Covid-19 news and resources

تشير ’الحماية الاجتماعية‘ إلى الإجراءات المُصَمَّمَة لأجل منع ومعالجة الحالات التي تؤثر سلبا على سلامة الناس، بالإضافة إلى الإجراءات التي تقلل من الضعف وتُسَهِّل الاستقرار الاجتماعي والاقتصادي. كثيرًا ما يتم النظر إلى العاملين/ات بالجنس على أنهم/ن يحتاجون/ن إلى الحماية بسبب الاعتقاد الخاطئ السائد بأن العاملين/ات بالجنس ’ضحايا‘ الاتجار والاستغلال.

لقد كان العاملون/ات بالجنس التجاري من ضمن أولئك الذين تأثروا/ن بشدة في بداية وباء كوڤيد-١٩ ولا يزالون متأثرين/ات بهذه الازمة العالمية للصحة العامة. إن التحديات التي واجهها العاملون/ات بالجنس التجاري قبل وقوع كوڤيد-١٩، كنتيجة للتجريم، الوصم والتمييز، قد تفاقمت جميعها بسبب الوباء.

The All India Network of Sex Workers (AINSW), a collective of 5 million sex workers in India and a member of NSWP, last week wrote to the Delhi government demanding better access to vaccines for sex workers and transgender people.

The Hindustan Times reported on the letter, including quotes from AINSW.

HODSAS (Homme Pour le Droit et La Sante Sexuelle) have released a statement denouncing an increase in harassment in DRC, and highlighting the disproportionate costs of COVID-19 tests at the borders of DRC-Rwanda, and DRC-Burundi.

The Count Me In! Consortium supports the voices and activism of women, girls, and trans and gender non-binary people who are often most marginalised in their communities. Among the most silenced voices are those of sex workers.

The National Human Rights Commission, India have issued an advisory recognising sex workers as informal workers. The 11-page advisory titled 'Human Rights Advisory on rights of Women in Context of COVID-19' lists recommendations for sex workers under the women at work section.

UNAIDS have published a brief that provides evidence-informed guidance to countries on how to reduce stigma and discrimination in the context of COVID-19. The brief outlines specific recommendations for addressing stigma and discrimination related to COVID-19 in six settings: community settings, including individuals, families and communities; workplace settings; education settings; health-care settings; justice settings; and emergency/humanitarian settings.

NSWP member organisation Trans United Europe – founded to unite the networks of European operating Trans BPOC NGOs and individual BPOC trans activists living and working in Europe – have reported on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Trans BPOC people in Europe through NSWP’s COVID-19 Impact Survey.

The Dominican Republic recorded its first coronavirus case on the 1^st March 2020, and the country has since reached almost 100,000 reported cases. France 24 has published an article on the impact of COVID-19 on transgender sex workers in the Dominican Republic, speaking with Luna Veras, Henely Flores, and organisation TRANSSA, who are all based in the capital of Santo Domingo.

Coalition Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre pour le travail du sexe (CAfOC-TS) have issued a statement reporting on the human rights abuses and violence experienced by sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in francophone African countries.

CAfOC-TS – which is made up of organisations including UMANDE, And Soppeku, Blety, AFAZ - Association Femme Amazone, Alcondoms Cameroun, YERELON+, and HODSAS – work to address the problems faced by French speaking sex workers in Central and West Africa.

UNAIDS has released a new report focusing on policy responses in the very early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing attention to the experiences of some of the most marginalised and vulnerable communities.

At the start of the year, it was hard to imagine the impact that COVID-19 would have on the world. Now, six months since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it’s clear that the crisis is far from over and its repercussions will be felt far beyond 2020.

New Frame have written a feature on the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers in South Africa, looking specifically at the damaging impacts of criminalisation and the need to maintain a focus on the long-term policy changes that position sex workers as equal and protected citizens.

New Generation Humanitarian NGO, an NSWP member organisation based in Armenia, have been providing temporary shelter, food packages, and legal support for sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amnesty International have released a statement urging governments to take targeted action to address the disparate impact of COVID-19 on sex workers. The statement draws attention to government responses that, in many contexts, have been punitive, overbroad, and/or discriminatory, and provides key recommendations.

In April 2020, NSWP launched a global survey to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers.

UNAIDS have drawn attention to the Guyana Sex Work Coalition’s work supporting the sex work community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government of Maharashtra, India, has acknowledged the challenges faced by sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic with a new government resolution issued on 23 July. The resolution asks district officials to provide free rations and all essential services to women who are dependent on sex work.

As reported in The Hindu, this is the first time that sex work has been recognised as work in this way.

In April 2020, NSWP launched a global survey to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers.

AP News has published a report on the impact of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic on sex workers living with HIV. Speaking with sex workers and organisations from Rwanda and Zimbabwe, the article highlights the multiple ways that the current crisis is affecting those who do not have access to government support schemes.

In April 2020, NSWP launched a global survey to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers. The survey received, thus far, a total of 156 responses from 55 different countries out of which 43 responses were from 17 countries – Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, North Macedonia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom – in the Europe region.

OpenDemocracy has published an article from Graciela, a member of Ammar Cordoba, on their work supporting sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. AMMAR Córdoba​ is a sex worker-led organisation in Córdoba​, Argentina, fighting for human rights and access to labour protections.

In April 2020, NSWP launched a global survey to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers. To date, the survey has received 156 responses from 55 different countries. 18 of these responses were from 11 countries – Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam – in the Asia-Pacific region. 

A new database, devised by feminists from around the world, has been developed to track COVID-19 responses and uplift the collective action of feminists globally.

Created by organisations and activists, working across global movements centered on human rights, sustainable development, and economic and social justice, their website outlines key principles for a just and resilient recovery from the ongoing global pandemic.

The key principles are: