SWOP Behind Bars stories

Every few years, the anti-trafficking field releases another report diagnosing its own dysfunction. The Safehouse Project’s recent white paper is the latest to outline the emotional toll of the work, the predictable cycles of vicarious trauma, low wages, inconsistent leadership, and the churn that destabilizes survivor support. 

To many in the field, these findings feel revelatory. 

But to sex workers, survivors, and people who hav...

If you’ve ever heard Rehab’s name in church, it almost always comes with a label: Rehab the prostitute. Out of all the things she did, all the roles she played, the one word attached to her forever is her occupation.

She’s remembered as the “harlot of Jericho,” a shady woman living on the city wall, useful only as a prop in Israel’s conquest story. But dig a little deeper, and Rehab turns out not to be a disposable side character a...

As we move toward December 17 - the 22nd Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - we remember those we’ve lost and honor the fight that continues.

For many of us, this day is not just a memorial. It’s a reckoning. It’s the reminder that every name read aloud at a vigil represents a life cut short by stigma, criminalization, poverty, and indifference. And yet, even in mourning, we find movement. Grief has alway...

Say the name Bathsheba, and most people picture a beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop, luring poor King David into sin. She’s been cast for centuries as the biblical seductress - the woman who tempted a man after God’s own heart.

But let’s be clear: Bathsheba didn’t tempt anyone. She didn’t lure anyone. She didn’t even have a choice.

Her story begins as one of survival in the face of royal abuse and historical silencing. But it do...

When the government shuts down, it’s not just offices that close - it’s the safety nets. Millions of people are sitting in their kitchens, staring at empty cabinets and “temporarily unavailable” messages on benefit portals. SNAP, the program that keeps children fed and families barely afloat, has been frozen in bureaucratic limbo once again - no warning, no contingency plan, just silence and shame. When the government stops, hunger...

If you grew up in church, you probably remember the Samaritan woman from John 4—the one who meets Jesus at a well, has “five husbands,” and is living with a man who isn’t her husband. Cue the Sunday School whisper: immoral… loose… fallen.

For centuries, she’s been branded the small-town scandal, the woman with a past. The sermons practically write themselves: Don’t be like her, girls.

But here’s the kicker: the text itself never ca...

The morning after the 2025 election feels a little like waking up after a storm - the sky’s clearer, but the debris is still everywhere. Democrats swept major races across the country last night, with Zohran Mamdani’s historic win in New York City and strong showings in Virginia and New Jersey signaling that voters wanted a shift in tone.

But make no mistake - this wasn’t the change, just a change. The same systems that criminalize...

A government shutdown happens when Congress fails to pass a spending bill to fund federal operations. When that money freezes, so do the programs it supports - including SNAP and WIC.

This shutdown began on October 1, 2025, after Congress couldn’t agree on a budget.

For people like me, that means one thing: No benefits. No safety net. No food.

America loves to call itself the “land of opportunity,” but when you’re a disabled Black ...

When you hear the name Delilah, you probably picture the ultimate seductress - the sultry femme fatale who batted her eyelashes, whispered sweet nothings, and single-handedly brought down Israel’s strongest man. She’s been immortalized in art, sermons, and even pop songs as the woman who used her body to ruin a man.

But let’s slow this movie reel down. Is Delilah truly the villain of the story, or has history once again given us a ...

After nearly two decades under Polaris, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has a new operator: Compass Connections, a San Antonio nonprofit with deep ties to child welfare, foster care, and adoption. On paper, this looks like a routine management change. But for those of us on the ground - sex workers, survivors, and people criminalized by “anti-trafficking” systems - it’s not just paperwork. It’s a shift in power. Hotlines are...

Over the past few months in Receipts, Please, we’ve tackled ten of the most common myths about sex work—debunking them with data, lived experience, and truth. But those ten are only the tip of the iceberg. Myths about sex workers are everywhere, multiplying in the gaps left by silence, stigma, and fear. They persist because they serve powerful social functions: keeping women in line, upholding respectability politics, and justifyin...