advisory Group pilot project
• Diversified funding to secure programs and organizational stability
• Welcomed more supporters to SWAN
FULL REPORT: swanvancouver.ca/wp-content/u...
• Expanded services beyond the Lower Mainland
• Launched an Advisory Group pilot project
• Diversified funding to secure programs and organizational stability
• Welcomed more supporters to SWAN
FULL REPORT: swanvancouver.ca/wp-content/u...
Reposted by SWAN Vancouver
"The women who work here are not forced to do anything [...] if they want to leave, they can leave anytime." @swan-vancouver.bsky.social showed women Canadian news stories about sex work, which was often conflated with human trafficking. Here's what they said: swanvancouver.ca/resource/cur...
Current Journalistic Representation: Assessment & Suggestions from Im/migrant Women Engaged in Indoor Sex Work | SWAN Vancouver Society
Current Journalistic Representation: Assessment & Suggestions from Im/migrant Women Engaged in Indoor Sex Work
swanvancouver.ca
August 17, 2025 at 11:00 PM
"The women who work here are not forced to do anything [...] if they want to leave, they can leave anytime." @swan-vancouver.bsky.social showed women Canadian news stories about sex work, which was often conflated with human trafficking. Here's what they said: swanvancouver.ca/resource/cur...
Reposted by SWAN Vancouver
The Washington Post reports that the woman arrested was born into poverty in South Korea and was a sex worker for years before becoming a madam. She screened clients, workers kept half the proceeds of services and they were allowed to refuse any services. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/...
‘High-end brothel’ serving politicians and executives busted, feds say
The client list, which could number in the hundreds, included elected officials, business executives, professors and military officers, according to prosecutors.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 17, 2025 at 10:55 PM
The Washington Post reports that the woman arrested was born into poverty in South Korea and was a sex worker for years before becoming a madam. She screened clients, workers kept half the proceeds of services and they were allowed to refuse any services. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/...
Reposted by SWAN Vancouver
“Despite many of the sex workers involved being Asian—a fact that greatly increases the odds of a prostitution bust being called a 'human trafficking sting'—news reports have largely refrained from trying to portray the women involved as hapless victims of sexual servitude.” - @enbrown.bsky.social
August 17, 2025 at 10:49 PM
“Despite many of the sex workers involved being Asian—a fact that greatly increases the odds of a prostitution bust being called a 'human trafficking sting'—news reports have largely refrained from trying to portray the women involved as hapless victims of sexual servitude.” - @enbrown.bsky.social
Reposted by SWAN Vancouver
Reporters dropped the "sex slave" narrative while covering the Boston brothel sting, and Journalism Professor Elizabeth Nolan Brown says it finally cleared the air for the public to ask, What's the point? reason.com/2025/04/09/c...
Cambridge brothel case: What's the point?
Massachusetts is in the midst of prosecuting people who patronized a fancy sex business near Harvard University. But what's the point?
reason.com
August 17, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reporters dropped the "sex slave" narrative while covering the Boston brothel sting, and Journalism Professor Elizabeth Nolan Brown says it finally cleared the air for the public to ask, What's the point? reason.com/2025/04/09/c...
"The closure of the PACE Society and the Wish Drop-In Centre leaves sex workers in Vancouver with even fewer options to turn to when they need support." via The Early Edition
Vancouver sex workers frustrated over loss of supportive service PACE Society
The closure of the PACE Society and the Wish Drop-In Centre leaves sex workers in Vancouver with even fewer options to turn to when they need support. The Early Edition’s Stephen Quinn spoke with sex ...
www.cbc.ca
August 14, 2025 at 11:37 PM
"The closure of the PACE Society and the Wish Drop-In Centre leaves sex workers in Vancouver with even fewer options to turn to when they need support." via The Early Edition
How do Canada’s sex work and immigration laws affect massage parlour workers? Im/migrant women who are simply trying to earn a living face arrest, detention and deportation when police enter their workplace. Learn more: swanvancouver.ca/resources/
August 13, 2025 at 11:37 PM
How do Canada’s sex work and immigration laws affect massage parlour workers? Im/migrant women who are simply trying to earn a living face arrest, detention and deportation when police enter their workplace. Learn more: swanvancouver.ca/resources/
"Perhaps the money going to the RCMP’s new human trafficking operation would be better spent supporting organizations that worked directly with the people most likely to be victims. Organizations that work with [TFWs] for example, or migrant populations or sex workers..." tinyurl.com/y6xd4aa8
BC Gets It Wrong on Human Trafficking | The Tyee
The province’s new RCMP unit sounds good. But there are better options.
thetyee.ca
August 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
"Perhaps the money going to the RCMP’s new human trafficking operation would be better spent supporting organizations that worked directly with the people most likely to be victims. Organizations that work with [TFWs] for example, or migrant populations or sex workers..." tinyurl.com/y6xd4aa8
Reposted by SWAN Vancouver
Look at the sticker my roomie picked up for me at Vancouver Dyke March & festival 🥹🌈☂️♥️ @swan-vancouver.bsky.social #sexworkiswork #vancouverpride #vancouver
August 10, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Look at the sticker my roomie picked up for me at Vancouver Dyke March & festival 🥹🌈☂️♥️ @swan-vancouver.bsky.social #sexworkiswork #vancouverpride #vancouver
Have you noticed headlines and quotes about human trafficking are getting increasingly more alarmist? They’re contributing to a moral panic and don't actually help victims. Learn more about ways to address trafficking without harming im/migrant women in sex work, at ResponsibleReporting.ca
April 25, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Have you noticed headlines and quotes about human trafficking are getting increasingly more alarmist? They’re contributing to a moral panic and don't actually help victims. Learn more about ways to address trafficking without harming im/migrant women in sex work, at ResponsibleReporting.ca
"The closure of critical services is not a sign of individual organizational failure. Rather, it is a direct consequence of a system that prioritizes investments in policing and property development over sustained investment in community well-being [...]" theconversation.com/service-clos...
Service closures in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside leave sex workers without vital support
In Vancouver, converging municipal development agendas and unstable nonprofit funding frameworks have led to the closure of essential services for sex workers.
theconversation.com
April 22, 2025 at 5:24 PM
"The closure of critical services is not a sign of individual organizational failure. Rather, it is a direct consequence of a system that prioritizes investments in policing and property development over sustained investment in community well-being [...]" theconversation.com/service-clos...
TW: Mentions of serial killer, gender-based violence
" [...] the case is a searingly stark reminder of the contempt with which sex workers are often treated by the police, and the dehumanisation they face at the hands of the media, even when they’re victims of violent crimes." tinyurl.com/2w869jk7
" [...] the case is a searingly stark reminder of the contempt with which sex workers are often treated by the police, and the dehumanisation they face at the hands of the media, even when they’re victims of violent crimes." tinyurl.com/2w869jk7
‘Like in Gone Girls, the neglect from police over sex worker victims is still scarily prevalent’
The new Netflix docuseries shines a light on how the victims of the Long Island serial killer were treated with contempt by the police — 30 years on, and it seems very little has changed
tinyurl.com
April 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
TW: Mentions of serial killer, gender-based violence
" [...] the case is a searingly stark reminder of the contempt with which sex workers are often treated by the police, and the dehumanisation they face at the hands of the media, even when they’re victims of violent crimes." tinyurl.com/2w869jk7
" [...] the case is a searingly stark reminder of the contempt with which sex workers are often treated by the police, and the dehumanisation they face at the hands of the media, even when they’re victims of violent crimes." tinyurl.com/2w869jk7
Who is behind unfounded claims that sex trafficking spikes during large sports events? Learn about this myth’s ties to Vancouver, Calgary and racist stereotypes about massage parlour workers from Southeast Asia.
SIGN UP: swanvancouver.ca/events2024/
SIGN UP: swanvancouver.ca/events2024/
April 7, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Who is behind unfounded claims that sex trafficking spikes during large sports events? Learn about this myth’s ties to Vancouver, Calgary and racist stereotypes about massage parlour workers from Southeast Asia.
SIGN UP: swanvancouver.ca/events2024/
SIGN UP: swanvancouver.ca/events2024/
Border officers pushed a trans woman from the Philippines to admit she was a sex worker after searching her phone. She refused, and was held for days at an Australian immigration detention centre. Sonya shared her story with Pride in Protest: open.spotify.com/episode/3oG9...
Reflection on Anti-Sex Work Deportation and Profiling (Ft. Sonya) | Special Episode
Pride in Protest · Episode
open.spotify.com
April 1, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Border officers pushed a trans woman from the Philippines to admit she was a sex worker after searching her phone. She refused, and was held for days at an Australian immigration detention centre. Sonya shared her story with Pride in Protest: open.spotify.com/episode/3oG9...
Chevranna Abdi, a Black trans woman, was outgoing, loving and a staple in the community. Her friend Monica says Abdi was beautiful inside and out. She was inspiring and supported many trans women, but that's not how journalists wrote about her. #TransDayOfVisibility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
On Transgender Day of Visibility, friends honour Canadian woman who died in 2003 after interaction with police | CBC News
Chevranna Abdi died in 2003 after Hamilton police were called to a Sandford Avenue apartment building with reports of a woman "wielding a knife and acting in a bizarre fashion.” Her friend says she wa...
www.cbc.ca
March 31, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Chevranna Abdi, a Black trans woman, was outgoing, loving and a staple in the community. Her friend Monica says Abdi was beautiful inside and out. She was inspiring and supported many trans women, but that's not how journalists wrote about her. #TransDayOfVisibility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
warned that asylum seekers and migrants with disabilities are disproportionately detained, often in correctional facilities where they may be placed in solitary if they experience a mental health crisis. www.hrw.org/news/2025/03....
warned that asylum seekers and migrants with disabilities are disproportionately detained, often in correctional facilities where they may be placed in solitary if they experience a mental health crisis. www.hrw.org/news/2025/03....
UN Committee Criticizes Canada’s Immigration Detention Practices
This week, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued a bleak assessment of Canada’s immigration detention system, calling for Canada to protect the legal capacity ...
www.hrw.org
March 31, 2025 at 9:22 PM
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
warned that asylum seekers and migrants with disabilities are disproportionately detained, often in correctional facilities where they may be placed in solitary if they experience a mental health crisis. www.hrw.org/news/2025/03....
warned that asylum seekers and migrants with disabilities are disproportionately detained, often in correctional facilities where they may be placed in solitary if they experience a mental health crisis. www.hrw.org/news/2025/03....