x:talk Project is a London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

-based network of sex workers and migrants' rights activists

Activism

Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...

 who organise, co-ordinate and deliver free English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 classes for workers in the sex industry

Sex industry

The sex industry consists of businesses which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment...

. Supported by the International Union of Sex Workers

International Union of Sex Workers

The International Union of Sex Workers is a United Kingdom based trade union for sex workers. It campaigns for the decriminalisation of prostitution, and to have sex work acknowledged as viable labour. In 2002, members voted to affiliate with the GMB, a general workers union. The union now has...

, x:talk is open to all migrant adult service providers and is designed to help them communicate better at work and with clients in a safe and confidential environment.

As well as offering free English classes to migrant sex workers, x:talk aims to "create an open and critical space to organise and empower workers in the sex industry and to encourage critical interventions into discourses about gender

Gender

Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

, labour, migration

Human migration

Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...

 and human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

. The project is a conscious effort to make contact with migrant communities, offer a practical and useful service, and ultimately attempt to build political alliances and strengthen migrant sex worker networks".

The activists behind the x:talk Project believe in "the autonomy

Autonomy

Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...

 of all people moving across borders and the dignity

Dignity

Dignity is a term used in moral, ethical, and political discussions to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment. It is an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable rights...

of every gender employing their resources in the sex industry".

External links

• x:talk Project
• International Union of Sex Workers