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.

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First Thai sex worker on Danish stage

On May 1st, Thai sex worker Thanta Laovilawanyakul enters the Danish stage in Copenhagen to add a new perspective to the question; why do Westerns travel around the globe to get something as banal as sex.

One by one, people from the audience will be lead onto the stage to play different experiences with sex worker Thanta Laovilawanyakul at Betty Nansens Theatre in Copenhagen in May.

The controversial play ‘Love-Theatre’ has been developed by two Danish instructors: Tue Biering and Jeppe Kristensen.

27th March 2015 by NSWP

Sex Workers Rights Group Launches 'Know Your Rights' Card

On Monday, March the 16th, NSWP member group SCOT-PEP (Scottish Prostitutes Education Project) launched a Know Your Rights information card for indoor sex workers.

16th March 2015 by NSWP

Sex Work Film Festival Continues in Leicester

The six-week long Leicester Red Project is in its second-to-last week, but there is still time to catch a final screening.

13th March 2015 by NSWP

A Spanish Court Rules on Sex Workers’ Labour Rights

The Independent reports that a civil court in Barcelona has ruled that sex workers in Spain are to be entitled to the same labour rights as workers in any other industry and that they should have the right to claim unemployment benefits when not in work.

11th March 2015 by NSWP

The Sex Workers’ Opera Returns for International Women’s Day

Following January’s sold-out run of shows at the Arcola Theatre, London, the Sex Workers’ Opera is returning for a one-off performance to mark International Women’s Day 2015.

26th February 2015 by NSWP

Transgender Europe Calls for a Stop to the Nightmare that is Legal Gender Recognition in 34 Countries in Europe

On Friday, 19 February, Transgender Europe (TGEU) called attention to the fact that 34 countries in Europe still do not allow trans people to change their legal name and gender without having to undergo humiliating and abusive procedures. With the release of a new video on legal gender recognition, TGEU demands action to reform gender recognition laws in Europe.
24th February 2015 by NSWP

End-Demand Campaigners Target Scotland’s Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill

A bill introduced in the Scottish Parliament calls for new powers to increase penalties for human trafficking. The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill was introduced on December 11 2014.

23rd February 2015 by NSWP

New Report Claims the Swedish Sex Purchase Law is Ineffective

This just in from NSWP's European correspondent:

A new research report from Malmö University, commissioned by the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU), criticises the so-called Swedish Modelof social policy on sex work, concluding that claims of the policy’s success have been greatly exaggerated.

5th February 2015 by NSWP

Sex Workers Alliance Ireland Launch Sex Work Paper

Proposed new law is dangerously misguided, say sex workers.

On Wednesday 4th February, sex workers and supporters launched ‘Realising Sex Workers’ Rights in Ireland,’ a ground-breaking paper addressing the reality of sex work in Ireland. Featuring the views of sex workers, legal practitioners and academics, the paper draws on international research and sets out a human rights and social justice response to sex work in Ireland.

5th February 2015 by NSWP

'Positive Effects' of Swedish Sex Purchase Ban Heavily Exaggerated, New Report Finds

Last year the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) commissioned a research report to investigate the effects of the Swedish ban against sex purchase, introduced in 1999. RFSU wanted an independent overview of earlier studies to be used as a foundation for a congressional decision in June 2015.

5th February 2015 by NSWP