History of the NSWP and the Sex Worker Rights Movement: North America and the Caribbean

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1915: Maimie Pizner’s Montreal Mission for Friendless Girls Opens

1949: Curaçao Opens Campo Alegre Brothel

15 Aug 1966: Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria

28 Jun 1969: Stonewall Riot

1970: Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries found STAR House

16 Dec 1971: New York Conference on Prostitution

1 May 1973: COYOTE Founded in California

28 Oct 1974: First Annual Hooker’s Ball Held in San Francisco

1977: Better End All Vicious Erotic Repression (BEAVER) Founded

1 Jan 1979: Carol Leigh coins the term “sex work”

1 Jan 1979: North American Task Force on Prostitution Founded

1982: Alliance for the Safety of Prostitutes Formed in Vancouver

1987: COIN Founded in Dominican Republic

1 Jan 1990: BAYSWAN Founded

1 May to 1 Sep 1993: The Exotic Dancers Alliance is Formed

1994: Stichting Maxi Linder Association Founded in Suriname

10 Mar 1994: PACE Society Founded

1995: First Sex Workers Congress in Dominican Republic

1 Apr 1995: Stella Forms in Montreal

27 Oct 1995: PEERS Forms in Victoria, Canada

1996: La Coalition forms in Montreal

1 Jan 1996: 1996: Margo St. James Runs for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

1 Nov 1996: MODEMU Founded

1 Jan 1997: Sex Workers’ Art Show Begins

1 Apr 1997: The Lusty Lady Unionises

7 May 1999: Launch of The Sex Worker Film Festival

2 Jun 1999: The St. James Infirmary openes its doors in San Francisco

1 Dec 2001: Sex Workers Project Founded

1 Jan 2003: SASOD Forms in Guyana

13 Oct 2003: SWOP-USA Founded

5 Nov 2003: Serial Killer Gary Ridgeway Pleads Guilty

17 Dec 2003: The First International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

15 Mar 2005: $pread Magazine Launched

18 May to 22 May 2005: Stella’s Forum XXX Held in Montreal

2006: IAC Toronto

1 Jan 2006: District of Columbia Creates “Prostitution Free Zones”

9 Jul to 12 Jul 2006: Desiree Alliance Hold Their First National Conference in Las Vegas

1 Apr 2007: USAID Director Responsible for Anti-Prostitution Pledge Exposed as a Client

17 Feb 2008: POWER Forms in Ottawa

4 Nov 2008: Proposition K Goes to the Ballot in San Francisco

4 Sep 2010: Craiglist’s “Adult Services” Shut Down

27 Sep 2010: BC Missing Women Investigation Set Up

28 Jun 2011: Mandatory Sex Offender Registration for Solicitation Struck Down in Louisiana

1 Jun to 1 Apr 2012: San Francisco Ends Practice of Using Condoms as Evidence

9 Jul 2012: The Global Commission on HIV and the Law Calls for the Removal of Criminal Laws Around Sex Work

13 Sep 2012: Death of Robin Few

4 Oct to 6 Oct 2012: Sex and Justice Conference Held in Ann Arbor

20 Jun 2013: US Supreme Court Declares Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath Unconstitutional

30 Aug 2013: Jamaican Sex Workers Hold a Conference and Issue a Declaration Demanding Their Rights

20 Dec 2013: The Bedford Decision, Canada

12 May 2014: NYPD Bans Use of Condoms as Evidence in Some Prostitution Arrests

21 Jul 2014: SASOD Receives the Red Ribbon Award