Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the HIV2020 Conference has been reimagined as a series of virtual convenings that will take place from June through October of this year. The programme will conclude with sharing learnings and highlights from the virtual event on World AIDS Day 2020 in December.
Registration for HIV2020 is now open and all Online Sessions are free and will be available in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Below we’ve picked out some sessions that are either sex worker led or may be of particular interest to the sex worker community. You can click through to each event to register or read more, or you can view the full calendar over on the HIV2020 website.
July
Not Your Rescue Project: Films from the Sex Workers Right Movement, 8 July – 22 July.
This virtual film festival celebrates the fierce activism of sex workers as they fight to defend their health and rights, while addressing HIV/AIDS in the context of ongoing pandemics of COVID-19 and police brutality targeting Black lives, as well as the global uprisings and community care lifting up the most vulnerable among us.
Presentation of SWIT as a successful strategy to advocate for the human rights of people who perform sex work in HIV/STI, 21 July, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT. Presented by PLAPERTS (Session held in Spanish).
The objective of the session is to promote SWIT as a tool and the results that can be obtained when SWIT is used and implemented by public servants and sex workers. The session also aims to sensitise participants to the importance of working together with vulnerable populations to achieve favourable changes in the environment for sex work, HIV policies and strategic litigation.
El objectivo de la presentacion es dar a conocer la herramienta del SWIT y los resultados que se pueden obtener si se implementa con los servidores públicos y las personas que ejercen el trabajo sexual. Se objetiva tambien sensibilizar a los participantes en la importancia detrabajar en conjunto con las poblaciones vulnerables para lograr cambios favorables en el entorno al trabajo sexual, VIH y litigio estratégico.
August
Hate Crimes Against Sex Workers: Data Collection and Advocacy, 6 August, 10:00 PM PDT – 7 August, 12:00 AM PDT. Presented by Shay Ayim Network (Session held in Russian).
The session will present the experience of the Shah-Aym Network in documenting hate crimes against sex workers in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Kazakhstan and in filing these cases with the OSCE/ODIHR.
Film & Discussion: China’s Transgender Sex Workers, 19 August, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM PDT. Presented by Michael Liu.
September
Community Advocacy: How we Innovate and Mobilise,1 September, 4:30 AM – 6:30 AM PDT.
This session aims to provide an interactive and engaging platform for participants to learn about how key population communities can advocate to successfully challenge legal and social barriers standing in the way of a cohesive HIV response.
Soliciting for Change: Understanding the impacts of the Swedish Model and full decriminalisation of sex work, 3 September, 1:00 AM – 3:00 AM PDT. Presented by ICRSE, and Scarlet Alliance.
The session will explore the impact of different legal frameworks on sex workers’ vulnerabilities to violence, human rights violation and HIV. Materials for an online social media protest will be developed during the session!
Film & Discussion: Kokh (A womb), 28 September, 6:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT. Presented by FAITH.
This is an advocacy video for the promotion of safe abortion rights of female sex workers.
October
Community based mental health services for people living with HIV, 9 October, 4:00 AM – 6:00 AM PDT.
The session is dedicated to highlighting the accumulated experience of working at the intersection of mental health and HIV infection.
Art Performance: Theatre Performance about SWIT, 15 October, 6:00 AM – 7:30 AM PDT. Presented by Tais Plus (Session held in Russian).
The production presents the connection between the SWIT text and real life situations that sex workers around the world face daily. Changes for the better begin with a step that is both simple and difficult at the same time-not to put up with injustice in thoughts and deeds.
В постановке представлена связь между текстом SWIT и реальными жизненными ситуациями, с которыми секс-работники всего мира сталкиваются ежедневно. Изменения к лучшему начинаются с шага, который и прост, и труден одновременно – не мириться с несправедливостью в мыслях и на деле.
Where is the money for key population programming?, 20 October, 4:00 AM – 6:00 AM PDT.
This session will present the findings of a brand new study on HIV funding for key populations. This session will allow community activists, donors and policy makers to gain insight into the funding landscape for HIV programming for key populations (key funders, funding opportunities, funding gaps, and how to address data gaps); and develop strategies for targeted advocacy for more and better funding forkey populations, including commitments from the donors present.