
Quick Guide to Responsible Reporting Resources
For your convenience, we have listed all of SWAN's "Responsible Reporting" media project resources below, with a brief description of the resource, its target audience and how it may be helpful. ...

Misleading police news releases
Police across Canada are presenting cases as human trafficking in their news releases, but it’s often just a crackdown on sex workers and their clients. In some cases, police framed child...

Language Guide
SWAN has developed a brief language guide to aid reporters in avoiding harmful language about sex workers. This guide is not exhaustive. It should also be noted that language is ever-changing and...

Brief to the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls
On January 31, 2024, SWAN Vancouver responded to a Call for Input from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, for a report to the Human Rights Council on prostitution and...

Critical Anti-trafficking Repository
Interested in learning how mainstream anti-trafficking campaigns actually result in harm for sex work communities? Do you want to hear from people with lived experience and those conducting robust...

VIDEO: Clickbait Creates a Moral Panic About Sex Trafficking
Sensationalism is hurting everyone. Clickbait headlines may get newsrooms more readers, but they're contributing to a moral panic that doesn't help actual trafficking victims. Learn more...

VIDEO: Im/migrant Sex Workers Don’t Need a ‘Hero’ Journalist
Beware of the rescue mentality. Beware of the rescue mentality that is so prevalent in anti-trafficking work. If your mission is to save people and centre yourself as the hero, you could be...

VIDEO: Finding A Balance in Reporting on Sex Work
What’s the other side of the sex work debate? Here’s why your search for interviews may not result in a balanced news story - especially when one side is deliberately using unsubstantiated...