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Featuring ICRSE
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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Carol Jenkins ~ We miss you!!!
Posted: January 26th, 2012, 10:48am PST by apnswdollhouse
It’s 4 years ago this week that Carol Jenkins, one of the strongest supporters of sex workers rights and HIV programs in this region died. Carol was a close friend to many in the APNSW extended family. Her research skills are sorely missed, but more than this we miss the way her house in Bangkok [...]
SWAN - SWAN News
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SWAN at UN Global Commission on HIV and the Law
Posted: December 15th, 2011, 4:27am PST by Aliya
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By Anna-Louisa Crago
What is the Global Commission on HIV and the Law (GCHL)?
It is a commission put in place by the UN to study the impact of different laws on HIV-prevention, treatment and care. It also studies the impact of laws on discrimination and violence against people living with HIV or at high-risk of HIV.The commissioners are a group of highly respected individuals and experts from around the world and include former heads of state, judges and policy experts. They are advised by a committee of technical experts with extensive knowledge about HIV and the law.
The commission is particular because it is independent of the UN. That means that the commissioners can come to their own conclusions, even if coutries within the UN or UN workers disagree with these.
What does the GCHL have to do with SWAN?
Individuals and groups from the CEE/CA, as well as other regions,were invited to submit testimony about the impact of different laws and HIV. SWAN submitted a submission that tried to include experiences from all across the region. Many other SWAN groups individually submitted such as HOPS (Macedonia), Lega-Life (Ukraine) and HESED (Bulgaria).
In the end, Odyseus (Slovakia), SZEXE (Hungary), TAIS PLUS (Kyrgyzstan), Association for Assistance (Russia) and SWAN were accepted to present in front of the commissioners at a regional meeting in Moldova in May, 2011.
How did SWAN prepare?
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Hungary: Budapest Declaration of the Network of countries with Low HIV prevalence in Central and South-Eastern Europe
Posted: December 15th, 2011, 4:19am PST by Aliya
By Marija Tosheva, HOPS
In late June, 2011 the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, hosted a meeting in Budapest for 30 delegates from the countries of Central and South East Europe (SWAN was also represented), with supporters from Western Europe, to launch the Network of Low Prevalence Countries in Central and South East Europe – NeLP (http://nelp-hiv.org/budapest-declaration).
The general conclusion of the delegates was that national governments and the general population in our region don’t yet see HIV as a major problem. With fewer people living with HIV, fewer supporters and fewer medical staff, the capacity to respond to HIV in our countries is muted. With less overall societal impact, the perceived need to respond is less urgent.
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Changes for sex workers in Bulgaria?
Posted: December 15th, 2011, 4:09am PST by Aliya
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By Petra Timmermans, ICRSE Coordinator and Rayna Dimitrova, HESED
Recently in Bulgaria sex workers have taken the first tentative steps to mobilising for their rights.
On 29 August plans were put into place for a demonstration in response to recent police activity that has focused on arresting and detaining sex workers working along the main ring road around Sofia. Charges related to immoral behavior and/or causing traffic accidents are being used in what could be described as an attempt to rid Sofia of prostitutes. However, the demonstration did not take place as planned. Although around 20 sex workers showed up there were so many journalists taking photographs that most of the women became nervous and left.
Some news clippings in Bulgarian:
• http://www.dnes.bg
• http://dariknews.bg
• [tv7.bg"] title="http://bnt.b http://bnt.bghttp://tv7.bg">[tv7.bg">http:]
Briefly it is said in these videos that sex workers in Sofia organize a protest against the police activity because recently all outdoor sex workers were detained by the police for 24 hours and were not able to do sex work. They want their profession to be legalized, to pay taxes and to be able to work undisturbed. These are mostly independent sex workers who have no pimps and work for themselves. -
What is the cost of legal reform for Ukrainian sex workers?
Posted: December 15th, 2011, 3:53am PST by Aliya
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By Aliya Rakhmetova
Beginning of November 2011, Ukrainian Verhovnaya Rada (a supreme body similar to Parliament) reviewed a bill on changing the legislation around ‘prostitution’. In the background note, Mogilev, the Minister of Interior, writes that the reason for the reform is the fact that existing legislation is not working (news article link http://cripo.com.ua/index.php?sect_id=10&aid=125635 ).
According to the authors of the bill, right now only city administrative committees (within city executive body) can deal with these cases, the village committees are not authorized to take the case. Since the cases should be addressed by the executive bodies in the location where the person is officially registered, most of cases on individual sex work remain unaddressed because most of fined sex workers come from smaller towns and villages.
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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Killing The Global Fund = KILLING US WIPE OUT AIDS NOT PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV.
Posted: November 29th, 2011, 7:23am PST by apnswdollhouse
At its 25th Board Meeting in Ghana, 20-22 November, the Global Fund Board decided to cancel Round 11, its funding opportunity for countries to put forward ambitious proposals for scale-up of HIV/AIDS, TB and/or malaria programs, National Strategies and health systems strengthening. The reason for this is lack of money and unwillingness by the donors [...]
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APNSW PRESENT GIFT TO THE BOARD OF THE GLOBAL FUND
Posted: November 20th, 2011, 10:57pm PST by apnswdollhouse
Last month APNSW members decided to paint a mural to represent the problems sex workers have with GFATM programmes but also to give ideas for how they can be fixed so that GFATM money is used responsibly and ethically on programmes addressing sex work and HIV. Left side of the banner is the way programmes [...]
SWAN - SWAN News
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Civil society unites to support the work of the Global Fund
Posted: November 18th, 2011, 3:04am PST by Aliya
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Eurasian Harm Reduction Network followed the initiative of Latin American groups and developed a petition to the Global Fund's (GF) Board in advance of their meeting next week to express their concerns over potential negative implications of the GF reform following the recommendations of the High Level Panel. It started off as a regional initiative in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but has now grown to represent broader regional concerns and focus on the communities of key affected populations.
If you think it is important that GF continues its work in Latin America, Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia and in Asia Pacific, please sign the online petition today (by November 18 midnight) here [www.itpcorg.ru] .
For the full text of petition in English scroll down the page.
To sign the petition click the link "Subscribe" and fill in your information. -
Will now police make decisions who to punish and how in Ukraine?
Posted: November 8th, 2011, 8:03am PST by Aliya
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Beginning of November 2011, Ukrainian Verhovnaya Rada (a supreme body similar to Parliament) reviewed a bill on changing the legislation around ‘prostitution’. In the background note, Mogilev, the Minister of Interior, writes that the reason for the reform is the fact that existing legislation is not working (news article link http://cripo.com.ua/index.php?sect_id=10&aid=125635 ).
According to the authors of the bill, right now only city administrative committees (within city executive body) can deal with these cases, the village committees are not authorized to take the case. Since the cases should be addressed by the executive bodies in the location where the person is officially registered, most of cases on individual sex work remain unaddressed because most of fined sex workers come from smaller towns and villages.
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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Korean Sex Workers Day of ACTION!!!
Posted: September 27th, 2011, 11:13pm PDT by apnswdollhouse
Korean Sex Workers are standing up for their RIGHTS!!! There are approximately 1,000 sex workers gathering from several location of Korea. They are claiming “Sex work is work!!! Abolish anti-prostitution law!!! Decriminalise Sex Work!!!” They are working in brothels. Korean government has forced to remove brothel areas since 2004 made new anti-prostitution law. The situation [...]
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Transgender Health Handbook
Posted: September 12th, 2011, 2:13pm PDT by apnswdollhouse
This is another source of advice for transgender women on living a healthy life. “Many people think that we are just gay men in dresses… But we know we are not, we are transgender women. We have identities and lives very different than gay men. We are special. No one can take away our dignity.” [...]
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Together we can do it!!
Posted: September 8th, 2011, 10:55am PDT by apnswdollhouse
Recently, APNSW conducted a training workshop for delegates from the four countries that have most recently joined joined our network. Sex workers came from East Timor, Laos, Nepal & Pakistan came to the four day workshop, which was supported by a grant from AJWS. The workshop titled “Together we can do it!” was an Intoductory [...]
SWAN - SWAN News
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Bulgaria: Sex workers protest against police actions
Posted: September 5th, 2011, 6:35am PDT by Aliya
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SOFIA, August 31, 2011 - Sex worker in Sofia protest current situation with sex work and police attitudes. Below is the news report from the Ring Road (in Bulgaria).
Translation of text coverage at [tv7.bg] :
" Profession "prostitute"?
Women who work as prostitutes said they will now go before Parliament and protest to protect their rights. What provoked them and should prostitution be legalized - See first-person answers.
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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South Korean HIV+ Lawyer arrested by the Police in South Korea.
Posted: August 30th, 2011, 2:29am PDT by apnswdollhouse
#SouthKorean Activist Arrested at #ICAAP10 from rishita nandagiri on Vimeo.
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Taking the example of Korean sex workers, community protesters got up on stage today in the plenary with facemasks symbolising the silencing of the voices of the communities, and read a list of demands to the organisers and UNAIDS
Posted: August 29th, 2011, 8:50pm PDT by apnswdollhouse
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STATEMENT OF DEMANDS BY ICAAP COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES AND ACTIVISTS ON UNACCEPTABLE POLICE VIOLENCE AT ICAAP 29 AUGUST 2011
Posted: August 29th, 2011, 3:18am PDT by apnswdollhouse
We are appalled at the failure of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific, the Local Organising Committee and the UN in predicting, preventing and effectively intervening in the violence that took place on the 27th of August 2011. We note that the UN has yet to make any public statement about the police [...]
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Police Violence inside ICAAP 2011 – A Summary of Events
Posted: August 29th, 2011, 3:15am PDT by apnswdollhouse
On 27 August 2011, during a peaceful protest against Free Trade Agreements (FTA) inside the ICAAP conference site, Korean and international participants were subject violent abuse at the hands of the South Korean police. During the FTA protest, some community members noticed plainclothes security inside the venue taking pictures of them. The conference participants challenged [...]
SWAN - SWAN News
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Russia: Altai Mountains in anticipation of talented young people. Pack up for the Volunteer Summer School! (2-7 August 2011)
Posted: June 16th, 2011, 3:16am PDT by Aliya
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June, Barnaul – It has been ten years since the regional public organization "Siberian Initiative", a member of SWAN in Russia, held its first volunteer summer school, which has become a unique forum for volunteers from Russia and other countries. The school is a space, where volunteers from different organizations and regions learn, share experiences and knowledge, communicate and relax.
At different times the Volunteer Summer School hosted volunteers not only from Russia, but also Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, USA, Sweden, Italy and Canada. Over the years the Summer School trained over 1,000 young people representing more than 300 state, municipal and public organizations from 47 Russian regions. Volunteers increase their energy, improve their knowledge, help organize productive cooperation and promote their further development. This is an excellent opportunity to promote and develop further the movement of volunteer service to the society."The Volunteer Summer School is a great chance for volunteers to realize how important their work is, and that there so many of us!" - Cherkasova Anastasia Summer School 2005.
This year Summer School will open its doors in August 2-7 and will host the first Master- Forum on Social Service, which is a continuation and development of the idea of an annual Summer School for Volunteers.
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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Sex workers present to Global Commission on HIV and the Law
Posted: April 19th, 2011, 6:35am PDT by apnswdollhouse
http://blip.tv/file/5041208 APNSW presented on legal issues for sex workers at the Global Commission on HIV and the Law’s Regional Dialogue held in Bangkok. This is the presentation made by sex workers from across the region and includes video evidence of the abuses faced by sex workers and the need for reforms. More about eh Commission, [...]
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New location APNSW Bangkok office
Posted: April 14th, 2011, 7:46am PDT by apnswdollhouse
Now that UNAIDS have allocated core funding to APNSW, Last month, we moved into our new offices located in Soi Sailom on Paholyothin Road, close to Ari BTS station. It is a fabulous space (naturally). It has several small offices for staff members to utilize as well as an attractive entrance area, reception, and functional [...]
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Universal Access
Posted: April 4th, 2011, 11:16am PDT by apnswdollhouse
A number of APNSW members are involved in local, regional and global meetings for setting new targets for Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment and care. In the last week of March, 2011 4 reps from APNSW as well as some other sex worker activists from the region were involved in the regional consultation. We [...]
SWAN - SWAN News
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BULGARIA - HESED
Posted: March 14th, 2011, 4:00pm PDT by Aliya
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HESED initiated a number of activities to mark December 17th, starting with a meeting with local institutions and organisations to introduce them to the day and to sensitized them to ways of speaking about sex workers in order to reduce stigma against sex work and vulnerable groups. This is the second meeting on this issue organized by HESED, the first was on 17th December 2009 and it has now become a “tradition”.
There were representatives from several local institutions: the Center for Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Regional Inspection for the Protection and Control of Public Health, the Program for the Prevention and Control of HIV and AIDS within the Ministry of Health, the Caritas Foundation and the Concordia Bulgaria Foundation. No journalists attended the meeting.
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CZECH REPUBLIC- Bliss Without Risk
Posted: March 14th, 2011, 4:00pm PDT by Aliya
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Thirty members of Bliss Without Risk, including sex workers marked December 17th with a march through the streets of Prague up to the city centre. There, in a park, the lit candles in memory of sex workers who had lost their lives to violence as well as those who survived violence.
NGOs and media were alerted to the actions and a number of journalists were present to cover the event. Below is a link to one such article:
http://zpravy.idnes.cz/svicky-a-minuta-ticha-pripomnely-ubodane-a-uskrce...
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ALBANIA- AKSION PLUS
Posted: March 14th, 2011, 4:00pm PDT by Aliya
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On the occasion of the 17th of December Aksion Plus (A+) was invited to participate in a National Human Rights Debate. Two A+ staff and one transgender sex worker spoke about the issues that sex workers currently face, services that are offered and advocacy efforts to advance sex workers’ rights. In his power point, Genci Mucollari, the director of A+ presented, also discussed, the existing mechanisms that can be used enforce respect for the rights of the LGBT community in Albania. The following people also delivered speeches: the State Commissioner for Protection against Discrimination, representatives from LGBT community and Pink Embassy and journalists.
The session was attended by nearly 30 other human rights activists. It was a very constructive event in terms of the open discussion and joint recommendations for future action that were proposed. The interaction between stakeholders and concerned parties proved very fruitful.
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MACEDONIA- STAR
Posted: March 14th, 2011, 4:00pm PDT by Aliya
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by Borce
In light of the International Day to end the violence against sex workers, the red umbrella was symbolically opened for the fourth time in the capital city of Macedonia. Sex workers and their supporters actively participated in the event organized by the Association for Support of Marginalized Workers STAR-STAR.
We chose the slogan “To be a sex worker is my right – to be a brute is a crime !” for the campaign. We printed two cards with the slogan, each with a different photograph aimed to deliver sex workers’ message to society.
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MACEDONIA- HOPS
Posted: March 14th, 2011, 4:00pm PDT by Aliya
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by Marija
This year HOPS marked the International day to End Violence against Sex Workers in several regions in Macedonia – Skopje, the capital, but also Gostivar, Strumica and Ohrid where mixed teams of sex workers and other professionals work together on service provision for HOPS. Most of the activities were community-oriented, in order to get sex workers familiar with the importance of this day in regions that marked it for the first time, to provoke discussion about violence and the situation in their local environments, but also to engage sex workers in joint creative and fun activities that they can enjoy.
In Strumica, sex workers led the events. They began by making small wooden red umbrellas which they used to decorate the drop in center, to embellish cocktail drinks and to distribute to friends and allies. At the same time, they organized group discussions inspired by the community newsletter “From Us To Us” (produced by STAR-STAR) and the Sex Workers’ Manifesto (produced by ICRSE) and prepared lots of food including a beautiful and tasty cake that said “Protect Yourself, It’s Your Right”.
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HUNGARY- THE ASSOCIATION OF HUNGARIAN SEX WORKERS
Posted: March 14th, 2011, 4:00pm PDT by Aliya
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The Association of Hungarian Sex Workers carried out a postcard campaign with SWAN support on December 17th. We prepared the attached postcard with the picture taken at the red umbrella march which also celebrated our association’s 10th birthdays. We sent the postcards to our key partners, newspaper and magazine editors, members of parliament, decision makers, NGOs, as well as to international networks. This was the first occasion when we used the power of choosing and delivering our own message; usually we are represented in the media in the form of quotes, reports or interviews. We think that this is a proactive method to catch the public’s attention, so we decided to put a greater emphasis on new media initiatives (promoting sex worker blogs, advocacy videos, etc.) in the future. We got positive feedback so far: several journalists contacted us who we were not in contact before.
The text on the postcard reads:
"December 17 is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Discrimination against sex workers has to be taken seriously as a societal and political problem. Let us stop putting sex workers into illegal situations. Criminalization contributes to their vulnerability!”
Two employees of the Association visited street and indoor sex workers and handed out Christmas packages (with chocolate, tangerines, condoms and our Newsletter) and raised awareness about the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
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SERBIA- JAZAS
Posted: March 14th, 2011, 3:00pm PDT by Aliya
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For this year’s December 17th action, JAZAS organized presentations and a viewing of the film ‘Invisibles” by 17-year old Nikola Polic at the REX cultural center. The film was made during 2010 at the drop-in center and hotspots, and features several sex workers and outreach workers. It presents personal stories of sex workers: how they think of themselves, how others view them and what they have suffered through whilst working.
Stasa Plecas talked about the significance of this day, how it is commemorated all over the world, and overall, how sex workers are exposed to various kinds of violence.
Dr. Dragan Ilic presented data on violence against sex workers in Serbia, gathered during a 2010 research study.
Jelena Vidic presented data on stigma and discrimination from the project “Empowerment to Recognize and React”.
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Global Fund Meeting in Sofia: Activists Demand More Funding for the CEE/CA
Posted: March 8th, 2011, 8:14am PST by Aliya
From December 13th to 15th, Sofia, Bulgaria was host to the 22nd meeting of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). Each year, the Global Fund holds a meeting away from its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to offer delegates the opportunity to visit programs financed by the Global Fund. This was the first meeting held in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.
One of the topics in the meeting was a discussion about reconsidering the eligibility of criteria for financing by the GFATM. Such a change would result in new funding opportunities for a number of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. While the board deliberated on this issue, more than 600 activists from Serbia and Bulgaria chose the occasion to protest and to hand an open letter to the Executive Director in favor of such changes and to highlight the importance of increasing funding to the region in the world that currently has the most rapidly expanding HIV epidemic.
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Hungary: Celebrating a decade of work for sex workers' rights
Posted: March 8th, 2011, 8:02am PST by Aliya
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The Association of Hungarian Sex Workers (SZEXE) celebrated its 10 year anniversary on the September 20th, 2010. The celebration included a short media sensitization and information session using SWAN materials and then speeches Ms. Ágnes Földi, chairwoman of the organization and Mr. Tamás Árva, the legal aid provider of the Association.
Ms. Földi thanked the partners and experts who have worked closely with the Association over the past 10 years for their assistance and expertise and talked about the history of the sex worker movement. According to Ms. Földi: "It has been an incredible achievement for our organization to get all levels of government to realize that sex workers need support. We hope that their willingness to help our cause will continue over the next 10 years and will lead to an improved legal framework for sex work.
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SWAN invited to train with the National Press Foundation
Posted: March 8th, 2011, 7:40am PST by Aliya
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By Aliya Rakhmetova
July 16, Vienna, Austria - The International AIDS Conference (IAC) was preceded by a number of events to provide space for journalists, communities representatives, networks and researchers to make their participation in the IAC as meaningful as possible. In the framework of the IAC, SWAN was invited to hold a training with the National Press Foundation (http://www.nationalpress.org), whose primary mission is to increase journalists’ knowledge of complex issues in order to improve public knowledge.
A 90-minutes-long seminar on sex work issues was a part of a four-day journalist training which was organized by a USA-based non-profit journalist education organization National Press Foundation in collaboration with the International AIDS Foundation. This training involved 49 journalists from 40 countries. The aim of this training was to provide background information on issues around HIV/AIDS, human rights and their relevance to the rights of different groups of population.
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Lithuania: Coalition strengthens relationship with journalists
Posted: March 8th, 2011, 7:23am PST by Aliya
June, 2010 – Though it was Saturday, journalists met with SWAN representatives in Lithuania to talk about sex work. In hope to establish a closer and more productive relationship and to open a dialogue on the representation of sex workers in media, Coalition I Can Live invited journalists from various printed media for a discussion.
Gathered in one of the cozy cafes of the Old Town, the meeting organizers, Coalition I Can Live and DEMETRA, a drop-in center for sex workers, talked with journalists about types of sex work, regional and international sex workers’ rights movements, legal framework around sex work in Lithuania and main problems sex workers face in this country. In discussion of the possible stories for the news, the organizers used a list of articles that had been published over past years to show how actually narrow the covered topic had been.
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SWAN conference session on Sex workers in Europe and Central Asia: Mobility, migration and human rights
Posted: March 7th, 2011, 8:15am PST by Aliya
By Marija Tosheva, HOPS, Macedonia
On July 20, 2010, the second day of Vienna conference, SWAN organized an oral session on Sex work, mobility, migration and human rights in Europe and Central Asia. 6 experienced activists from the region, members of SWAN and TAMPEP networks, had a chance in front of an excellent audience to challenge and start a discussion on vulnerabilities and structural barriers faced by mobile and migrant sex workers to better health and human rights.
Presentations provided an overview of the trends of mobility and migration in Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia when sex workers move either internally or across the boarders. Presenters and participants looked into human rights and other factors that affect sex workers’ health, access to HIV prevention and care, as well as human rights: such as law and policy; linguistic and cultural barriers; and repression and discrimination in the “receiving” country or region.
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Macedonia: HOPS wins HIV and human rights award
Posted: March 7th, 2011, 8:03am PST by Aliya
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By Marija Tosheva, HOPS, Macedonia
Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS, Macedonia) became the recipient of the 2010 International Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, presented by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch. The award, which recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations that protect the rights and dignity of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, was presented in Vienna on July 20, 2010, at the XVIII International AIDS Conference.
“Sex workers routinely face human rights abuses, including the discriminatory denial of health services, arbitrary detention by police, harassment, and sexual and physical violence,” said Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (www.aidslaw.ca). “This award recognizes the tremendous contribution of HOPS to seeking justice for sex workers and improving their access to health, social, and legal services.”
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SWAN represents CEE/CA in Vienna
Posted: March 7th, 2011, 7:21am PST by Aliya
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July 18-23, Vienna, Austria – This year sex workers and allies from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia had a chance to talk about barriers and issues that sex workers face in their countries, to show what groups and organizations have achieved in addressing the pandemics and violations in their region. The Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) was represented by 11 activists from Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia and Montenegro, a team of young and energetic volunteers from Odyseus, Slovakia and a performance group from Bliss without Risk, Czech Republic.
In order to make SWAN activities more visible and to attract international attention to sex work related issues in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, SWAN secretariat applied for a marketplace booth at the Global Village at IAC and some of SWAN member-organizations brought handouts and brochures to be distributed at the booth. Also the products - hand-made or designed by sex workers and their allies - were sold in order to raise money for SWAN members’ programs.
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SWAN marketplace booth
Posted: February 7th, 2011, 8:08am PST by Aliya
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By Lubica Tornosziova, Odyseus, Slovakia
During the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, SWAN ran a marketplace booth in the Global Village. Global Village was a space where everybody could go in, without needing special permission or badges. This meant that our booth was accessible not only to conference participants but also to the general public.
Our booth was predominately a contact point, as people constantly passed through the corridor where the booth was situated. Some of them just looked around and they didn’t want to be distracted. Many more people came to us and asked who we are, what we are doing and what kind of materials we were offering. Our main activity was providing information about SWAN and/or about sex work in general: we distributed leaflets about SWAN itself an about SWAN members but also set up a game called “Bust the Myth”.
ICRSE Home
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Scarlet Alliance - video EVERY HO I KNOW SAYS SO
Posted: December 20th, 2010, 5:12am PST
Scarlet Alliance in Australia releases this great video in support of sex workers and their lovers. Listen and learn!
EVERY HO I KNOW SAYS SO is a response to the total lack of accessible online resources for people looking for advice on how to be a good date or lover or partner to a sex worker. We want to support our lovers to continue unlearning the internalized stigma against sex workers, especially in intimate relationships. We think that sex workers themselves have valuable advice and direction to give to people who get into intimate relationships with us. This is the direct message we want to give to our lovers: "We hope that this video is useful to you in your journey to becoming a sex worker-positive and supportive lover and person in the community!!! By continuing to work on your attitudes about our work and educating yourself, you are showing us that you care. We love you!"
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Scarlet Alliance - video EVERY HO I KNOW SAYS SO
Posted: December 20th, 2010, 5:12am PST
Scarlet Alliance in Australia releases this great video in support of sex workers and their lovers. Listen and learn!
EVERY HO I KNOW SAYS SO is a response to the total lack of accessible online resources for people looking for advice on how to be a good date or lover or partner to a sex worker. We want to support our lovers to continue unlearning the internalized stigma against sex workers, especially in intimate relationships. We think that sex workers themselves have valuable advice and direction to give to people who get into intimate relationships with us. This is the direct message we want to give to our lovers: "We hope that this video is useful to you in your journey to becoming a sex worker-positive and supportive lover and person in the community!!! By continuing to work on your attitudes about our work and educating yourself, you are showing us that you care. We love you!"
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Mama Cash - Out From Under online exhibition
Posted: December 20th, 2010, 5:06am PST
Mama Cash's online exhibit 'Out from Under' showcases issues, voices, stories, and perspectives from the global sex workers’ human rights movement.
Sex workers are severely stigmatised as workers and human beings. Since the early 1970s, determined and courageous sex workers have been collectively organising in spite of the sometimes extreme consequences they face for speaking out.
Why are sex workers' rights a priority for Mama Cash?Our grantees are self-organised groups and networks of sex workers globally.
We currently prioritise sex worker groups and networks working on these issues:- sex worker labour rights;
- ending violence against sex workers such as police brutality and extortion;
- securing basic health and other social services, including contraception and HIV/AIDS testing and treatment;
- access to social security and other work-related entitlements;
- reducing the stigmatisation that leads to violence and discrimination; and
- pushing to make feminist and women's rights more inclusive of the voices and agendas of sex workers.
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Mama Cash - Out From Under online exhibition
Posted: December 20th, 2010, 5:06am PST
Mama Cash's online exhibit 'Out from Under' showcases issues, voices, stories, and perspectives from the global sex workers’ human rights movement.
Sex workers are severely stigmatised as workers and human beings. Since the early 1970s, determined and courageous sex workers have been collectively organising in spite of the sometimes extreme consequences they face for speaking out.
Why are sex workers' rights a priority for Mama Cash?Our grantees are self-organised groups and networks of sex workers globally.
We currently prioritise sex worker groups and networks working on these issues:- sex worker labour rights;
- ending violence against sex workers such as police brutality and extortion;
- securing basic health and other social services, including contraception and HIV/AIDS testing and treatment;
- access to social security and other work-related entitlements;
- reducing the stigmatisation that leads to violence and discrimination; and
- pushing to make feminist and women's rights more inclusive of the voices and agendas of sex workers.
SWAN - SWAN News
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Slovakia: Odyseus, interviews and a party
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 9:04am PST by Aliya
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17 December, 2010, Bratislava - Odyseus, SWAN representative in Slovakia, uses International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers in a more positive way. The sex workers are invited to a small party. There will be nice food, typical for this period of the year and small presents for each guest!
Odyseus also puts energy to change the attitudes toward sex work and sex workers. In the framework of December 17 awareness campaign, Odyseus interviewed two sex workers and these interviews are available online here.
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Ukraine: "Legalife" Press-release
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 7:54am PST by Aliya
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... "In 2010, the State, for the first time, legally recognized the existence of sex workers in Ukraine and cemented this fact in the domestic legislation. In particular, the Order № 3123/275/770 “On approval of standards for the provision of social services to representatives of risk groups”, which establishes the definition of “persons in sex business”, was signed by three ministers and the profile is registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. On November 1, this binding for all authorities of the legal act entered into force."...
Read whole Press-release in English here.
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Macedonia: STAR invites you to the red umbrellas march
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 6:17am PST by Aliya
Image:
On the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers STAR-STAR, the Macedonian organization advocating for the rights of marginalized professions, invites everyone to take part in the march of red umbrellas as a gesture of support for the rights of sex workers.
Red umbrella symbolizes the protection from the heavenly and human attacks. Everyone knows the meaning of the red ribbon. The red umbrella has also become an international symbol. Join us with a red umbrella and make a contribution to the fight against criminalization and violence against sex workers.
The march will start on December 17 at 7 pm in front of the Youth Cultural Centre in Skopje.
Continuation of the march will be a friendly party!
ICRSE Home
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Articles in the media highlighting 17 December
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 5:16am PST
17 December and Red umbrellas come to Bosnia and Herzegovina!
Bosnian news reports on an action held by UG Proi in Bosnia and Herzegovina promoting and marking 17th of December on a highway which is known as sex working area. The statements and the message is good and respectful."17th December, PROI Association organized a campaign called "STOP: Violence is not the job description sex workers". The objective of action is to draw attention to the presence of sex work and violence against persons who provide sexual services. In this way, first in Bosnia and Herzegovina, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against sex workers." (translation from UG Proi website).
On the website of PONY New York you will find links to more news about 17 December actions for this year.
Chi Mgbako
Honoring the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
Posted: December 14, 2010 11:08 PM
Audacia Ray
It is not just violent clients who hurt sex workers
Posted: 15 December 2010 15.10 GMTIn Uganda and many other countries, they are denied access to HIV treatment, stigmatised by authorities and brutalised by police...
jodi sh doff
Posted: Dec 15, 2010
International Day to End Violence Against Sex WorkersThe names of 60 sex workers who were murdered in 2010 will be read aloud at candlelight vigils across the world on Friday.
“Their words are killing us”: Violent language of anti-sex work groups Posted by Lori | Published: December 17, 2010
Today marks the 7th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
To mark this important day, we’re featuring this guest post on the impact of violent language of anti-sex work groups by Calum Bennachie & Jan Marie. The article was excerpted from “Research for Sex Work 12”
Written by Calum Bennachie & Jan Marie
When most people discuss violence against sex workers, they talk about the physical violence that they perceive sex workers are exposed to by clients, by authorities, and by others. However, violence takes many forms, and what is often omitted from discussions of violence against sex workers is the verbal violence of anti-sex work groups. The language they use reflects not merely a dislike of sex work, but a hatred of sex workers...
Article published on Gatvol a South African website.
[www.gatvol.co.za] title="Gatvol site article">Hate Crimes Against Prostitutes Prevelent
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Articles in the media highlighting 17 December
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 5:16am PST
17 December and Red umbrellas come to Bosnia and Herzegovina!
Bosnian news reports on an action held by UG Proi in Bosnia and Herzegovina promoting and marking 17th of December on a highway which is known as sex working area. The statements and the message is good and respectful."17th December, PROI Association organized a campaign called "STOP: Violence is not the job description sex workers". The objective of action is to draw attention to the presence of sex work and violence against persons who provide sexual services. In this way, first in Bosnia and Herzegovina, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against sex workers." (translation from UG Proi website).
On the website of PONY New York you will find links to more news about 17 December actions for this year.
Chi Mgbako
Honoring the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
Posted: December 14, 2010 11:08 PMAudacia Ray
It is not just violent clients who hurt sex workers
Posted: 15 December 2010 15.10 GMTIn Uganda and many other countries, they are denied access to HIV treatment, stigmatised by authorities and brutalised by police...
jodi sh doff
Posted: Dec 15, 2010
International Day to End Violence Against Sex WorkersThe names of 60 sex workers who were murdered in 2010 will be read aloud at candlelight vigils across the world on Friday.
“Their words are killing us”: Violent language of anti-sex work groups Posted by Lori | Published: December 17, 2010Today marks the 7th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
To mark this important day, we’re featuring this guest post on the impact of violent language of anti-sex work groups by Calum Bennachie & Jan Marie. The article was excerpted from “Research for Sex Work 12”
Written by Calum Bennachie & Jan Marie
When most people discuss violence against sex workers, they talk about the physical violence that they perceive sex workers are exposed to by clients, by authorities, and by others. However, violence takes many forms, and what is often omitted from discussions of violence against sex workers is the verbal violence of anti-sex work groups. The language they use reflects not merely a dislike of sex work, but a hatred of sex workers...
Article published on Gatvol a South African website.
[http] title="Gatvol site article">Hate Crimes Against Prostitutes Prevelent
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UK - Vigil in Bradford organised by the IUSW
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 4:36am PST
For non UK residents: Bradford was the site of our most recent (known) multiple killer; Stephen Griffiths (the "Crossbow Cannibal") will shortly stand trial for the murders of Suzanne Blamires, Susan Rushworth and Shelley Armitage, and possibly other women too.
Remembering our friends and colleagues
17 December 2010
vigil 5-6pm
at the bottom of Ivegate
opposite Centenary Square, Bradford
Please come and join us in solidarity, for some or all of the time. Feel free to call for more information: 07772 638748.People who sell sex, particularly women, are seen as targets for violence, whether “it’s just part of the job”, “it doesn’t matter, she’s only a whore” or by those who define all our experience in prostitution as violence.
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was created by sex workers as a way to speak out against those who would silence us, whether by direct violence, the violence of the state, which criminalises us when we work together (any building used by more than one sex worker can be raided as a brothel), or those who would rather speak for or about us than listen to us.
This day has been marked by sex workers to commemorate the harms done to our community since 2003, in reaction to the comments of the “Green River Killer” who murdered at least 71 women. “I picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing … I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught."
In fact, it is possible to target violence against sex workers: all it takes is the political will. In Liverpool, crime against sex workers is treated as hate crime: there is a 68% detection rate for rapes committed against street sex workers and 90% of violent cases that went to court resulted in convictions.
The International Union of Sex Workers, which called this vigil, campaigns for the “Merseyside model” to be adopted nationwide, and for policies that give people in the sex industry the full protection of the law. We challenge the social exclusion of people who sell sex by demanding that those most affected are involved in decisions about policy.
We campaign for freedom to choose and respect for those choices, including the absolute right to say no, for everyone in the sex industry, whether they are there by choice, circumstance or coercion.
Look for the red umbrellas and candles.
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UK - Vigil in Bradford organised by the IUSW
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 4:36am PST
For non UK residents: Bradford was the site of our most recent (known) multiple killer; Stephen Griffiths (the "Crossbow Cannibal") will shortly stand trial for the murders of Suzanne Blamires, Susan Rushworth and Shelley Armitage, and possibly other women too.
Remembering our friends and colleagues17 December 2010
vigil 5-6pm
at the bottom of Ivegate
opposite Centenary Square, Bradford
Please come and join us in solidarity, for some or all of the time. Feel free to call for more information: 07772 638748.People who sell sex, particularly women, are seen as targets for violence, whether “it’s just part of the job”, “it doesn’t matter, she’s only a whore” or by those who define all our experience in prostitution as violence.
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was created by sex workers as a way to speak out against those who would silence us, whether by direct violence, the violence of the state, which criminalises us when we work together (any building used by more than one sex worker can be raided as a brothel), or those who would rather speak for or about us than listen to us.
This day has been marked by sex workers to commemorate the harms done to our community since 2003, in reaction to the comments of the “Green River Killer” who murdered at least 71 women. “I picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing … I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught."
In fact, it is possible to target violence against sex workers: all it takes is the political will. In Liverpool, crime against sex workers is treated as hate crime: there is a 68% detection rate for rapes committed against street sex workers and 90% of violent cases that went to court resulted in convictions.
The International Union of Sex Workers, which called this vigil, campaigns for the “Merseyside model” to be adopted nationwide, and for policies that give people in the sex industry the full protection of the law. We challenge the social exclusion of people who sell sex by demanding that those most affected are involved in decisions about policy.
We campaign for freedom to choose and respect for those choices, including the absolute right to say no, for everyone in the sex industry, whether they are there by choice, circumstance or coercion.
Look for the red umbrellas and candles.
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My name is Laura and I am an independent escort
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 4:21am PST
Laura writes a letter objecting to a private member bill proposing to criminalise clients in Scotland.
A letter to Holyrood
13 December, 2010 by Laura Lee
Dear Sirs,
I write to voice my objection to the proposed changes to the law in relation to the purchase of sex in Scotland, ie : the private member’s bill being proposed by Trish Godman. My name is Laura and I am an independent escort. I am not pimped, coerced or working under duress in any way. I am not labouring under any addiction, nor am I the product of an abusive background. I have been a sex worker for some 16 years and it’s fair to say I love my job.
The first part of Trish Godman’s opening statement makes for interesting reading ;
“People who buy sex do so of their own free will, whereas the majority of prostitutes are unwilling participants in this exchange of cash for sex.”
Of what “majority” does she speak, exactly ? Over the years I have met women working at every level of the sex industry and in fact, it has been my experience that the vast majority of those women are happy in their work. Sure, there are days we dislike, the same as every other job, but the only women I have ever encountered who are truly unhappy are those who are drug addicted, or trapped through fear. This proposed legislative change does not take the above into account in any way, it seeks to prohibit the purchase of sex regardless of any circumstances.
"I submit that the correct approach is to look at reducing harm to sex workers by taking the stigma and the social exclusion away from the sex industry, so that both sex workers and clients can feel able to come forward and voice any concerns that they may have to the authorities."
Read the full article on Harlot's Parlour
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UK - UKNSWP urges Merseyside Police to address violence against sex workers and they respond!
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 3:38am PST
UKNSWP sent a letter to Merseyside Police earlier in the week raising awareness re 17th December, applauding them on their work addressing violence against sex workers and asking if the Chief would reinforce their position. The good news is the Chief Constable i.e. head of police force in Merseyside has made a statement on their website!! Here it is.
Merseyside Police supports 'International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers'
The 17th December, 2010 marks the 'International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers'. In particular on this day, we remember men and women who have been lost through violence and our thoughts are with their families.
Merseyside Police is currently investigating five unsolved murders of sex workers and these women will not be forgotten and the crimes against them are still being investigated.
In 2006, Merseyside Police was the first police force in the country to treat crimes against sex workers as 'hate crime'.
Since then we have continued to work with support networks both nationally and locally, in particular with the 'UK Network of Sex Work Projects' and with outreach staff and the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor from Armistead (Street) to build trust and confidence amongst members of that community.
Read the full article here.
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SWAN issues a 17 December Press Release and Sex Workers in Ukraine need your support!
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 2:23am PST
RIGHTS GROUPS DENOUNCE ABUSE AND DISCRIMINATION OF SEX WORKERS
Budapest, Hungary, December 17, 2010
On December 17, organizations and groups supporting human rights for sex workers will hold various events to bring public attention to the issues of violence and injustice towards sex workers and their families in Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers aims to raise awareness of the violence and abuse perpetrated on sex workers, while remembering those who have been its victims. At the same time, this is the day for unity among sex workers and their allies all over the world to show the strength and determination to end abuse and ensure equal rights for sex workers.
SWAN asks all allies – individuals and organizations – to support the petition of Ukrainian sex workers’ rights organization Ukrainian League Legalife addressing the President to repeal the article 181, Part 1 of the Administrative Code of Ukraine. While rendering sex work an administrative offense, this law has opened the door to physical and sexual abuse, blackmail and harassment by law enforcement officers and drove sex workers underground and away from any kind of protection. Such situation has put sex workers' to even greater risk of violence and HIV infection.
To sign the Petition, please send your Name, Organization, City and Country to the local SWAN member or to SWAN coordinator at swan@swannet.org or fill in online at http://www.petitiononline.com/ukrswan/petition.htmlPETITION TO PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE
TO: President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych
Copies:
Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov
Ombudswoman of the Parliament of Ukraine, Nina Karpachova
Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Anatoliy Mogyliov
Minister of Health, Zynoviy MytnykDear Mr. President!
We, the representatives of the charitable organization "Ukrainian League" Legalife" and other Ukrainian and international organizations working in the sphere of HIV/AIDS prevention consider our civic duty to draw your attention to the following matter.
In 2010 in Ukraine, sexual transmission of HIV has become dominant among other ways of HIV/AIDS infection, exceeding in number the “traditional” way of infecting through blood. According to the Ukrainian Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention, in 2009 there were more than 12 000 cases of sexual transmission of HIV. Obviously, today the main efforts of the state and public organizations working in the sphere of public health have to be primarily targeted at preventing the spread of HIV through sexual contacts.
However, we must admit that today the most vulnerable social groups to HIV infection not only have a very limited access to prevention and treatment of this and other socially dangerous diseases, but also constantly suffer from harassment and violation of their personal rights by the law-enforcement officers. These are the women who provide sexual services (according to the international terminology - "commercial sex workers").
From our organization’s practical experience in providing social assistance to sex workers, and according to many witness testimonies, we can declare of the systematic and massive character of violations of human rights of sex workers in Ukraine.
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NSWP 17 December launch of Research for Sex Workers and a brand new website!
Posted: December 17th, 2010, 1:49am PST
You have to read this!The criminalisation of sex work increases the vulnerability of sex workers to human rights violations and violence. However, sex workers are raising awareness, working with policy makers, and organizing against this violence, as the following examples from Research for Sex Work show:
- In Central Eastern Europe and Central Asia, a survey of 238 male, female, and transgender sex workers conducted by the Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) found that 42 percent of sex workers in the region reported having experienced physical violence by the police and 36 percent had experienced sexual violence.
- Since 2006, police in Liverpool, UK have agreed a policy in which all crimes against sex workers are treated as hate crimes and have appointed a sex work liaison officer.
- Though recently institutional violence in Cambodia has gotten a lot of attention, violence committed against sex workers by intimate partners is also a major problem. The Cambodian Prostitute Union provides education to sex workers and their abusive partners about the domestic violence law as well as counseling, support, and service referrals for sex workers.
- The Aboriginal Sex Workers Education and Outreach Project in Canada was founded in 2008 to focus on the needs of Aboriginal street-based sex workers, who experience high rates of violence and HIV infection. Indigenous women are infected with HIV at nearly twice the rate as women in the general population. (quoted from nswp.org)
This issue is bilingual (English Russian) and available for download from nswp.org.
hard copies may also be ordered from the NSWP
Check out the new NSWP website!
Promoting Health and Human Rights
NSWP exists to uphold the voice of sex workers globally and connect regional networks advocating for the rights of female, male, and transgender sex workers.
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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Somaly Uh Uh!
Posted: December 16th, 2010, 7:42pm PST by apnswdollhouse
December 17 is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This date is being marked by events and remembrance ceremonies organised by sex workers organisations all around the world. APNSW have released this video to highlight the issues of violence against sex workers that is perpetrated by police and rescue organisations.
ICRSE Home
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Kazakhstan - Poem for 17 December
Posted: December 16th, 2010, 7:26am PST
This poem was written in Russian and translated to english. It was written by a sex worker from Kazakhstan during a workshop held in Ohrid, Macedonia in 2009. You can find this and other writings by sex workers in the SWAN SW Community newsletter: You Are Not Alone, Together We Are Stronger. 18 sex workers developed these posters, poems the articles in their own languages. Read it. Enjoy it. And remember that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
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Hungary - 17 December poem from a sex worker
Posted: December 16th, 2010, 7:10am PST
This poem was written by Mariann during a workshop held in Ohrid, Macedonia in 2009. You can find this and other writings by sex workers in the SWAN SW Community newsletter: You Are Not Alone, Together We Are Stronger It is a unique and exclusive issue of a community newsletter, the result of an international sex workers’ rights advocacy training in Ohrid, Macedonia, 2009. 18 sex workers developed these posters, poems the articles in their own languages. Read it. Enjoy it. And remember that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
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Austria - Press Release (DE) 17 December
Posted: December 16th, 2010, 6:47am PST
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International - listing of events for 17 December 2010
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 11:49am PST
North America
SWOP USA is also updating its 17 December website as news comes in about 17 December events. Some highlights to date:Events are planned in 13 cities across the USA -
SWOP Chicago is hosting a community forum entitled "Sex Workers Speak Out: The Truth About The Negative Effects of Anti-Prostitution Laws". Sex Workers and community leaders will gather for an open discussion on the long term effects of End Demand and enforcement of prostitution laws in Chicago. The evening will close with a video screening and candlelight vigil in remembrance of sex worker victims of violence in the past year.
A coalition of organisations in New York, NY are gathering for a vigil and community speak out.
Communities are holding marches, vigils, talks and performances.
In Canada people will be gathering in 6 cities, including Halifax, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Kingston.
Visit the SWOP USA website for more details
Asia-PacificAPNSW re-launches Bad Rehab to highlight the harms committed by the "rescue industry".
Somaly Uh Uh- Extended remix of Bad Rehab from APNSW Films on Vimeo.
Extended remix of Bad Rehab. A song and animated video about the real issues for sex workers who are forced into rehabilitation centres in South East Asia- and the anti-trafficking "rescue industry" that has sprung up and campaigns for laws and systems that restrict sex workers and promote further violence against them
Kenya
BHESP & KESWA Press Release
International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers
Nairobi, Kenya, December 13, 2010
On Friday, December 17, from 9:00am-5:00pm, the Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Program
(BHESP), in collaboration with the Kenya Sex Workers Alliance (KESWA) and other local women’s rights
and human rights organizations, will commemorate International Day to End Violence against Sex
Workers. The gathering in Nairobi will include a silent public procession, starting at Koinange Street,
and ending at the Sarakasi Dome, in Ngara, where the rest of the programme will be held. The event
will include: a session to share the findings of recent research done on sex worker rights in Kenya;
testimonies by sex workers who have experienced violence; edutainment in the form of theatre, music,
dance, and spoken word; short speeches by various key human rights defenders; and a candle-light vigil
to remember sex workers in Kenya who have lost their lives in the line of duty. All events are free and
open to the press. The dress code for this day will be red (sex worker rights) and black (Africa).
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers aims to raise awareness of the violence and
abuse perpetrated on sex workers, while remembering those who have been its victims. The goal is to
see a global society where sex workers’ safety and basic human rights are protected. While this day is
currently marked by over 100 cities around the world, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania will be marking this
day for the first time this year.
Nairobi’s celebration will feature several prominent speakers from various organizations, touching on
such related topics as human rights, sexual and reproductive health, security, law & policy reform, and
the impact of the new Constitution on Kenya’s laws pertaining to sex work and human rights.
When asked to comment on her reasons for organizing this event, Dorothy Ogutu, a sex worker activist,
said:
As the saying goes, sex work is the oldest profession, and yet it is the one industry that records the highest rate of violence and brutality. By marking this day, we are calling for an end to
violence in a working community that has experienced and continues to experience so much of it. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere, is injustice everywhere.”
For more information, contact Dorothy Ogutu (KESWA), Peninah Mwangi (BHESP) or Zawadi Nyong’o at
dec17kenya@gmail.com . -
France - Toulous - Grisélidis holds 17 December Rally
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 9:34am PST
COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
Vendredi17 décembre
Journée internationale de lutte contre les violences faites aux travailleuses du sexe
Les violences à l’encontre des travailleuses du sexe sont multiples, d’ordre institutionnelles et sociales.
En effet, tous les jours des travailleuses du sexe sont insultées, discriminées, harcelées, volées, violées, assassinées, arrêtées pour racolage ou pour défaut de papier, expulsées, incarcérées… Ces violences sont invisibilisées et trop souvent considérées comme des risques du métier !
Nous souhaitons aujourd’hui attirer l’attention du grand public sur cette situation inadmissible et appelons à la solidarité de toutes et tous, pour le droit au respect, à la sécurité et à la justice des travailleuses du sexe !
Cette année la journée est relayée dans le cadre d'un projet européen sur la prévention des violences dans le contexte de la prostitution. Des prostituées venues de toute la France et de Belgique se sont rassemblées pour échanger leurs stratégies face aux violences et pour exprimer leurs doléances dans un manifeste commun à l’attention du grand public et des politiques. Des actions auront lieu simultanément à Bruxelles, Lille, Lyon, Paris et Toulouse. A Toulouse, l’association Grisélidis vous invite a participer à un rassemblement, à la diffusion du « Putain de Manifeste » et à un coup de sifflet symbolique et simultané belgo-français.
Considérées comme des criminelles, asociales, amorales, dangereuses, marginales, les travailleuses du sexe ne sont ni des victimes passives, ni des coupables ! Elles ont des ressources pour résister aux agressions qui leur sont faites et gèrent le risque de violence au quotidien. Elles sont capables de s’exprimer par et pour elles-mêmes, elles revendiquent :- Le retrait de la LSI et de toute forme de répression à leur égard
- La régularisation des sans papièr-e-s
- L’accès aux droits sociaux et fondamentaux
CONFÉRENCE DE PRESSE
10H30 – ASSOCIATION GRISÉLIDIS
14 RUE LAFON - TOULOUSE
RASSEMBLEMENT
17H - PLACE DU CAPITOLE - TOULOUSE
Contre la stigmatisation, les agressions et la répression : sifflons ! -
Italy - Trieste - Comitato 17 December film screening
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 9:04am PST
On Friday 17th December 2010, the Committee for the Civil Rights for Prostitutes will celebrate the International Day to end Violence against Sex Workers with the projection of a documentary “Power to the Sisters” realised by Micropunta. Pia Covre will present the documentary in Trieste at Teatro Miela where 8 other films and documentaries realised only by female film directors will be projected as part of the Donne al Cinema program.
Trieste: celebriamo il 17 dicembre al Teatro Miela PDF Stampa E-mail
DONNE AL CINEMAall'interno della Rassegnadel 2010
al Teatro Miela
celebriamo il 17 Dicembe giornata controla violenza sui sex workersAlle ore 19.00 verrà presentato il video Power to the Sisters
di Monica Carrozzoni e Fabrizio Vegliona, Istituto Micropunta,
doc., Italia,2010, 40’,v.o. ing.sott.it
introduce il documentario Pia Covre del Comitato per i
Diritti Civili delle Prostitute -
France - Cabiria holds 17 December Press conference and Rally
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 8:49am PST
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Spain - Collectivo Hetaira - street action and fiesta
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 8:13am PST
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France - 17 December Rally at Place Pigalle, Paris
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 7:02am PST
Journée internationale contre les violences faites aux travailleurs du sexe.png)
Paris - STRASS sex worker union is holding a rally on Friday December 17 - 19.00, at Place Pigalle - Paris
December 17 is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Considered by many to be an "occupational hazard", violence is still too rarely taken into account by the police and justice system. Too often, complaints are not recorded by the police, and when they are, the judicial administration does not pursue an investigation. Because of this sex workers are hesitant to initiate legal action, fearing to see and be denied access to one of their fundamental rights. Some, who are in irregular situations as migrants, do not even imagine having the right to complain. Thus, their attackers gain a sense of impunity that, far from being a coincidence, is created by the political and social climate that prevails in France on issues of prostitution and migration.
- daily acts of violence, humiliating sexist, racist or homophobic insults judging who are "good citizens"
- physical violence, beatings, rape, and murder,
- symbolic violence that relegates them to either the place of victims, offenders or the socially maladjusted,
- institutional violence, laws that criminalise their activities but also undermines any system of solidarity with and among them.
Your presence is crucial. Express your solidarity and support with those concerned who dare to come together and speak out despite the stigma that they are under.
Come to the rally with your many many red umbrellas!
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Safer Work - information for and by sex workers
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 3:07am PST
Just released and now available online!
As a result of the European project INDOORS, we are pleased to present you the two developed materials,based on a non-judgemental approach and a sex workers' rights perspective, aiming the empowerment and the promotion of safety at work.
Safer Work- a leaflet on safety at work made for sex workers by sex workers and organisations from five EU countries. The leaflet is available in Bulgarian, English, French, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.This leaflet is available as a pdf download in French, English, Bulgarian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish
The leaflet targets sex workers working in hotels, apartments, brothels, clubs, bars, massage parlours, saunas, sex shops, and other indoor venues. The leaflet is the result of our local experiences. It presents advice and tips related to safety at work, and information on sex work legislation in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal.
Also Available!
Indoor Sex Work- An analysis and good practices manual on indoor sex work settings in seven European cities. The manual is available in English. -
Italy - 17 December debate and performances
Posted: December 15th, 2010, 2:48am PST
Since 2003, every 17th of December has been the world day to remind us of the violence on sex workers. This event was created in order to make people aware of the crimes committed against sex workers in the world and to promote actions against their stigmatisation
on Friday the 17th of december Ala Milano onlus is organising in collaboration with Ceas, Padri somaschi and Frida Cafè an open evening to meet and debate on the situation of sex workers. It is an open moment where social workers and policy makers that work with this phenomena can meet, exchange opinions, get to know each other and share projects
You are invited to watch some videos produced by some of our services and a music and spoken performance at 8 p.m.
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UK - 17 December event - guest speakers and performances
Posted: December 14th, 2010, 2:03am PST
Several ICRSE members, including x-talk, IUSW and Ana Lopes will be participating in an event for International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers hosted by SERTUC LGBT Network
"Join us in observing the 7th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers and remembering those we've lost to violence, oppression, and hate. Whether perpetrated by clients, partners, the police, or the state, we must stand against the cycle of violence experienced by sex workers around the world.
In the wake of the Urugay’s recommendation to the Obama Administration at the Universal Periodic Review to address “the special vulnerability of sexual workers to violence and human rights abuses," we ask that you join us in solidarity to fight the criminalization, oppression, assault, rape, and murder of sex workers and folks perceived as sex workers." (quoted from event facebook page)
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UK - GMB members protest against job losses in Hackney
Posted: December 7th, 2010, 5:16am PST
On Friday the 10th of December GMB members will take to the street at Hackney Town Hall to protest a proposal that threatens 400 jobs.Show your support by attending this protest!
When: 10:30am on Friday 10, December
Where: Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, London E81EA
(GMB Press Release)
Why: 400 jobs are at risk of closure because of the council's plan to adopt a 'nil policy' on clubs that would put an end to the renewal of licenses. GMB members will demonstrate at Hackney Town Hall on Friday 10th December over Hackney Council proposal of a 'nil' policy for strip venues and sex shops as they believe they no longer fit in with the character of the borough's town centres and neighbourhoods which will cost 400 jobs.
There are 4 strip venues and one sex shop in Hackney, most of these premises have been in business for over 30 years, and licensed by Hackney under the Sex Encounter Premises Act for over ten years. Hackney have already been licensing these businesses under strict rules and regulations for years. The consultation for this policy is closing on Monday 13th December and the protest to show opposition of GMB to this.
Hackney are concerned about the poverty and high unemployment levels in the Borough, yet by implementing this 'nil' policy, they will be putting approximately 400 local people out of work
Thierry Schaffauser, president of the GMB sex workers and adult entertainment branch said: " GMB adult entertainment branch is supporting its members working in Hackney adult venues. 400 jobs are at risk of closure because of the council's plan to adopt a 'nil policy' that would put an end to the renewal of licenses.
We are worried that the workers will be pushed to work in unlicensed venues or for private parties where they are more likely to be pressured to perform sexual acts they don’t necessary want to do and where safety, exploitation and working conditions are much worse. Nudity has nothing degrading. What is degrading is bad working conditions and that's what the nil policy will create in Hackney.
Traditional East End strip pubs are well run and already subject to strict license and this is an sexist proposal. There is a huge hypocrisy of the female run, owned and staffed venues being targeted but the gay sex encounters venues in Shoreditch being exempt and unaffected by the 'nil' policy. So this makes the proposed policy nothing to do with morality or cleaning up the area and everything to do with attacking a woman's choice of work and means of earning money.
This is a very independent and creative business, unlike the larger; well know 'chain strip clubs'. To destroy this would be to ruin one of the great characteristics of Shoreditch that has directly fed into the music, arts, and performance scene in the area. We are pro-freedom and anti-censorship.
Adults chose to work in these pubs and chose to go to these pubs, nothing illegal is happening. Strippers are not victims and owners are not all wicked old men. All adults should be free to choose their employment and entertainment. "
For more information contact: Anna Meyer 07974 251808, Suzanna Slack, 07757 469 533 or GMB Press Office Steve Pryle on 07921 289880 or Rose Conroy on 07974 251823.
For full details of the Hackney policy and consultation please go here.
For more information please go to facebook group SAVE HACKNEY'S STRIP VENUES
Learn more about the GMBThe workforce have set up an alliance of dancers, ex dancers, managers, owners, DJs, security, customers, Burlesque performers, sex workers, representatives from the LGBT community, representatives from Equity and GMB and the Vicar of Shoreditch. Not everyone involved in this campaign will be immediately affected by the 'nil' policy but all are standing by the dancers and owners. This is because we believe this a first step and if it passes many more councils will try it and may more of our freedoms will be lost.
Also read article TV vicar: Why I’m fighting to keep lapdancing clubs open in my parish by: Rashid Razaq 03.12.10
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17 December 2010
Posted: December 2nd, 2010, 6:08am PST
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17 December 2010
Posted: December 2nd, 2010, 6:08am PST
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xtalk report "Human Rights, Sex Work and the Challenge of Trafficking" available
Posted: November 29th, 2010, 2:58am PST
ANTI-TRAFFICKING POLICY FAILS TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF TRAFFICKED PEOPLE AND PREVENTS SEX WORKERS FROM ASSERTING FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTSThe UK’s anti-trafficking policy is undermining the rights of sex workers, leaving them vulnerable to arrest and conviction or, in the case of migrant workers, detainment and deportation. The UK is also failing to meet its human rights obligations to trafficked persons, particularly men, transgender people and people trafficked into non-sexual labour, says a report by sex worker rights network, x:talk.
The report, Human Rights, Sex Work and the Challenge of Trafficking is now available in PDF format. It describes how the UK’s anti-trafficking policy has created new crimes around the selling of consensual sexual services between adults and how its implementation has resulted in an increase in arrests and convictions for sex workers and others in the sex industry. The combination of anti-trafficking raids, brothel closures and increased surveillance of the indoor sex industry has caused serious disruptions to sex workers’ working environments and made the industry less safe, especially for migrant sex workers. The report describes the UK anti-trafficking measures as causing “an unprecedented incursion into the lives and work of people employed in the indoor sex industry”.
It finds that many undocumented migrants are unable or unwilling to exercise their rights as workers, or access basic services, such as healthcare. Provisions in the Policing and Crime Act 2009, introduced to combat trafficking, have resulted in a situation where migrant sex workers do not seek redress when they are wronged or abused and are more vulnerable to exploitation and rights abuses.
Ava Caradonna, sex worker and spokeswoman for x:talk, said: “We have always suspected that attempts to address human trafficking have been co-opted by people with another agenda—the eradication of the sex industry. What the x:talk report has highlighted is that, rather than assisting and supporting trafficked people, anti-trafficking policies have been most effective at putting the safety, health and even the lives of sex workers at risk. They have also helped to make sex workers a soft target for the Border Agency.”x:talk has recently filed an FOI request for details of the Poppy Project [1], to coincide with the report’s release. The request aims to find out how the Poppy Project have spent more than £9m granted by the government and what support it is provided to trafficked women –information that is not currently publicly available.
for more information:
Ava Caradonna: 07914 703 372
www.xtalkproject.netNotes:
[1] The Poppy Project is the sole government-funded, dedicated service for women trafficked into sexual exploitation It received £5.8m from the Home Office between April 2006 and February 2009, with a further grant of £3.7m for three years from March 2009. The Poppy Project operates from an avowed abolitionist framework. Support through the project is contingent upon women giving up sex work and its program is aimed at ‘rehabilitating’ women out of the industry. The project has been publicly criticised for conflating the number of people trafficked into sex work in the UK.See also xtalk press release (November 18, 2010)
Labour Representation Committee (LRC) UK welcomes x:talk report on Sex Work and Trafficking
LRC Chair John McDonnell MP said:
“This welcome report confirms what we suspected. Far from protecting vulnerable people the anti-trafficking laws are increasing the vulnerability of sex workers to abuse and exploitation. Lawmakers need to address seriously the recommendations of the report, including the question of decriminalisation.”
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Uganda - Call to Action by FARUG on ban of sex worker conference
Posted: November 23rd, 2010, 3:20am PST
20 November 2010CALL TO ACTION:
UGANDA: Government should break the chains of injustices against sexual minorities and lift decision to ban Sex Workers Human Rights workshop.
On the 17th of November 2010 the State Minister for Ethics and Integrity Hon Nsaba Buturo called off a conference organized by Akina Mama wa Afrika a Pan African Women’s Non Governmental Organisation based in Kampala, Uganda. He did so by sending a strong worded letter to the Hotel General Manager giving “directives not to host a Prostitutes Conference run by Akina Mama wa Afrika and if they do so, will be abetting illegality in Uganda”. It should be noted that Akina Mama sent a letter to the Minister informing him about the details of the conference. He never responded to it, but instead, sent a threatening letter to the hotel management with the objective to suspend the meeting.
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Amnesty International - Statement on Ugandan Government ban of sex worker workshop
Posted: November 23rd, 2010, 3:10am PST
re-published from Amnesty International website
Uganda: Government should reverse decision to ban workshop intended to discuss human rights issues affecting sex workers
Amnesty International today condemns the decision by the Ugandan government’s Ethics and Integrity Minister to ban a three-day civil society workshop that had been intended to discuss human rights issues of concern to sex workers in Uganda and other East African countries. The organization calls on the Ugandan government to reverse the Minister’s decision stopping this workshop. The government must also unequivocally state its commitment to supporting human rights work.
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NSWP Statement in Support of Sex Workers in Uganda
Posted: November 23rd, 2010, 2:06am PST
The NSWP has published this statement of support on their website nswp.org
NSWP Supports Sex Workers in Uganda and Their Right to OrganiseLast week, the Sex Workers Leadership Institute organized by Akina Mama Wa Afrika and set to take place in Kampala, Uganda from 18 to 20th November was shut down by Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Nsaba Buturo. In a letter to the hotel hosting the conference, Buturo states that “prostitution is a criminal offence in Uganda” and as a result “the hotel is an accomplice in an illegality.”
Sex workers throughout Africa are vulnerable to violence from the police who criminalise and harass us, health institutions that refuse to treat us, and civil society members who deny us our humanity. By preventing sex workers from organising, the Ugandan government is complicit is perpetuating these grave injustices. Criminalising income generating activities that people engage in to survive, such as sex work, is not an effective way to reduce crime or protect safety.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) stands in solidarity with sex workers in Africa who are reaching out to one another and building a grassroots network that stands up for sex workers’ rights. Uganda’s continued criminalisation and stigmatisation of sex workers is a violation of human rights, and we strongly oppose the harm it does to our communities.
Read or download the statement on the NSWP site.
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What are sex workers and allies up to?
Posted: November 16th, 2010, 6:20am PST
Australia - All the fabulous people of Scarlet Alliance will be celebrating 21 years of activism with a National Forum and birthday party. "The Scarlet Alliance National Forum for 2010 will be held in Sydney from the 23rd to the 25th of November. The sex worker only Forum will cover the three days from the 23rd to the 25th of November, with the public National Symposium being held on the afternoon of the 24th. Once the Forum has concluded, the Scarlet Alliance 21st Birthday Celebration will kick off on the evening of the 25th. All sex workers (current and former) are invited to attend! See the Agenda:
Happy Birthday Scarlet Alliance!
Online - Cheryl Overs and Valerie Scott will respond to questions about sex work, HIV and human rights
AIDSLEX will host an “Ask the Expert” session on sex work with Cheryl Overs and Valerie Scott. They will respond to user questions on the human rights of sex workers and on how laws can support efforts to respond to the HIV epidemic, including providing HIV prevention and health care services to sex workers. Users are also invited to pose questions concerning an Ontario court ruling in September 2010 in which sections of Canada’s Criminal Code related to sex work were deemed unconstitutional.
Cheryl Overs is a noted advocate for the rights of sex workers and has written widely on the subject. Valerie Scott is Executive Director of Sex Professionals of Canada (/www.spoc.ca/), which campaigns for the rights of sex workers. She was one of the applicants in the Ontario Superior Court case. More information on that ruling can be found here.
En français
En español
ру́сскийGeneva - earlier this month sex work advocates from Best Practices Policy Project, Desiree Alliance, and the Sexual Rights Initiative in the U.S. presented a report as part of the Report on The United States of America 9th Round of the Universal Periodic Review – November 2010. The report focuses on "civil and human rights violations of those engaged, or perceived to be engaged, in sexual trade and sex work in the U.S."
"Sex workers' vulnerability to human rights abuses acknowledged at the UN
US sex worker organizations, organizations working with people in the sex trade and people affected by anti-prostitutioni policies prepared a report to the Universal Periodic Review process at the Human Rights Commission at the UN in Geneva. As a result of the report and efforts advocating on behalf of the report this last week at the UN, Friday November 5, 2010 Uruguay recommended that the US pay attention to the special vulnerability to violence and rights abuses of sex workers. The recommendation language in Spanish is ...teniendo presente además la especial vulnerabilidad a la violencia y abusos de los derechos humanos de los trabajadores sexuales."
This is a major victory for a wide variety of communities affected by policing, anti-prostitution policies and human rights abuses because of engagement in sex work (or presumed engagement in sex work)." From SWOP USA
Also see article Sex work in the US: a global human rights issue By Allyn Gaestel
and article Report: Sex Workers Face Widespread Abuses of Civil and Human Rights By Penelope Saunders
Netherlands - Former sex worker Metje Blaak worked with sex workers for a project of the Red Thread "Colleagues and Carrier" to create photographs of their work places. The show can be seen at gallery Vrienden van Bavink on the Gelderse Kade in Amsterdam until 27 November 2010.
7 photos can be seen here on the Het Parool website gallery
Also see Het Parool article (NL)
South Africa - Have you seen what the sex workers from Sisonke Sex Workers Network have been doing in collaboration with SWEAT South Africa? A recently launched the website Decriminalise! A web resource for the campaign to decriminalise sex work in South Africa provides a forum to discuss the issues related to sex work and to lobby for decriminalisation. One section Sex workers speak is a great place to gain some understanding of what sex workers are saying.
More great news from Africa - African Sex Worker Alliance Statement:
"Delegates from the African Sex Worker Alliance (ASWA) and a church leader from Nigeria gathered in Pretoria from the 28th September to 10th October for a second historic meeting as a follow up to the first ever African sex worker lead conference in February 2009." Read the rest of this article and the Statement on the PLRI website.
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Note to anti-prostitutionists: Sex worker movements are nothing to sneer at
Posted: November 16th, 2010, 3:53am PST
Ordinarily I avoid ideological debates, but this time I had to chime in, because the author of a nutty Swedish book actually lied about me in it. I don’t mean she distorted my ideas - that is conventional amongst feminists who feel they are engaged in a battle to the death about prostitution. No, this was a lie about me and my life: she described me as an employee of the Network for Sex Work Projects, and the company publishing her book didn’t get anyone to check her facts - even about living people, which is reprehensible. Since I am independent with a highly precarious income, and because my opinions are only my own, I could not allow the lie to go uncontested.
The book’s an attack on two activities: commercial sex and surrogate motherhood. The drivel about me is a very small part of the book, which also provides an egregiously selective and ideologically driven version of the history of sex worker rights movements. I decided to use the publishing opportunity to provide a more honest, if still very brief, version, complete with links to the evidence - probably the first such thing published in Sweden. The original book title can’t be translated exactly but means something like Being and Being a Product - the idea of commodification.
Here now is the English version of the piece, with its original title, changed (of course!) by the Newsmill editor to Kajsa Ekis Ekmans okunnighet om sexarbetare är skrämmande (KEE’s ignorance about sex workers is frightening). I would appreciate everyone disseminating this, please: Nowadays it is possible to virally combat disinformation.
Radical feminist pleasure in sex worker misfortunes: not a pretty pictureLaura Agustín, 24 October 2010, Newsmill.se
At international events, radical feminist campaigners point and whisper about their enemies: She’s paid by the sex industry, you know. Or by the global pornographers. Or: She’s a known associate of traffickers. Disinformation as a technique is common in espionage, malicious election campaigns and rabid crusades to manipulate the emotions of an uninformed public. Disinformation means the deliberate telling of lies or the omission of key information. Read entire article on Border Thinking
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DMSC Celebrates 100 years of Women's Liberation Movement
Posted: November 9th, 2010, 5:49pm PST
Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) is planning for an amazing two month long celebration with a full program of community, cultural and political events. The celebration begins on 8 January 2011 and ends on International Women's Day, 8 March 2011.
"DMSC is a community based organization of, for and by the sex workers based in India. DMSC for the last one decade has been running HIV/AIDS targeted intervention program in 48 red light districts including the WHO acclaimed ‘Sonagachi Project’ as well as in street settings covering a population of over 40,000 sex workers and 100000 clients. At present DMSC represents 65 000 sex-workers (Male, Female & Transgender) and is active in identifying and challenging the underlying socio-structural factors that help perpetuate stigma and material deprivation and social exclusion of sex-workers. DMSC is explicit about its political objective to establish the rights of sex workers as well as marginalized communities in our country.
This year we on behalf of DMSC have decided to celebrate hundred years of Women's Liberation Movement. As part of our endeavor, we are going to organize two months long program which includes open air Mela, a week long film festival and various cultural events to high light women's rights and other relevant issues."
You can read more about this mega event in the concept note -
Hungarian Sex Workers Association Celebrates 10 years!
Posted: October 26th, 2010, 1:21am PDT
Images credit [index.hu]
The Hungarian Sex Workers Association celebrated their 10 year anniversary on 10 September 2010. The celebration included short media sensitization and information session using SWAN materials and then speeches by chairwoman Ágnes Földi and a legal expert. After this the group went to the building of the Parliament holding red umbrellas in our hands with a lot of sex workers. In front of the building, a Hungarian poet, Dömötör László, recited poems about sex workers and sex work. Finally the Hungarian Sex Workers Association shared a huge umbrella-shaped cake together with their partners and alliances from the past 10 years and also with media representatives and sex workers.
Since it was an event for celebrating the birthday of the organization, and not a demonstration, participants - many of whom wore masks - did not march holding banners or placards, however, the event still raised awareness and there was good media coverage. "Arc nélkül ünnepeltek a szexmunkások"
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Sex Work in Asia
Posted: October 25th, 2010, 9:35am PDT by apnswdollhouse
From October 12-16, 2010 in Pattaya, Thailand, the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), UNAIDS, and UNFPA collaborated on a consultation on HIV/AIDS and sex work in Asia. The meeting brought together UN and Global Fund for HIV TB and Malaria representatives, non-governmental organisations, and government officials along with sex worker groups and projects [...]
ICRSE Home
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Press Release: APNSW - AIDS Response in Asia-Pacific Region
Posted: October 18th, 2010, 3:13am PDT
“Every day we confront brutal realities–arrest, violence, discrimination. We want to turn the tide by demanding that initiatives designed ‘for’ us must be designed ‘with’ us,” said Kay Thi Win, Chair of APNSW and programme manager of the Targeted Outreach Programme of Population Services International Myanmar.
Sex workers, governments and UN join hands to boost AIDS response in Asia-Pacific regionPATTAYA, Thailand, 15 October 2010- At the first-ever Asia-Pacific consultation on HIV and sex work, sex workers, government officials and United Nations participants emphasized the need for urgent action to increase focus and positioning of sex work within HIV responses in the region.
Close to 150 delegates from eight countries (China, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Thailand) met in Pattaya, Thailand, to form partnerships and review policies and laws that keep sex workers from accessing HIV services and sexual and reproductive health services.
“Sex work interventions must be central to scaling up the HIV response, and listening to sex workers is crucial,” said Jan Beagle, Deputy Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) who spoke at the consultation. “Sex workers experience firsthand the effects of laws and harmful enforcement practices that violate their human rights and hamper progress on HIV,” he said.
As part of the consultation–co-organized by the Asia-Pacific Regional Offices of UNAIDS and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as well as the Asia-Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), and hosted by the Royal Government of Thailand–country delegations shared experiences and strategies and worked on national action plans, to be carried forward by the country-level partnerships.
Welcoming participants, Deputy Permanent Secretary from Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Siriwat Tiptaradol, said: “This consultation marks significant progress in partnership among government, non-government, civil society and international partners. I expect that our efforts will not only strengthen the recognition that “sex work is work,” but will also result in actions to make sex work safer.”
Sex work is a central driver of the AIDS epidemic in the region. It is estimated that 10 million Asian women sell sex to 75 million men, who have intimate relations with a further 50 million people (Report of the Asia Commission on AIDS, 2008). HIV prevalence among sex workers reaches up to 20 per cent in some countries (UNGASS Country Progress reports 2006, 2008 & 2010).
Yet, HIV prevention coverage is estimated to reach only one third of all sex workers in the region. Funding for interventions on sex work and HIV is falling, despite evidence of their cost-effective impact.
UPDATE:
Read the NSWP "Report Back on the Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Sex Work in Asia and the Pacific"
Read the "Pattaya Draft Declaration"
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Court stikes down prostitution laws in Ontario
Posted: October 6th, 2010, 7:01am PDT
The blogs have been a buzz and congratulations have been rolling in for sex workers in Canada with news of the recent court decision in Ontario on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 that struck down three important laws governing prostitution in Canada. Sex workers around the world celebrate the reasoned statements of Judge Himel in her final arguments. Much work still needs to be done to secure the rights of sex workers in Canada but this judgement opens the door to carefully considered next steps.
Here we have attempted to round up information relating to this decision for our readers.
Link to a downloadable pdf document of the [www.cbc.ca] title="Court Decision Ontario">court decision.
Some news articles:
Statements from sex work advocacy groups:
Sex Professionals of Canada is delighted by Justice Susan Himel’s decision to acknowledge our right to legally practice our chosen profession. This important victory gives us hope that sex work will one day be fully regarded as the legitimate occupation it is. Read More
US Sex Workers Celebrate Canadian VictorySex Workers Outreach Project-USA and other US groups join in celebration with Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC) and all Canadian Sex Workers. Read More.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) stands in solidarity with sex workers in Ontario, Canada, who have brought a successful court challenge to anti-sex work laws. Read More.
Thoughtful articles regarding this decision:
'As an organization by and for sex workers, Maggie’s: The Toronto Sex Workers Action Project soundly applauds today’s ruling of prostitution laws as a violation of sex workers Charter rights.' Read MoreBorder Thinking on Migration, Trafficking and Commercial Sex - ‘It is not important for scholars to present information that contradicts their own findings’: anti-prostitution witness in Ontario - Read More
Paulo Longo Research Institute - 'Here comes the judge ! : Justice Himel on Farley and Raymond' Read More
Paulo Longo Research Institute - 'Decriminalisation is the starting point : what next for Canada?' Read More.
Canada Pivot Legal Society - 'Katrina Pacey, a lawyer from Pivot Legal Society who recently challenged the B.C. sex work laws talks to Paul Ryan about what the new law change in Ontario will mean for B.C. and the rest of Canada.' Listen to Podcast UPDATE : Second court challenge in British Columbia will be allowed to proceed."A retired prostitute and a group representing sex workers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside say a B.C. Appeal Court ruling that enables them to challenge Canada's anti-prostitution laws could one day lead to decriminalizing an unsafe job..." Read More.
Events in Canada and in other countries are a reflection of growing public support for more reality based approaches to sex work. The time for using punitive and moralistic laws to address sex work is losing popularity.Columbia: 'Colombia Court Recognises Sex Workers' Legal Status and Labour Rights' Read the article in Columbia Reports (Amparan derecho laboral de trabajadores sexuales)
South Africa: 'Court decision in favour of sex worker may result in state sanctioned prostitution' Read the article
International: A recent debate held on the economist.com resulted in an overwhelming majority in support of legalising prostitution. 'This house believes that prostitution should be legal'
Similarly, a survey carried out as part of yesterday’s BBC1 Sunday Morning Live discussion, featuring Catherine Stephens of the IUSW, Bel Mooney of the Daily Mail and Mehdi Hasan of the New Statesman showed overwhelming public support for accepting prostitution. “It’s time to accept prostitution” – say the British public.
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APNSW video "Bad Rehab"
Posted: September 23rd, 2010, 2:07am PDT
Media artists from the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) have produced a new sing-a-long video protesting the use of raid and rescue as an anti-trafficking measure. In particular this video is a protest against the unethical campaigning of Somaly Mam and the damage caused by AFESIP for sex workers in Cambodia."For those not familiar with Somaly Mam, she is the founder of AFESIP and anti-trafficking organisation in Cambodia. She is also a global campaigner for anti-sex work anti-trafficking organisations. Yet she and her organisation support the Cambodian law and police practices which have led to the abuse of 1000's of sex workers and has made all sex work illegal. AFESIP illegally detains women who have been rescued" in police and NGO raids and Somaly claims that any sex worker who speaks out against her anti-trafficking/anti-sex work position is a pimp, a madam or a trafficker...." (APNSW)
Bad Rehab- APNSW Karaoke can be found here on the sexworkerspresent channel at blip.tv.
The members of the APNSW will continue to expose the anti sex work/abolitionist agenda and we hope all of you will support us in this monumental fight and join our facebook campaign by adding Leela Neena as your friend.
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ICRSE Member Organisation LEFÖ Celebrates 25 years!
Posted: September 15th, 2010, 3:07am PDT
LEFÖ celebrates its 25th birthday! with a party LEFÖ-STIMM-Fest!Friends and supporters will be gathering together on Friday, 1st of October 2010 to honour the women and work of LEFÖ. The evening promises to be exciting with live music performances, speakers and more...
See our events listing for more information.
Who is LEFÖ?
LEFÖ is a migrant women’s self-organisation that was founded in 1985 in Vienna, Austria. LEFÖ works for the recognition and protection of migrant women’s human rights and sensitizes the public about issues around women’s migration. LEFOE supports migrant women, (migrant) sex workers and migrants who are affected by trafficking. Activities include outreach and support provision to migrant sex workers; assessment of the national prostitution scene and its transformations; networking with other institutions and organizations; initiating and supporting a national platform for the rights of sex workers; participation in national and international forums to advocate for the decriminalization of sex work, the legal recognition and social inclusion of (migrant) sex workers
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Rights activist Marcella Di Folco gone but never forgotten/E' morta Marcella Di Folco
Posted: September 15th, 2010, 1:59am PDT
Marcella, founder and member of MIT (Movimento Identita´ Transessuale), is gone and the Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes, which she supported for years, mourns her loss.An extraordinary person and an outstanding activist since 1982, Marcella fought for the affirmation of the rights of transsexuals, advocated the recognition of their new identity and fought against the discrimination of prostitutes. Over the years we faced the same political struggles and evolved together. We shared the same beliefs and battles. Many esteemed Marcella, to the point that she was elected in the City Council of Bologna. She never gave up and was always at the forefront.
Marcella was not rich and although she lived an austere life, her life was full of friends who admired and loved her. We will all remember her with deep affection. Marcella was nothing if not generous and never pulled back when it was necessary to expose herself in order to defend those who were discriminated against or persecuted. The LGBT movement gained recognition thanks to her way of being and her mode of seeking justice and rights. We join members of the Italian Transsexual Movement, MIT, to say goodbye and to commemorate her.
Ciao Marcella...
see also: Il MIT (Movimento Identità Transessuale)
E' MORTA MARCELLA DI FOLCO
FONDATRICE ED ESPONENTE DEL MOVIMENTO IDENTITA' TRANSESSUALESe ne è andata Marcella e il Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute del quale anche lei è stata per anni sostenitrice iscritta ne piange la perdita.
Marcella è stata una persona straordinaria e una attivista eccezionale, fin dal 1982 oltre a lottare per l'affermazione dei diritti delle persone transessuali che chiedevano il riconoscimento alla loro nuova identità, si è sempre battuta contro la discriminazione delle persone prostitute. In tanti anni abbiamo condiviso insieme molti momenti di lotta e anche di crescita politica. Ci siamo trovate sempre a condividere pensieri e battaglie. Marcella conquistò la stima di molte persone, tanto da essere anche eletta al Consiglio Comunale di Bologna. Non si arrendeva mai era sempre in prima linea.
Non era ricca Marcella, anzi viveva in modo parco, ma la sua è stata una vita ricca di amici che la stimavano e le volevano bene, sarà ricordata da tutti con grande affetto.
Si è spesa sempre con grande generosità, non si è mai tirata indietro quando serviva esporsi per difendere chi veniva discriminato o perseguitato, e sopratutto è certamente anche a lei e al suo modo di rivendicare giustizia e diritti che i movimenti GLBT devono molto riconoscimento.Insieme ai compagni e alle compagne del MIT vogliamo salutarla e ricordarla.
Ciao Marcella da tutte noi...
Carla Corso e Pia Covre -
Power Tool - micropunta.it
Posted: September 13th, 2010, 3:19am PDT
Last year we wrote about a project Power to the Sisters, that was being developed by the media group in Italy called Micropunta [www.micropunta.it] .Now you can see on their website (flash) videos including interviews with Catherine Healy from the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective, Nicky Adams from the English Collective of Prostitutes, an interview material with Norma Jean Almodovar from the USA and interviews with ICRSE members Carla Corso and Pia Covre from Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute (CDCP) Lucciole Italy.
Micropunta says "The purpose of the POWER TOOL is to fill the gap between sex work and society´s perception of it giving voice to the Prostitutes Collective and Sex Workers around the world.¨
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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APNSW HR Regional Sex Workers Forum
Posted: September 7th, 2010, 3:55am PDT by apnswdollhouse
The sex workers forum was developed to guide broad directions of APNSW in terms of policy and programme. The objectives for the workshop were: How to run APNSW and institute governance structured based on APNSW manual, which is a living document. In the coming days we will decide who will be chairperson and three sex [...]
ICRSE Home
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Publication: Sex Work & the Law: the Case for Decriminalisation
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 5:41am PDT
Dialogue around the South Africa-based 2010 Soccer World Cup, proposals to introduce a moratorium on the harassment of sex workers by the South African Police Force, and the continued criminalisation of sex workers and their clients in South Africa sparked the production of this work. It outlines several key issues, considerations, challenges and recommendations for policy-makers, NGOs, sex workers and other actors in the fields of HIV and human rights, to help build a supportive and enabling environment for sex workers to realise their rights. (Quoted from World Aids Campaign website).Download the complete booklet here
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APNSW video highlighting impact of brothel raids in Kuala Lumpur
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 5:20am PDT
In 2008 the US Government gave Malaysia the lowest rating in its annual Trafficking In Persons Report. Rather than address the real labour trafficking issues, the government set out to close down the sex industry. Now nearly all brothels in Kuala Lumpur have been shut. Sex workers are forced to work in dangerous and difficult conditions on streets throughout the capital. For its violent efforts to suppress the sex industry the US Government raised Malaysia to tier 2 level in its 2009 TIP report.
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Worker$
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APNSW at AIDS 2010 Vienna, Austria
Posted: August 26th, 2010, 1:19pm PDT by apnswdollhouse
Caused by the Refraction: The film that gives an inside look at issues facing sex workers in Myanmar, and tells some of the fascinating story of how sex workers have organised and responded to HIV and to claim their rights [sexworkerspresent.blip.tv]
ICRSE Home
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NSWP Smart Guide AIDS2010
Posted: August 19th, 2010, 6:38am PDT
From 18-23 July 2010, the 18th International AIDS Conference took place in Vienna, Austria - with a strong presence and visibility of sex workers. Through a number of booths, a big networking zone, presentations, film screenings and performances, on panels, in plenary and at protests - and with the ever present red umbrella - sex workers and their allies demanded that funders, policy makers, researchers, and other organisations recognise and support the human rights of sex workers.
To those of you who were present, the "Smart Sex Workers Guide" comes as a memory and summary of the NSWP pre-meeting for sex workers and allies and the sex work related activities at the conference. To those who could not attend, we hope this will be an informative overview and useful tool for further strategising.Congratulations to all those who helped to make AIDS2010 a powerful political moment in the history of sex worker rights!
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SPOTLIGHT: UKNSWP information for sex workers
Posted: August 18th, 2010, 2:59am PDT
Many of our visitors are familiar with the Resources 4 Sex Workers project which the ICRSE and TAMPEP collaborated on and produced in 2008. This is a small website highlighting a "collection of resources to further the health and rights of sex workers... drawn from actions and tools developed across Europe which have been used in sex workers' rights advocacy campaigns," (with Russian and French translation.)
ICRSE member organisation UKNSWP has also produced a great series of downloadable booklets for sex workers that were published in 2009 and which are available from their website.
"Directory of services for sex worekrs and other sex worker resources"
This is a UK directory listing of projects "committed to promoting the health of sex workers."So if you need to direct someone involved in sex work to a local support service, or you are involved in sex work and want to contact your local project this will be useful.
“Keeping Safe: Safety Advice for Sex Workers in the UK" ¨This booklet has been written for women, men and transgender people working in the UK sex industry. It contains information and advice about keeping safe when working, whether on the streets, in establishments, in your own working flat/home, or escorting to homes or hotels.¨
"Sorted Men: A Guide to Selling Sex”
"this booklet for men working in the adult entertainment and sex industry. It gives information and guidance to help you stay safe, be informed and know your rights."
While these guides do have a UK focus some of the information will be relevant for sex workers working in other countries or may give you some good tips on how you might produce your own guides for sex workers in your country.
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AIDS2010 Human Rights March
Posted: August 10th, 2010, 12:24pm PDT
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Red umbrellas, banners, whistles, fight and fire, sex workers made an impact at the 2010 Human Rights March held on 20 July during the International Aids Conference. ICRSE members Jasmine and Nina from Austria proudly carried the ICRSE banner. SWAN network members protested against police violence and made a demand for sex work to be acknowledged as work. There was sex worker representation at the conference and the march from all around the world, out, proud and very loud!
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Caused by the Refraction - sex workers in Myanmar video
Posted: August 9th, 2010, 2:20am PDT
Once again the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) has produced a great video in cooperation with sex workers and allies in Myanmar. Caused by Refraction ¨gives an inside look at issues facing sex workers in Myanmar, and tells some of the fascinating story of how sex workers have organised and responded to HIV and to claim their rights.¨ NSWP president Andrew Hunter states: "This film shows that even in the most difficult circumstances it is possible for sex workers to organise, run programs and fight for their rights. The Burmese sex workers now run over 19 drop in centres and clinics across the country."
For this and other videos have a look at the sexworkerspresent channel on blip.tv.
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Animation film of "Rights Not Rescue"
Posted: August 6th, 2010, 5:12am PDT
Last year we announced on sexworkeurope.org the launch of ¨Rights Not Rescue¨ a report published by the Open Society Institute (OSI) in 2009. This year OSI launched a beautiful animation based on the words and issues raised by sex workers interviewed in the report.
From the website of OSI:
¨Sex workers are subjected to widespread human rights abuses, including police violence and unequal access to health care, in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Despite enormous challenges, they are organizing to protect their rights and demand an end to violence and discrimination.
A report published by the Open Society Institute, Rights Not Rescue, is based on a series of interviews and focus groups with sex workers and advocates throughout the three countries.
In this animated short film, sex workers who participated in the research tell their personal stories and collectively call for hope and change. ¨ -
AIDS2010 PION & Rose Alliance at the ICRSE NGO booth
Posted: August 5th, 2010, 2:41am PDT
During the AIDS 2010 conference Astrid Renland from PION Norway and Pye Jakobsson of Rose Alliance Sweden spent time at the ICRSE NGO booth in the global village. Astrid and Pye were invited to the conference to make a poster presentation on the impact of the Nordic Model. The Nordic model (more commonly known as the Swedish model) attempts to eradicate prostitution by criminalising clients. What do PION and Rose Alliance have to say about that? "Fuck the Nordic model! Want to know why, just ask us!" Why did you want to come to this conference?
Astrid: because I wanted to put more focus on health and human rights and to meet other sex work organisations and other organisations. Anti-trafficking is really counter-productive to health and rights, while at this HIV conference, health and rights are actively promoted. At this conference we also wanted to make visible the cooperation amongst Nordic countries and we are taking this opportunity to highlight what is wrong with the Nordic model at this conference. Unfortunately, when we are talking about rights and health often the discussion focuses on developing countries but we also think it is important to show how policies are negatively impacting on sex workers in western countries.Pye: Throughout the conference we’ve heard of very repressive legislation regarding HIV in some African countries, very few people are aware of the fact that we also have an equally bad law in Sweden; even if you wear a full rubber suit you still have
to inform your potential sex partner of your HIV-status (if positive) before you have sex. If you have protected sex without telling you can be locked up for three months at the time to “protect society” and eventually get sentenced to jail, even if you never put anyone in danger.What is the main message you want to get across to people here who you talk to.
Astrid: Decriminalise sex work and drug use and open the borders for sex work migrants.Pye: Put all your personal morals aside, sex work is work and human rights are for everybody!
A little about the situation in Norway and Sweden.
Astrid: It is a very bad fucked up situation for sex workers in Norway in every setting, indoors, the street, and hotels. There is a lot of police activity against sex workers at this time and they are using laws against pimping and purchasing of sex to pretend they are fighting organised crime and trafficking. More recently they are cooperating with hotels to repress sex workers.Pye: In Sweden sex workers are losing their apartments because their landlord will be charged with pimping otherwise. We have to pay taxes, but when we are on sick leave they estimate our incomes as ZERO as we won’t make any money in the future as our clients are criminals. The government just did an evaluation of the law criminalizing the clients. It was about 200 pages, and the voices of sex workers got less than a page. The heading of that section was “Experiences from people abused in prostitution”….
What would you like to see happen for sex workers in Norway and Sweden.
Astrid: Decriminalise sex work!Pye: I want our organisation to continue growing, already during this conference we got four new members! They’ve been treating us like ill-behaved children for too long; now it’s really our time to stand up. We have politicians including us, trusting on our expertise and our voices are heard more frequently thanks to our allies making sure we always get included. I’m not sure they will ever reverse the law but now we are so much stronger and at least there is hope. I’m so happy it’s finally happening, it’s been a long journey!
A big thank you to Astrid and Pye for taking the time to talk with me at the AIDS2010 conference!
Note: The full report including an English summary can be found here http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/12634/a/149142 (downloadable the pdf). Also there has been some interesting critique of the report already which can be found on Laura Agustín's Border Thinking blog.
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SWAN Summer News, Issue 28, 2010
Posted: August 4th, 2010, 5:10am PDT
IN FOCUS
The year of 2010 is marked by at least two international events that sex worker activists and their allies from all over the world planed to take part in. International conferences and forums provide one of the ways how sex workers can make their questions and demands heard, but, unfortunately, there are circumstances that can prevent activists from participating in such events.21-st International Harm Reduction Conference (IHRA 2010)
Rosie Campbell provides SWAN News with a review of sex worker presentation at International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA (www.ihra.net) conference which took place in Liverpool this spring. More…HOPS, Macedonia at the IHRA
Marija Tosheva of HOPS, SWAN representative in Macedonia, shares her opinion about the IHRA and sex work-related issues. More…Bullets Whistle over Your Head
Read these and many more articles on the SWAN website swannet.org
Shahnaz Islamova of Tais Plus shares how sex workers are trying to stay safe in the midst of a revolution in Kyrgyzstan that has turned violent. More… -
Cambodia - Human Rights Watch Report
Posted: August 4th, 2010, 4:47am PDT
Off the Streets
Arbitrary Detention and Other Abuses against Sex Workers in CambodiaJULY 19, 2010
This 76-page report is based on more than 90 interviews and group discussions with female and transgender sex workers in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, and Siem Reap. It describes how sex workers face a wide range of abuses, including beatings, extortion, and rape at the hands of authorities, particularly in Phnom Penh.Human Rights Watch website
This report is available in html format or as a downloadable pdf. Summary translations are available in Khmer and French
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Lyon France - Petition of Support
Posted: August 2nd, 2010, 2:49am PDT
UPDATE: it is now possible to sign this petition online at mesopinions.com
PETITION OF SUPPORT
The collective of prostitutes of Gerland
Several years ago the City of Lyon began taking a succession of measures to make the trucks and prostitutes of Lyon’s streets disappear. This policy of municipal orders prohibited parking, consequently people move from one neighborhood to another and they are pushed further away from areas with public circulation which is detrimental to their security.
After the last municipal order on May 17, 2010, the prostitutes of Gerland united collectively in order to oppose the methods that push them further into precarious situations. They can not exercise their activity, which we must remember, is not prohibited.
The collective of prostitutes published an open letter in the press alerting all the elected officials of the central City Hall about the consequences of this policy. The women invited the elected officials to work together to find real solutions, concrete and livable, respectful of their rights, to correct the problems that sharing space and their presence seems to raise.
Only one elected official bothered to respond without proposing to meet and without solutions. Once again, that shows us the little consideration of the elected officials for the prostitutes. They are not seen as people with questions that are of importance or people of interest.
This fashion of ‘managing the undesired’ predicts the expulsion of prostitutes working by foot in other neighborhoods of Lyon or the prostitutes working everywhere in French cities. We already have examples of this in Valence and in Montargis.
Sir and Madam, the elected officials of the city of Lyon, we support the demands made by the prostitutes in their open letter, dated June 2, 2010. We demand of you to stop this unjust policy of municipal orders and we assert that ultimately the real solutions will be found with the prostitutes.
The collective of prostitutes of GerlandC/ CABIRIA www.cabiria.asso.fr
(cabiria@wanadoo.fr ou 04.78.30.02.65)
Add your name and/or organisation name to this petition. Email CABIRIA cabiria@wanadoo.frChange the language on the home page of this website for French or Spanish version of the petition text.
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Himal Southasian publishes issue on sex work
Posted: August 2nd, 2010, 2:06am PDT
Himal Southasian Magazine
has published a new issue with a focus on sex work. Below is the table of contents
Sex and Work
Dignity and beyondWhat Kamathipura means today
By: Svati P Shah
Do those who want to rescue sex workers from brothels ask what their targets think?
The feminist and the sex worker: Lessons from the Indian experience
By: Srilatha Batliwala
Despite decades of tension between feminists and sex workers, it is finally becoming clear that the former has much to learn from the latter.
Sex and the pity
By: Meena Saraswathi Seshu
The stigmatisation of sex workers stems from misconceptions and squeamishness about sex. -
AIDS2010 Sexsicher.de at the ICRSE NGO booth
Posted: July 29th, 2010, 7:17am PDT
During the conference in Vienna Booth I had a chance to talk with ICRSE member Harriet Langanke from sexsicher.de
Why are you here at the AIDS2010 conference?
I am here wearing many hats so I will focus on sex work for this interview. Sexsicher.de is a member of the ICRSE Network and we are taking the opportunity of the AIDS2010 conference to share information about our project and to network with others who are working in the area of sex work advocacy and health and in particular our work with clients of sex workers.
Our poster presentation has been shown at other events and during the conference we distributed flyers about sexsicher.de at the Women´s Networking Zone and elsewhere.
What is sexsicher.de
In general there are very few client outreach projects or little research done about clients of sex workers. Working with clients also has an impact on improving the human rights of sex workers who are currently taking on too much of the responsibility for safe sex. Why not take clients seriously? When working with clients I see that as supporting sex workers since as we know there are two sides to the dynamic. Still in 2010 this is necessary to promote.
Sexsicher.de has been online since 2004 expanding since then to include languages other than German, for example we now also have Turkish, English and Spanish. We actually began research on clients already in 2002 and the website is just part of our client focussed project; we also have a cooperation with client based forums and other self-help communities. In the beginning the only communications among clients of sex workers was through the internet; they did not know each other and they used false names to remain anonymous. At the first real-life meeting we organised everyone was anonymous but since then clients have formed communities outside of the virtual world and organise face-to-face social activities.
Has the way clients talk about sex workers changed over the years?
Yes client forums are also teaching forums. For the group that has been active for some time they have changed the way they talk about safe sex mainly as a result of having better access to good non-judgemental information about safe sex and sexual health. We noticed that client forums are also more carefully monitored for abusive language about sex workers than in the past. For new clients their learning begins when they first join a forum and older client members do police how language is being used - for example by commenting on posts that use racist language or having rules of conduct for members.
Our flyers for clients are available in many brothels in Germany and support centers.A big thanks to Harriet for sharing information about sexsicher.de at the ICRSE NGO booth at AIDS2010!
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AIDS2010 Sexsicher.de at the ICRSE NGO booth
Posted: July 29th, 2010, 7:17am PDT
During the conference in Vienna Booth I had a chance to talk with ICRSE member Harriet Langanke from sexsicher.de
Why are you here at the AIDS2010 conference?
I am here wearing many hats so I will focus on sex work for this interview. Sexsicher.de is a member of the ICRSE Network and we are taking the opportunity of the AIDS2010 conference to share information about our project and to network with others who are working in the area of sex work advocacy and health and in particular our work with clients of sex workers.
Our poster presentation has been shown at other events and during the conference we distributed flyers about sexsicher.de at the Women´s Networking Zone and elsewhere.
What is sexsicher.de
In general there are very few client outreach projects or little research done about clients of sex workers. Working with clients also has an impact on improving the human rights of sex workers who are currently taking on too much of the responsibility for safe sex. Why not take clients seriously? When working with clients I see that as supporting sex workers since as we know there are two sides to the dynamic. Still in 2010 this is necessary to promote.
Sexsicher.de has been online since 2004 expanding since then to include languages other than German, for example we now also have Turkish, English and Spanish. We actually began research on clients already in 2002 and the website is just part of our client focussed project; we also have a cooperation with client based forums and other self-help communities. In the beginning the only communications among clients of sex workers was through the internet; they did not know each other and they used false names to remain anonymous. At the first real-life meeting we organised everyone was anonymous but since then clients have formed communities outside of the virtual world and organise face-to-face social activities.
Has the way clients talk about sex workers changed over the years?
Yes client forums are also teaching forums. For the group that has been active for some time they have changed the way they talk about safe sex mainly as a result of having better access to good non-judgemental information about safe sex and sexual health. We noticed that client forums are also more carefully monitored for abusive language about sex workers than in the past. For new clients their learning begins when they first join a forum and older client members do police how language is being used - for example by commenting on posts that use racist language or having rules of conduct for members.
Our flyers for clients are available in many brothels in Germany and support centers.A big thanks to Harriet for sharing information about sexsicher.de at the ICRSE NGO booth at AIDS2010!
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Interview with Liz C - SWOP USA
Posted: July 29th, 2010, 7:02am PDT
While most of my chats were with ICRSE Network members I also had a chance to speak with Liz C - new chair of SWOP USA Board of directors. Liz was in Vienna with several colleagues from the USA who together supported the SWOP USA NGO booth, acted-up and networked like crazy.
Although this is a bit late of a post I was curious to here more about the Desiree Alliance conference "Working Sex: Power, Practice, and Politics" which is in its final days in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada, July 25th to 30th, 2010. To have a look at the exciting and packed program please see the Desiree Alliance conference pages.
Why did you want to be at this conference?
I think it is important for us to engage more on a global level especially around the Pepfar prostitution pledge issues that is affecting sex workers around the world - we need to reach out to sex workers globally to see how we can support sex workers to resist the impact of Pepfar.
How has your experience at AIDS2010 been so far?
The conference has really opened my eyes to the experiences of others ourside of the USA, especially around Pepfar. I hope that this will be made a priority issue for Washington 2012. It is so important to meet face-to-face instead of learning things through reading reports.
I love how sex workers are so creative, adaptable and genius.
One criticism that I have is around translation the lack of translation is preventing people from communicating effectively here at the conference. For the Desiree Alliance conference we will have translation in four languages so if we can do it there is no reason why such a large organisation as AIDS conference organisers cannot do more.
Can you tell us something about the Desiree Alliance conference that you will be going to after Vienna?
This conference is organised entirely by volunteers and we expect around 300 people to attend. That is a large conference for 5 days! As far as I know people are coming from Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia and more. The conference has different tracks and the various tracks mean that there is something for everyone, researchers, sex workers, activists, students and artists.
I am sure you will hear more about the conference once it has started. Check out the Desiree Alliance website or Bound Not Gagged blog.
What else is SWOP USA up to?
We are currently working to develop new SWOP chapters. It is so important to give one-on-one support for this - to go visit new chapters, provide information and mentor in some way. Sometimes a new chapter might have only a couple of people so support is vital. I think it is important to remember what it is like to be a new activist.
The Desiree Alliance is pretty big from what I can see on the members list on the website. Any future plans for either Desiree Alliance or SWOP USA?
There are always more organisations that we could reach out to that are not yet part of the Desiree Alliance. I also think it will be important for us to have more focus on social justice issues, provide trainings around leadership roles and revisit the question of what diversity and inclusivity mean. We can always make more links with other activists.
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with us at the ICRSE Liz. I hope that the "Working Sex: Power, Practice, and Politics" Conference is a huge success. Sex workers around the world are excited to hear more about this conference experience and outcomes. -
Interview with Liz C - SWOP USA
Posted: July 29th, 2010, 7:02am PDT
While most of my chats were with ICRSE Network members I also had a chance to speak with Liz C - new chair of SWOP USA Board of directors. Liz was in Vienna with several colleagues from the USA who together supported the SWOP USA NGO booth, acted-up and networked like crazy.
Although this is a bit late of a post I was curious to here more about the Desiree Alliance conference "Working Sex: Power, Practice, and Politics" which is in its final days in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada, July 25th to 30th, 2010. To have a look at the exciting and packed program please see the Desiree Alliance conference pages.
Why did you want to be at this conference?
I think it is important for us to engage more on a global level especially around the Pepfar prostitution pledge issues that is affecting sex workers around the world - we need to reach out to sex workers globally to see how we can support sex workers to resist the impact of Pepfar.
How has your experience at AIDS2010 been so far?
The conference has really opened my eyes to the experiences of others ourside of the USA, especially around Pepfar. I hope that this will be made a priority issue for Washington 2012. It is so important to meet face-to-face instead of learning things through reading reports.
I love how sex workers are so creative, adaptable and genius.
One criticism that I have is around translation the lack of translation is preventing people from communicating effectively here at the conference. For the Desiree Alliance conference we will have translation in four languages so if we can do it there is no reason why such a large organisation as AIDS conference organisers cannot do more.
Can you tell us something about the Desiree Alliance conference that you will be going to after Vienna?
This conference is organised entirely by volunteers and we expect around 300 people to attend. That is a large conference for 5 days! As far as I know people are coming from Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia and more. The conference has different tracks and the various tracks mean that there is something for everyone, researchers, sex workers, activists, students and artists.
I am sure you will hear more about the conference once it has started. Check out the Desiree Alliance website or Bound Not Gagged blog.
What else is SWOP USA up to?
We are currently working to develop new SWOP chapters. It is so important to give one-on-one support for this - to go visit new chapters, provide information and mentor in some way. Sometimes a new chapter might have only a couple of people so support is vital. I think it is important to remember what it is like to be a new activist.
The Desiree Alliance is pretty big from what I can see on the members list on the website. Any future plans for either Desiree Alliance or SWOP USA?
There are always more organisations that we could reach out to that are not yet part of the Desiree Alliance. I also think it will be important for us to have more focus on social justice issues, provide trainings around leadership roles and revisit the question of what diversity and inclusivity mean. We can always make more links with other activists.
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with us at the ICRSE Liz. I hope that the "Working Sex: Power, Practice, and Politics" Conference is a huge success. Sex workers around the world are excited to hear more about this conference experience and outcomes.