News Archive: October 2016

On the 18 of October, COSWAS, sex workers and allies held a protest outside the Taipei City Government. Protesters asked for the decriminalisation of sex work, for an end to illegal entrapment practices targeting sex workers, and for the government to stop ignoring sex workers. They are asking for safe and legal places to work.

From 11-15 October, hundreds of Canadian sex workers in nine provinces were subjected to a fifth and final round of sting operations under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) initiative "Operation Northern Spotlight." These sting operations involve police officers booking fake appointments with sex workers to gain access to their work spaces. 

The main focus of the Global Fund Board and the NGO Communities Delegations has been the Global Fund’s 5^th Voluntary Replenishment, which was held in Montreal, Canada, in September 2016.

In Uganda, commercial sex work is illegal and perceived as immoral and socially unacceptable. As a stigmatised and often criminalised group, sex workers are frequently the victims of human rights abuses, including sexual violence. Historically, the majority of sex workers have lacked adequate access to information about their rights, safe sex, health services, and equality before the law. In turn, this has significant implications for basic safety, the spread of HIV/AIDs, and unwanted pregnancies.

Laura Lee has won High Court permission to challenge a new law criminalising clients in Northern Ireland. She will also challenge Ireland's brothel keeping laws.

In 2015, Northern Ireland adopted the “Swedish Model”, which criminalises the clients of sex workers, despite the fact that “independent research by Northern Ireland’s Department of Justice showed that no locally based sex workers surveyed supported criminalising the purchase of sex, with 61 percent believing it would make them less safe and 85 per cent saying it would not reduce sex trafficking.”

The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) in collaboration with the Vietnam Sex Workers Network (VNSW) organised a training from the 22-24 August in Hanoi, Vietnam on the Global Fund. Seventeen sex workers representing 12 sex worker-led organisations from across the nation attended the training.

The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) facilitated a 3-day training in Kathmandu, Nepal from the 21-23 of September. Twenty-three male, female, and transgender sex workers from attended the workshop across the nation. Sex worker participants represented JMMS, Nepal’s National Federation of Female Sex Workers; and Blue Diamond Society, Nepal’s national GLBTIQ representative network.

“It’s my first time in the academy and it has really opened my eyes as far as sex worker advocacy and movement is concerned,” said Precious Zuzu.

Zuzu, who is from Swaziland’s Family Life Association, was among 18 participants from Swaziland, Cameroon and Kenya who were selected to attend the 10th Sex Worker Africa Academy (SWAA).

Carl Ferrer, the chief executive officer of Backpage.com was arrested on Thursday the 6^th of October. He was charged with conspiracy and pimping a minor. Backpage.com is used by thousands of sex workers worldwide to advertise their services.

The Legal Aid Society of New York and the law firm Cleary Gottlieb have launched a constitutional challenge on behalf of women of colour, many of whom are transgender, who have been wrongly arrested under New York Penal Law Section 240.37. “The plaintiffs challenge Section 240.37, loitering for the purpose of prostitution, because it is unconstitutional on its face and also because it is unlawfully enforced by NYPD officers who target women for arrest based on race, gender, ethnicity, gender identity, and/or appearance,” says the Society. The Society goes on to note that, “under Section 240.37, a woman can be improperly arrested and detained simply because an officer takes issue with her clothing or appearance and decides that her purpose is to engage in prostitution.”

Sex workers and sex worker rights organisations in the United States are joining many HIV/AIDS, LGBT, and other civil society organisations to oppose Proposition 60 – “The California Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act.”