Who we are & what we do
In January 2019, Hydra opened up a second location, Hydra Café. People from all areas and fields of the sex industry and sex work can come together here in a relaxed setting. During our opening hours you can come by and have a cup of tea, look through our library corner, connect with other sex workers, talk and ask each other any and all questions related to sex work. If you would rather talk to a social worker, there is always someone there during opening hours, as well as a peer if you should have any health related questions.
So if you should find yourself with some spare time between running errands or if you need a space to get ready for work, you are waiting for the next call or if you just feel like coming by: You are welcome here. Everything we offer is on a voluntary basis, free of charge and confidential.
In addition to our opening hours we also offer other things. We host workshops on a range of different topics and questions regarding sex work and once a week we link up at our “Rendezvous” meeting, which happens regularly and is open to all sex workers in different languages.
There are also special interest groups meeting regularly. Different people have different experiences in the sex industry. In special interest groups you can share you experiences with people who feel the same way as you do. The groups are open to all topics, but in our experience, it is sometimes important to concentrate on certain subject matters. Have a look at our calendar to keep up with current events and see if something catches your eye. Most events are explicitly only for sex workers. If you would like to get involved and organize an event yourself, talk to us. We’re excited to hear about your ideas!
Who is welcome here at Hydra Café?
Hydra Café is a space for all people, who have experience as a sex worker, with or without registration under the new law (ProstSchG). By that we mean all people who have worked in bars, brothels, incall spaces like apartments, adult movie theaters, massage salons, webcamming, as an escort, as a dancer, porn performer or working on the streets.
If you are an ally or supporter and you do not have any experience as a sex worker (yet), you are welcome during our regular opening hours. We ask you to please contact us shortly before coming by: cafehydra@hydra-berlin.de
Please keep in mind that all personal information or contact details you may learn about someone at Hydra Café must remain confidential. Meeting someone here does not automatically give you permission to approach them outside of Hydra Café and out them as a sex worker. Not all people are open and out to the same degree as other sex workers and they might want to keep their status as a worker secret. We would like to respect each person’s individual decision.
The sex work community includes many different people. It is quite likely you will not share the same exact experiences as other people you meet at Hydra Café. This can be a beautiful enrichment in some cases, in other cases it can also lead to conflict and at worst, discrimination. Therefore, we would ask you to pay attention to your language and reflect on your behavior here. No one should feel excluded or discriminated against on the basis of their looks, age, gender, ethnicity, body, religion, sexual orientation, language skills, how much money a person earns, how they work, whether they use drugs or not, or whether they work in a brothel, on the streets or inside. We know these things can sometimes be overwhelming, which is why are here to offer support in all matters big or small. We want to intervene should disrespectful, hurtful or boundary-crossing behavior occur. If you have a bad feeling about a certain situation and you have the energy to talk about it, please approach us! Together we would like to find ways to make Hydra Café a safer space.
Sadly, Hydra Café is still not yet accessible. There are six stairs leading to the main entrance and also to the toilets.
What we stand for
Hydra’s mission is to promote and increase the respect, safety and autonomy of all people who do sex-based work. Sex workers face stigma every day. Prejudices in society and media images depicting sex workers are mostly negative and violent. This daily exposure to stigma is exhausting and there are very little spaces for workers in the sex industry to come together, talk about these things and decompress. This is why we would like to facilitate a space in which sex workers can feel unencumbered by societal pressure, prejudice and discrimination and through this space nd better access to connect, educate and network.
Moreover, we work with a strong peer-to-peer approach. We want to center people who belong to different communities within the sex work industry. They are the experts who know what’s best for them, what they need and what might still be missing. In close collaboration, we develop different of event and group formats. In that way, we hope we can uplift the voices of people who are often underrepresented in public discourse due to structural discrimination.
We believe there is no such thing as “the” sex work community, but that there are many different communities with many or fewer privileges. In addition to societal prejudices, many sex workers must deal with further challenges, e.g. for being trans/inter or non-binary, migrants, people of color, little or no German language knowledge, no access to social services or not being registered under the Prostitutes Protection Act (ProstSchutzG). Each community has different needs and works a different way. Within our team, our hosts, our workshop facilitators and the content that we offer, we always take into account gender, migration, race, status, class, languages, life and sex work experiences in our work.
Calendar
We do our best to host events in different languages. If you are missing a certain language, you would like a translation or if you would like to get involved, please let us know.