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.