PUMA Prostitute's Union of Massachusetts

Brown text on a yellow background

The Prostitute’s Union of Massachusetts (PUMA) was an organization that was an affiliate of a prostitute’s rights organization COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) which was formed by Margo St. James in 1973. Later, the parent organization for sex worker advocacy groups became the National Task Force on Prostitution. These advocacy groups focused on destigmatizing sex work, and advocating for sex workers basic human rights and decriminalization as a path to building more safety in the profession. PUMA and other advocacy groups across the country were founded off decades of sex worker advocacy and women’s rights groups. Archival material about these advocacy groups is held at a number of institutions, including Northeastern University, Duke University, and Harvard.