Become a CORAS Member

CORAS is a sex-worker-led organization committed to community care, advocacy, mutual aid; supporting sex workers and survivors of human trafficking.

Our membership program allows individuals and organizations to support our work, participate in our community, and help shape the future of CORAS.

We offer two membership categories: Voting and Non-Voting.

Voting Membership

Annual Membership Fees

• Individuals: $100 annually, or 20 hours of volunteer service per year in lieu of payment.

• Organizations: $200 annually (non-funded grassroots organizations can reach out if cost is a barrier and we will discuss).

Eligibility Requirements

Voting membership is intended for individuals actively involved in the sex industry or with lived experience in human trafficking, and organizations whose work aligns with our mandate.

Individual applicants must:

• Be an active sex worker or a survivor of human trafficking.

• Be willing to discuss their lived experience privately with CORAS representatives as part of the application process.

• Share and uphold CORAS's values, including community care, harm reduction, sex workers' rights, and the dignity and autonomy of those we serve.

• Be local and able to attend an initial in-person membership interview and our Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Organizational applicants must:

• Demonstrate a meaningful connection to the communities CORAS serves. This may include supporting sex workers, trafficking survivors, women's rights, LGBTQ+ communities, families of survivors, or other overlapping areas of advocacy and community care.

• Demonstrate values and practices consistent with CORAS's mandate.

• Participate in an interview and approval process before membership is granted.

Application and Interview Process

All prospective voting members must complete an application and participate in an interview before being approved.

For individual voting members, this interview must take place in person. We understand that discussing lived experience can be deeply personal, and these conversations will be handled privately, respectfully, and without judgment.

Once approved, individual voting members are generally only required to attend our AGM in person each year. During their first year, they will also need to attend their initial interview.

Non-Voting Membership

Annual Membership Fees

• Individuals: $75 annually.

• Organizations: $150 annually

Non-voting membership is available to individuals and organizations who wish to support CORAS and participate in our broader community, and be able to speak at our AGM.

Eligibility Requirements

Individual applicants must:

• Support CORAS's mandate, values, and commitment to sex workers' rights, survivor support, and community care.

• Respect the privacy, autonomy, and safety of the communities we serve.

Organizational applicants must:

• Have a meaningful connection to our work or the communities we support (or at least strongly support our work), including sex workers, trafficking survivors, women, survivors, LGBTQ+ communities, families, or related areas of advocacy.

• Demonstrate that their organization's values align with those of CORAS.

• Participate in an application andinterview before being approved.

Application Process

All non-voting applicants must apply and receive approval before paying their annual membership fee.

This allows us to ensure that prospective members understand our mandate and share our commitment to the safety, dignity, and rights of the communities we serve.

Non-voting members are not required to attend our AGM or participate in organizational governance.

A Note on Membership and Privacy

CORAS understands that involvement in the sex industry, whether past or present, can carry significant personal and professional risks.

We do not expect members to publicly disclose their lived experience, and we will never treat membership as permission to share someone's identity or personal history.

Our screening processes exist to protect our community, not to create unnecessary barriers. We recognize that lived experience takes many forms and that trust, confidentiality, and mutual respect are fundamental to our work.

Membership is subject to approval, and CORAS reserves the right to decline applications that do not align with our values, mandate, goals or other community safety requirements.

Why do we require in-person attendance?

Given the stigma, discrimination, and safety risks faced by people in the sex industry, protecting the identities and privacy of our members is essential.

We cannot guarantee the security of virtual meetings, including the possibility of unauthorized recordings, screenshots, or leaked meeting links. For this reason, voting participation and our AGM are held in person, and phones will be collected at the door (or expected to be put in airplane mode if an accomodation is requested requiring the phone). All meetings will be held in an accesible building.

We recognize that this creates barriers for some prospective members and we encourage members to reach out and we will help make accomodations for in person requirements (such as sending a delegate or borrowing one of our own staff as a delegate, changing the location of a meeting, etc), but until the risks associated with outing sex workers are significantly reduced, we must prioritize the safety of our community.

Benefits of Membership

Becoming a CORAS member means supporting a growing, sex-worker-led organization while becoming part of a community committed to advocacy, mutual aid, and meaningful change.

Membership benefits include:

• Free admission to CORAS-hosted events, workshops, and community programming. Individual memberships include one admission, while organizational memberships include free admission for up to three representatives per event.

• Opportunities to connect with other members, community organizations, and advocates.

• Priority access to select programming and volunteer opportunities.

• Opportunities to contribute and lead in community initiatives, advocacy campaigns, and organizational projects.

• A voice in CORAS's future through voting rights and participation in organizational decisions (voting members only).

• The knowledge that your membership fees directly support our services, community programming, and advocacy work. CORAS is entirely community-supported, and our board members do not receive salaries for the work they do. In keeping with our mandate, our leadership must remain actively involved in the communities they serve, meaning many of our board members face the same financial barriers and challenges as the people we support- so your support means the world to us.

Whether you're joining to help shape our direction or simply to support the work we do, your membership helps us continue building safer and stronger.