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.