Reclaiming Our Narratives_Queer Migrant Sex Workers’ Stories

Update:

I'm deeply grateful that within just the first few hours of our fundraiser, we received enough support to compensate queer migrant sex workers for their participation in the interviews. From this point on, all donations will go toward compensating the crew and supporting the production of the film.

Thank you so much for your support of this project.

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Dear friends, community and supporters,

I’m raising funds for a research project, the first step toward making a film that centers the invisible labor of migrant queer sex workers in Berlin. Your donations will go directly toward compensating 20 sex workers for their participation in interviews and surveys, each receiving €30, which is the minimum rate for research participation. The project focuses on queer migrant sex workers who are unregistered and work under precarious conditions.

As a trans person and sex worker, I have often been the subject of research led by cisgender, non-sex worker researchers—studies that felt disconnected from my reality or even harmful at times. Because of this experience and my commitment to doing things differently by creating a space where queer migrant sex workers can reclaim their own narratives, I face significant challenges: due to the current political climate in Berlin and my position as a trans refugee sex worker, my access to institutional funding—especially for work that challenges dominant narratives and centers marginalized voices—is extremely limited.

This project focuses on the unpaid and invisible labor of queer migrant sex workers: the kind of work that is neither symbolically nor materially valued and is often excluded from laws, policies, and public recognition. This includes emotional labor, safety planning, preparatory work, anti-stigma advocacy, and other forms of reproductive labor essential to survival, but rarely acknowledged.

This research will shape the development of a film script. Based on qualitative research methods, I will analyze the responses and develop a script. Some of the participants—those who wish to—will be invited to collaborate in the creation of a film. The goal is to produce a film by and with sex workers, not just about them. The process will offer space for storytelling, collective care, and creative expression, based on emotions, needs, and wishes of participants.

If you’re able to donate or share this fundraising, your support would mean a lot to me and to the sex workers whose knowledge and labor are too often neglected.

Nothing about us without us.

With love and solidarity,

Silicone