Regional updates: Europe

The Europe region is made up of three different regional networks.

  • The International Committee for the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) is an European network of sex workers and allies and was formed in 2004 to organise the 2005 European Conference on Sex Work, Human Rights, Labour and Migration in Brussels, Belgium.
  • Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) is a network of sex workers' groups and civil society organisations engaged in advocating the Human Rights of the sex workers formed in 2006 in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
  • TAMPEP (European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers) is an international networking and intervention project operating in 25 countries, including 10 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Board members

Mariann Bodzsar is a member of SZEXE in Hungary and is the Central,Eastern European & Central Asian representative nominated by Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN).

Thierry Schaffauser is a representative on the International Committee for the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE).
 

Press Statement on Greece from NSWP & GNP+

15th May 2012 by NSWP
Olympic crack-down putting sex workers at risk

Raids on flats in London and increased activity by the Metropolitan Police in targeting street-based sex workers have forced women to work underground, begin working outdoors and to move away from areas they know well.  All of which has put them at greater risk of violence and driven them further away from the support services they use and trust, reports the Independent today.

12th May 2012 by NSWP
Greek police Out HIV+ sex workers: SIGN the petition

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) 

2nd May 2012 by NSWP
Campaign for moratorium on sex worker arrests during Olympics

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 

9th April 2012 by NSWP
Crackdowns putting Sex Workers lives at risk

Press Release from: English Collective of Prostitutes

As arrests, raids and prosecutions of sex workers increase in Olympic boroughs and throughout the UK, calls for the decriminalisation of prostitution highlight the need to protect sex workers from rape and violence.

9th April 2012 by NSWP
The Swedish Law to Criminalize Clients: A failed experiment in social engineering

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

4th April 2012 by NSWP
Escorts in Madrid strike action on Bankers

Sex Workers in Madrid are taking direct action on the Banking industry by declaring an indefinite strike and refusing clients who work in this sector.

They say that until bankers return to providing credits to Spanish families and also small- and medium-sized businesses, there will be no sexual pleasures for their employees.

26th March 2012 by NSWP
Prosecution Dropped Against UK Sex Worker for Lack of Evidence

Source: Press Release from the English Collective of Prostitutes 

File 690

Sheila Farmer, a sex worker who worked with other women from premises for safety had charges of brothel-keeping dismissed today in Croydon Crown Court. She worked with other women since being viciously raped and attacked whilst working alone. 

4th January 2012 by neil
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - Candle Light Vigil in London

The Sex Worker Open University has organised a candle light vigil in Soho, London on Thursday 15th December to remember friends and colleagues who were victims of violence.

SWOU have produced a number of videos to promote the event.  The first video can be seen on this page and the others can be viewed here and here.

9th December 2011 by neil
Study finds 'most London sex workers not trafficked or forced'

Research launched at a recent London seminar, as reported on PLRI's website, showed that:

  • Many migrants prefer working in the sex industry rather than the "unrewarding and sometimes exploitative conditions they meet in non-sexual jobs".
  • Many migrants working in the sex industry send money back to their country of origin, thereby "dramatically improving the living conditions of their families".
  • Police efforts to combat organised crime is undermined by the fact that victims of exploitation cannot be guaranteed indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
  •  The research findings presented were from the ESRC-funded ‘Migrant Workers in the UK Sex Industry’, led by Dr Nick Mai from the Institute for the Study of European Transformations at London Metropolitan University. 

You can read the full research report here.

18th November 2011 by neil