S.W.I.R.L.

SWIRL was a not-for-profit educational and artistic audio library dedicated to presenting audio works that give a voice to sex workers around the world by presenting their art and opinions, as well as community news and information. SWIRL was originally a 24/7 web stream which ran from January 2007 until May 2008. In May 2008, for economic and other practical reasons, the decision was made to end the audio stream and switch SWIRL to an audio archive format. The audio archive was launched in August 2008 and new material was added periodically. As of August 1st 2010 we are no longer accepting new submissions.

All material on the archive is available for free download. While we encourage dissemination of this art and information to the public, we also ask that you please respect creative commons copyright. Please do not use these materials for commercial purposes or create links to them on sites that have commercial advertising.

To listen to items from the audio archive, select a category from the menu to your left. To listen to audio, simply click on the blue highlighted item. Most audio is in MP3 format, except where noted.

For the purposes of SWIRL, the term "sex worker" was broadly defined as anyone of any gender who chooses to call themselves a "sex worker" or "sex industry worker" in solidarity with the cause of sex worker rights, including the following professions (in no special order): prostitutes, strippers, go-go dancers, escorts, peepshow workers, phone sex operators, hustlers, fetish models, brothel workers, porn stars, call girls, dominas, topless waitresses, sex toy designers, filmmakers, artists, publishers, photographers, writers of erotica, sex shop workers, etc. (Note: We also however realize that not all people in these professions consider themselves to be sex workers.) SWIRL also welcomed audio from service professionals (i.e., doctors, social workers, lawyers) advocating for the rights and health of sex workers.

See our blog for further information: http://swirlwebcast.blogspot.com/