Sex workers in Zambia have been in the spotlight this week as both religious leaders and a non-governmental organisation weighed in to the debate on how the police deal with sex work in the country.

In a deplorable move, Athens police have published photographs of 12 sex workers who have tested HIV positive in the last few days, with more disgraceful abuses being promised in the future.

You can sign the petition to the Greek Prime Minister to stop the forced testing and outing of HIV+ sex workers here.  (Read it in English, Spanish & French) 

Sex workers ran a number of exciting and challenging sessions during the AWID Forum in Istanbul. In their interactions with delegates they have been stressing the importance of listening to sex workers and acknowledging sex work as work. There has also been a plea for the silent majority of feminists who support sex workers rights to raise their voices to condemn interventions like anti-trafficking raid and rescues which are often carried out in the name of feminism.

One well attended break out session that combined presentations with film clips was ‘Don’t talk to us about sewing machines: Talk to us about worker’s rights’ which was organised by the Paulo Longo Research Initiative. The panel was moderated by Meena Seshu of Sangram and Laura Agustín and Sachumi Mayeo of Empower spoke.

Watch the videos of this session (with thanks to APNSW): 

Carol Leigh, director of the Bay Area Sex Workers Advocacy Network, explains why sex workers deserve legal rights in this article in the New York Times.

NSWP and ASWA member, Health Options for Young Men on HIV, AIDS and STIs, based in Kenya, has been awarded a grant to train its members to be peer educators and undertake outreach through social media.

The award from amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, will provide sex workers living with HIV with HIV prevention and treatment information. Those trained will, in turn, will pass that knowledge on to other sex workers. Additionally, HOYMAS is working with the Kenyan government to improve public policies related to HIV among male sex workers.

X:Talk have launched a campaign for a moratorium on sex worker arrests during the Olympics.

They are seeking a moratorium – a suspension of legal powers – on arrests of sex workers before and up to the end of the London Olympics. 

'Governments and NGOs draw a link between sporting events and increase in trafficking, but there is no proven link.  We ask for a moratorium because the usual response by governments to those assumptions is to crack down on sex workers. Up to now, anti-trafficking measures have mainly been about making criminal law interventions. But raids on brothels, for example, find that the number of people trafficked is nowhere near as many as thought.'

Read x:talk briefing paper here and and SIGN UP to their campaign by emailing xtalk.knowledge@gmail.com 

In response to the recent article in the Hindu where renowned feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem talked of an ‘epidemic of sex trafficking’, Professor Shohini Ghosh writes:

Ann Jordan's Issue Paper from Rightswork.org examines the impact of the Swedish Penal Code from 1999. 

UNAIDS recently feature this story on the front page of their website about sex workers in both Namibia and Kenya advocating for their rights of access to health care and legal services, including coverage of the demontrations for International Sex Worker Rights Day on 3rd March.  It is certainly significant to see stories such as this being given such prominence on the UNAIDS site.  

Matthew Greenall on his Epidreamiology blog has however challeged a couple of significant accuracies carried in the article, specifically about sex owrkers not being able to negotiate condom use; and regarding exactly why sex workers asked for changes in laws and policies that impact on their lives.