NSWP has published a statement in response to the recent release of a report by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security following an evaluation of the ban of the purchase of sex which came into force in 2009 in Norway. The report has been heavily criticised by various sex worker rights groups for its poor quality and contradictory claims and findings presented throughout the report's 168 pages.
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.
18th August 2014 by NSWP
SWAN (Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network in Central and Eastern Europe) in an attempt to raise awareness of the terrible human rights abuses faced by sex workers in Tajikistan, organised a photo flash mob at the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, Australia. The conference learned of the situation in Tajikistan and participants were given details about the recent police crackdown and forced HIV testing of sex workers in the country. To show their solidarity with sex workers in Tajikis
13th August 2014 by NSWP
SZEXE is an organisation that works to protect the interests of sex workers in Hungary. As well as offering direct services to sex workers SZEXE also conducts campaigning and advocacy work to advance sex worker rights. On July 1st in Budapest the organisation hosted a conference called ‘Nothing about Us without Us!’. This conference brought together many different people including journalists, politicians, civil society organisations and academics. But most importantly this conference was about amplifying the voices of s
13th August 2014 by NSWP
The Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security has released a report following an evaluation of the ban of the purchase of sex which came into force in 2009 in Norway. The report claims that the ban on the purchase of sex has been successful in meeting its ‘objectives’.
13th August 2014 by NSWP
This is a press release from NSWP member SCOT-PEP.
16th July 2014 by NSWP
For the past three years sex workers in France and their union, STRASS, have been fighting against the attempt to introduce laws criminalising their clients. The issue was first discussed by the French National Assembly in December 2011 when a non-binding resolution was adopted by the Assembly supporting the introduction of the ‘Swedish model’ in France. This was later followed by the introduction of a formal Bill by the ruling French Socialist Party. The campaign to pass the Bill was led by the Minister for Women’s Rights, Na
11th July 2014 by NSWP
This conference takes as its starting point the need to explore how sex which involves forms of commercial exchange can be understood within broader cultural and social contexts. More specifically, it invites an examination of prostitution, its shifting meanings and governance, by focussing on the contested intersection of activities designated sex, the intimate sphere, and activities designated labour.
10th July 2014 by NSWP
9th July 2014 by NSWP
A pub called Harry’s Bar in Vaxjo in south central Sweden had a policy where they refused entry to “Asian-looking women”. This policy was put in place on the grounds that the pub were trying to prevent prostitution from taking place on their premises as the pub owner had been informed by the police that prostitution was taking place in the area and that Asian women were involved.
30th June 2014 by NSWP
Serebryanaya Roza (Silver Rose) has been fighting for the rights of sex workers in Russia since 2006. Today, the group has a presence in 10 regions across Russia, representing the interests of a large part of the estimated 3 million sex workers in the country. They operate a hotline for sex workers and provide legal aid to sex workers in cases of violence and harassment. After many years of doing very valuable work Silver Rose is trying to obtain official recognition as an NGO from Russia’s Ministry of Justice.
30th June 2014 by NSWP