EMPOWER ("Education Means Protection Of Women Engaged in Recreation"), also known as Centre for Sex Workers' Protection or Moolniti Songserm Okard Pooying (Thai: มูลนิธิส่งเสริมโอกาสผู้หญิง), is a non-profit organization in Thailand that supports sex workers by offering free classes in language, health, law and pre-college education, as well as individual counselling.
[5] At the 2004 International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, EMPOWER set up a mock go-go bar complete with a dancer to highlight efforts to increase condom use among sex workers.
It was designed to be a model of exemplary working conditions in the industry, which include giving workers a day off per week and providing social security benefits.
We want to demonstrate that even—or especially—in sex work, occupational and safety issues exist and there should be compliance with Thai labour laws.
Placards dotted around the museum claim that sex work has played an integral role in Thailand's economy since an elite brothel was first opened and placed under royal control in 1680.
The report documented a "raid and rescue" operation on a Chiang Mai brothel in May 2003 that was carried out by TRAFCORD, with support from the International Justice Mission (IJM).
The operation was completed without the consent of the sex workers in question and, according to EMPOWER, resulted in numerous human rights violations.
"[18] EMPOWER published 26 issues of a Thai-language newsletter called Bad Girls, in which sex workers could express themselves.
This award, designed to celebrate community leadership and action on AIDS, included a US$5,000 stipend that allowed EMPOWER to participate in the conference.