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.

Luca Stevenson (ESWA), The Netherlands.

Regional Networks

European Sex Workers Rights Alliance - ESWA (formerly 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.

Regional updates

26th février 2015 | Region: Global, Europe

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.

24th février 2015 | Region: 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.
23rd février 2015 | Region: Europe

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.

5th février 2015 | Region: Global, Europe

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 février 2015 | Region: Global, Europe

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 février 2015 | Region: Europe

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 février 2015 | Region: Global, Europe

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 février 2015 | Region: Global, Europe

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.

26th janvier 2015 | Region: Africa, Europe

The Moroccan Patent Office (Office of Industrial and Commercial Property - OMPIC) recently formalised an agreement with the European Patent Office (EPO) for validating European patents in Morocco starting on the 1st of March 2015. This mean that patent applications and patents granted in Europe will have the legal effects of Moroccan patent applications and will be subject to Moroccan law. A world premiere, Morocco becomes the first country outside of the European Patent Organisation to validate European patents in its territory.

26th janvier 2015 | Region: Africa, Europe

The Moroccan Patent Office (Office of Industrial and Commercial Property - OMPIC) recently formalised an agreement with the European Patent Office (EPO) for validating European patents in Morocco starting on the 1st of March 2015. This mean that patent applications and patents granted in Europe will have the legal effects of Moroccan patent applications and will be subject to Moroccan law. A world premiere, Morocco becomes the first country outside of the European Patent Organisation to validate European patents in its territory.

15th janvier 2015 | Region: Europe

In Scotland, there are calls for nationally recognised increased restrictions to be imposed upon strip clubs.

22nd décembre 2014 | Region: Europe

Many of the images circulating last week from the December 17th rallies commemorating the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers included photos of mask-wearing Chinese sex workers in Paris’ Belleville district.

22nd décembre 2014 | Region: Europe

Earlier this month, Hull City Council ​won a landmark ruling to create Britain's first "prostitution-free zone." The new orders mean that any sex workers or kerb crawlers caught around the Hessle Road area can be arrested and forced to appear in court.

17th décembre 2014 | Region: Europe
  Joint Press release by STRASS, French Union of Sex Workers, Acceptess-T, Act Up Paris, Aids, Cabiria, Collective March 8 for All, Women's Collective of Strasbourg-Saint Denis, Transgender Support Strasbourg

On December 16th, around midnight, Thierry Schaffauser, founding member of STRASS, was distributing leaflets and condoms when he was arrested on the Barbès Boulevard, Paris in the 18th district.

 He was accused of having spoken to a sex worker.

17th décembre 2014 | Region: Europe

The Communities Living with HIV, Tuberculosis and affected by Malaria Delegation (Community Delegation) of the Board of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have published a global report detailing results from a study conducted in 11 countries. The Communities Delegation is a group of forty individuals living with HIV, TB and affected by malaria from every region in the world. They work closely on policy and advocacy at Committee and Board levels and the delegation is committed to being accountable to the constituencies that it represents.