[1] SWEAT's work primarily focuses on organizing, advocating for and delivering services to South African sex workers.
[7] SWEAT was founded in November 1994 in Cape Town, South Africa by Shane Petzer (a male sex worker) and Ilse Pauw (clinical psychologist).
Sisonke's members work to empower and educate sex workers, while advocating for policy and legal reforms that promote the health, safety, and human rights of sex workers in South Africa.
[1] SWEAT has helped sex workers gain access to services such as healthcare, legal assistance, counseling, and training programs, as well as engaging in advocacy efforts to promote sex worker's rights, including advocating for policy and legal reforms that safeguard their health and human rights.
[9][10] SWEAT won an interdict on high court in Cape Town prohibiting the arrest of sex workers for an ulterior purpose.