COVID-19 Impact – Europe

Source
NSWP
Year
2020

In April 2020, NSWP launched a global survey to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers. The survey received 156 responses in total 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.

The COVID-19 pandemic, as with other health crises, exposes existing inequalities and disproportionately affects people already criminalised, marginalised and living in financially precarious situations, often outside social protection mechanisms. As a result of the pandemic, sex workers all over the world are experiencing hardship, a total loss of income and increased discrimination and harassment. This report looks at the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers, government responses to the crisis, and how the sex worker community in Europe is responding.

You can download the 10-page report above. It is now available in English and will soon be available in French, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese.