London Sex Worker Open University 2011
Call for submissions!
Our colleagues at the Sex Worker Open University announce the next event which will happen 12th - 16th of October 2011 in London, UK. For full infomation and details of the event please see our Events page here.
A one day event entitled “LABOUR OF LOVE” was held on 17th December 2010, hosted by Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA) in partnership with Uganda Harmonized Rights Alliance (UHRA). Read the full report of the event here.
International Sex Worker Rights Day – 3rd March 2011
On 3rd March 2001 in India many thousands of sex workers took to the streets to protest against the violence and discrimination they experienced – this led to the creation of International Sex Worker Rights Day.
This day in March also marks the day, in 2009, when sex workers came together from southern, western and eastern Africa to form the African Sex Worker Alliance, which now has members in many African countries.
Se non ora quando? Sempre! Diciamo noi
The criminalisation of sex work, increases the vulnerability of sex workers to human rights violations and violence. However, sex workers are raising awareness, working with policy makers, and organising against this violence, as the following examples from Research for Sex Work show:
Marjan Wijers a human rights consultant and researcher who helped create this tool as part of a collaboration.
The RighT guide, as we called it,was made in response to increasing concerns of anti-trafficking, sex workers rights and migrant workers rights activists and organisations that many anti-trafficking measures not only fail to protect the rights of trafficked persons, but actually do harm by undermining or negatively affecting the human rights of the people affected by those policies.
Last week, the Sex Workers Leadership Institute organised by Akina Mama Wa Afrika and set to take place in Kampala, Uganda from 18 to 20th November was shut down by Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Nsaba Buturo. In a letter to the hotel hosting the conference, Buturo states that “prostitution is a criminal offence in Uganda” and as a result “the hotel is an accomplice in an illegality.”
From October 12-16, 2010 in Pattaya, Thailand, the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), UNAIDS, and UNFPA collaborated on a consultation on HIV/AIDS and sex work in Asia. The meeting brought together UN and Global Fund for HIV Malaria and TB representatives with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government officials from eight countries. Sex worker activists from Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Fiji, Papua, New Guinea, Cambodia, and China attended to discuss approaches to the HIV/AIDS epidemic throughout Asia.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) stands in solidarity with sex workers in Ontario, Canada, who have brought a successful court challenge to anti-sex work laws. On September 28, 2010 a court ruling struck down three provisions of the law that criminalise sex work (communicating for the purposes of prostitution, living on the avails of prostitution and brothel-keeping).
Since the opening plenary for the International AIDS Conference (IAC) on Sunday, July 18th, the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) has been a vocal and visible presence at the conference. NSWP members have challenged both policy makers and funding agencies to break with the status quo, which perpetuates institutional violence and violation of sex worker’s human rights that lead to a higher rates of HIV infection and death.
In an effort to introduce myself as a NSWP blogger for the International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Vienna, I’ve written the first installment of the ‘Acronymicon,’ av go-to guide for the labyrinth of acronyms you’ll need for a well-informed encounter with groups involved with the Vienna Conference. I’m Will Rockwell, a 23 year-old sex worker in New York City, and I have represented NSWP at several UN consultations and fund committee meetings on the subject of young sex workers between the ages of 15 and 24.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects raises the voices of female, male and transgender sex workers on issues that affect us. What these voices say about HIV is: SEX WORK IS WORK: Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs. Unfavourable laws, stigma, violence, and discrimination cause sex workers’ vulnerability to ill health, social exclusion and human rights violations. Sex workers face these to varying degrees in all cultures from Switzerland to Swaziland, Canada to Cambodia. In this pamphlet, we define an understanding of HIV and sex work and outline our global agenda for change.
Monday August 2, 2010, police in Beijing detained Ye Haiyan, an activist with community based organisation the China Women’s Rights Workshop, after she joined other sex workers in publicly petitioning for the Chinese government to decriminalise prostitution. The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) stands in solidarity with Ye Haiyan, human rights defenders, and sex workers who speak up against stigma, discrimination, and the criminalisation of our livelihoods.
Since the opening plenary for the International AIDS Conference (IAC) on Sunday, July 18th, the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) has been a vocal and visible presence at the conference. NSWP members have challenged both policy makers and funding agencies to break with the status quo, which perpetuates institutional violence and violation of sex worker’s human rights that lead to a higher rates of HIV infection and death.
by Will Rockwell
Share your ideas, present your work, and raise awareness and money at the same time!
Dear all,
We are excited to develop the program of the NSWP networking zone with you and to open up registration for the NSWP marketplace booth.
Apply and participate! There are different possibilities to getting involved in the Conference. Make a submission for an abstract in one of the conference tracks, for a workshop or a Global Village activity. Apply for a scholarship. You can submit:
The strong participation of sex workers during the IAC 2008 in Mexico is an example that advocacy work for sex workers can happen in many different contexts, around the world.
The IAC 2010 is not a sex workers’ conference but gives us an opportunity for sex workers from all over the world to discuss human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS. It will give sex workers the possibility to raise issues that are relevant for them, to participate and to get involved in discussions.