“You Feel That You Could Have Done So Much More”: The Practices and Potentials of Sex Worker–Founded/–Led Groups in Tackling Sex Sector Exploitation

What role do sex worker–founded and –led groups have in tackling trafficking and exploitation in the sex industry? In the context of anti-trafficking activities deemed oppressive and harmful by sex worker groups, this chapter explores the ways in which these groups themselves are intervening to prevent harm in their sector. It takes forward the examples of such interventions from other literature and contributes new primary data, using interviews with sex worker–founded/–led groups in Europe to show that they are a vital force in tackling exploitation, actively preventing trafficking from occurring as well as identifying and supporting people postvictimization. Their positionality as sex worker–founded and/or –led is found to be a key component in their efficacy.