News Archive: April 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, sex workers are mostly being forgotten about in government responses. This week the Guardian published a report on the experiences of sex workers in New Zealand, outlining their access to emergency wage subsidies and other state benefits.

29 April 2020

The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) and UNAIDS recently released a joint statement calling on countries to take immediate, critical action to protect the health and rights of sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

28 April 2020

At the end of February, the second case of COVID-19 was documented in an African country. Since then, the disease has spread to every region, resulting in nearly 32,000 confirmed cases and around 1,400 deaths.

Sex workers in Senegal, in western Africa, are struggling within the context of the pandemic, which has exposed existing inequalities and disproportionately affects people already criminalised, marginalised and living in financially precarious situations.

27 April 2020

We are sharing five articles focussing on the impact of the current health crisis on the five NSWP regions, based on responses to our COVID-19 Impact Survey. These snapshots provide an insight into what governments are doing – and not doing – to support sex workers and sex worker organisations and how the sex worker community are responding to the crisis.

22 April 2020

NSWP are conducting a survey to monitor and report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sex workers and sex worker organisations and their communities.

We are sharing the stories and experiences of organisations from around the world, as reported to us, in order to gain an insight into what governments are doing – and not doing – to support sex workers and sex worker organisations and how the sex worker community are responding to the crisis.

15 April 2020

Lorena Borjas – a pillar of New York City’s Latinx LGBTQ community, and a staunch defender of the rights of trans people, Latinx people, and sex workers – died on Monday 30th March of complications from COVID-19.

8 April 2020

With sex work criminalised in almost every country, sex workers’ already precarious situation has been heightened by this public health crisis. NSWP is conducting a survey to enable us to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sex workers around the world.

8 April 2020
A joint statement from Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) and UNAIDS.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic, as with other health crises, exposes existing inequalities and disproportionately affects people already criminalized, marginalized and living in financially precarious situations, often outside social protection mechanisms.

During these difficult times, the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) and UNAIDS wish to draw attention to the particular hardships and concerns facing sex workers globally, and are calling on countries to ensure the respect,

8 April 2020

NSWP is seeking to recruit a Policy Officer to join our Policy Team, led by the Senior Policy Officer, working on developing global advocacy tools for our members and reviewing external policy documents in line with the NSWP Consensus Statement and the priorities set by the NSWP Board.

3 April 2020

The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) have issued a statement that urges the anti-trafficking movement to acknowledge a broader perspective on trafficking during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The statement also calls into question the opportunistic link between the widespread disruption of lives and livelihoods during the COVID-19 pandemic to trafficking and ‘modern slavery’.

1 April 2020