Organization for Prostitution Survivors

OPS accompanies survivors of prostitution in creating and sustaining efforts to heal from and end this practice of gender-based violence.

OPS envisions a world of gender equality and mutuality, a world free from all forms of oppression and exploitation.

Prostitution is a social practice; it is a form of men’s violence against women, children and sometimes other men. Significant trauma can be experienced by those who are prostituted and that harm is hidden and compounded by the widely shared view that prostitution is a “victimless crime” and is “freely chosen” by people who are prostituted. OPS facilitates healing from the harm of prostitution by providing a supportive and non-judgmental environment for survivors to engage in critical dialogue about their experience of prostitution with others and by assisting them with resources and referrals to meet identified needs, goals and aspirations.

The reality of the harm of prostitution is viscerally understood by those who have been prostituted. Their very survival requires an intimate knowledge of the dynamics of men’s violence. OPS advocates for survivors to be the leaders of the movement to end prostitution. They know best what it means to be the targets of prostitution. That knowledge is essential in determining what strategies will be most effective in ending prostitution in the lives of individuals and on a societal level. For OPS, being accountable means that those who have not been prostituted must listen to the voices, be answerable to and accept leadership from those who have. Those associated with OPS who have not been prostituted act as allies in the struggle for justice.

OPS recognizes that men’s entitlement to demand sexual access to the bodies of women, children and sometimes other men in prostitution is a legitimized and entrenched practice based on an identification with dominance which requires the sexualized subordination of members of historically victimized and oppressed groups.