Want a chance to hear from YWEP staff and members about all the inspirational work we are doing? COME TO DETROIT JUNE 16-25th and be a part of our movement building work!

See us at the Allied Media Conference June 16th-June 20th

Getting to Know the Game: How to Turn Participatory Research into Animated Computer Games and More!
Presenters: Naima Paz, SKitlz Torres, Daphnie Williams, Stephany Cannon and Precious, Young Women's Empowerment Project.
TRACK: INCITE! / To Tell You the Truth / Creating Safe Communities / Trans & Queer Youth Media
Young Women's Empowerment Project released our youth run research study called "Girls do what they have to do to Survive: Illuminating Methods Used by Girls in the Sex Trade to Fight Back and Heal" atAMC2009. Come get an update about our ongoing research and about the amazing media projects we created from our research findings. From our animated computer game, to our zine-style tool kit and our homemade t-shirts and inspired audio tracks–our research is alive and we want you to feel it with us!

Power of StoryTelling
Presenters: Isaac Ontiveros & Rachel Herzing, StoryTelling & Organizing Project; Saba Waheed, DataCenter; Amita Swadin, Secret Survivors; Johonna McCants, Visions to Peace Project; Shira Hassan, Young Women’s Empowerment Project
TRACK: Creating Safe Communities
Storytelling allows individuals and communities to archive experiences, heal and collectively remember. It also can be a powerful tool in transforming communities and challenging power structures. In this workshop, we will explore cutting edge story-gathering practices that utilize a wide range of media, from theater to video to digital storytelling. We will focus-in on examples of storytelling projects that are confronting interpersonal violence. In small groups, participants will draw lessons from the examples provided and brainstorm ways of applying those lessons in their own work and the broader movement.

See us at the United States Social Forum June 22-26th

Come to our PEOPLES MOVEMENT ASSEMBLY!
Wed, 06/23/2010 - 1:00pm - 5:30pm
Event Location:
Cobo Hall: D3-18
Full Description:
A People's Movement Assembly bringing together organizations from across the country working from an empowering social justice, harm reduction and leadership development perspective with street-based youth to talk about issues of policing and criminalization in the context of "quality of life" policing and policing of sex work. Centering the experiences of young women and queer youth of color and using popular education methods, participants will share
information about their programs and the conditions they face in their cities, skills and strategies, and solutions grounded in the experiences and realities of youth of color. Together we will develop strategies for working more closely together, supporting each other in our local struggles, and building a world free of violence against youth!
Co organized with Different Avenues, Streetwise & Safe and Queer Injustice

Come hear about our NEW CAMPAIGN STREET YOUTH RISE UP!!!
Fri, 06/25/2010 - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Event Location:
WSU Old Main: 1134
Full Description:
Young Women's Empowerment Project is a member based social justice organizing project for girls and transgender girls involved in the sex trade and street economy. Using harm reduction, popular education, transformative justice and healing values we work to organize young people across Chicago who are street based, homeless or homefree. This will be a two hour workshop that will connect the dots between our youth lead participatory action research study to our current campaign work. We will talk about challenges and strategies for organizing street based youth, our campaign to change the way Chicago sees its Homeless Homefree and street based youth and we will share tools we have developed to track institutional violence in our communities. People will leave with new concepts about the sex trade and street economy, tools to organize young people in their community and inspiration!