Sex workers in Scotland and across the UK have formed groups in two unions – GMB and United Voices of the World – to advocate for improved working conditions and decriminalisation of sex work. Sex workers in Scotland launched a new adult entertainment branch of GMB in February, and United Voices of the World began working with strippers and other sex workers in 2018.
Regional updates: Europe
Our members are listed on the left or you can click the red umbrellas on the map.
Regional Board Members
Nataliia Isaieva (Legalife-Ukraine), Ukraine.
Dinah de Riquet-Bons (STRASS), France.
Regional Networks
The International Committee for the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) is a European network of sex workers and allies across Europe and Central Asia. It was formed in 2004 to organise the 2005 European Conference on Sex Work, Human Rights, Labour and Migration and is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (SWAN) is a network of sex workers' groups and civil society. SWAN started in 2006 as a project within Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU/TASZ) and became an independent organisation in 2012 and is based in Budapest, Hungary.
News articles from Europe region are listed below.
Ugly Mugs, a commonly used safety app for sex workers in Ireland and the UK, is facing removal from the Android Play Store following changes to Google's permissions policy.
19th February 2019 by NSWP
Spanish media has reported that the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) is drafting new legislation to criminalise the purchase of sex, known as the 'Nordic Model'.
12th December 2018 by NSWP
The Spanish National Court has ruled against sex worker organisation OTRAS, who applied to be recognised as a trade union in August. On Wednesday, the National Court said recognition of sex workers in a union would ‘amount to the exploitation of prostitution’.
22nd November 2018 by NSWP
The Israeli Prostitution Task Force Committee’s promise to carry out ‘a large-scale offensive to root out lap dances from strip clubs’ is just one several concurrent attacks on sex workers’ rights currently being launched by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament).
20th September 2018 by NSWP
Sex worker groups have organised an international day of action on 21st September to honour the memory of Vanessa Campos, a sex worker who was killed in Paris in August.
20th September 2018 by NSWP
NSWP joins sex worker-led organisations in the UK to condemn attempts to introduce FOSTA-style laws criminalising online platforms used by sex workers.
3rd July 2018 by NSWP
Sex workers in Spain have protested the acquittal of three men accused of raping a sex worker. 24 hours after being arrested, the three men accused of rape had been released under the restraining order. The men denied the rape “because the woman is a prostitute”.
19th June 2018 by NSWP
11th May 2018 by NSWP
A new security application, Artemis' Umbrella, has been developed for sex workers in Finland, and can be used anywhere in the world. The app alerts a trusted contact when sex workers are in trouble, and uses location services to track the smart phone.
27th March 2018 by NSWP