Resources

The Annual Report highlights the activities and achievements of NSWP in 2015. These activities include capacity building, providing technical support to regional networks and the development of advocacy tools that bring the human rights of sex workers into focus.

This is the 17th issue of NSWP's quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’, covering the period from November 2016 - January 2017. 

This resource is a Community Guide to the policy brief on Young Sex Workers. The policy brief summarises the research on young people who sell sex including both young people who sell sex below the age of 18 and young sex workers between the ages of 18 and 29. It clearly demonstrates how the systemic discrimination, stigma, and criminalisation experienced by young people who sell sex increases their vulnerability to HIV.

Contents include:

The NSWP Global Fund Quarterly Update includes information about the most recent topics being discussed and addressed within the Global Fund. This update is part of the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund grant to provide Global Fund workshops in collaboration with NSWP members. In 2016, there will be a total of 4 updates.

Today marks the 13^th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. For thirteen years, sex workers have used this day to highlight the need for action to end violence against sex workers.

The issues faced by sex workers vary from region to region. These differences are due to different laws, social and cultural contexts, but one common issue faced by all sex workers is their vulnerability to and experience of violence.

This global statement draws attention to the fact that all sex workers are vulnerable to violence because of the criminalisation and legal oppression of sex work, stigma, and discrimination. This vulnerability to violence is increased for sex workers living with HIV, sex workers who use drugs, transgender sex workers, migrant sex workers, and sex workers that are part of other marginalised groups.

The Women's Refugee Commission has published this guidance note for humanitarian on Working with Refugees Engaged in Sex Work. This guidance notes adopts a rights-based approach to ensuring the fulfillment and protection of refugees engaged in sex work. The guidance note offers 14 practical steps for field staff. It also provides examples of good practices and programme activities for refugees engaged in sex work. 

We, the Bridging the Gaps alliance of global key population constituency networks, represented by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD) and the Global Forum on Men Who Have Sex With Men and HIV (MSMGF), recognize that we are at a pivotal moment in our fight for the human rights of key populations and people living with HIV within the U.S. and in countries where the U.S. has hitherto provided important leadership.

This statement signed by 190 sex workers' rights, women's rights, and human rights organisations submitted the following response to the UN Women consultation on "sex work, sex trade, and prostitution." The Statement is calling UN Women to meaningfully engage with a broad range of sex workers’ and women’s rights organisations in the policy development process. It focuses on five key recommendations for UN Women to consider in their policy development process:

This resource is a Community Guide to the PrEP Briefing Paper. This Community Guide provides a summary of NSWP’s global consultation with sex workers on PrEP and provides key recommendations by sex workers on PrEP.

This briefing paper is an update and elaboration of NSWP’s consultation with its membership over the use of PrEP and Early Treatment as HIV Prevention Strategies. It provides insight into what sex workers think about PrEP and the concerns they have about it, including legal barriers, side effects, and what actions should be taken before consideration of the introduction of PrEP. A community guide is also available here.

This is the 16th issue of NSWP's quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’, covering the period from August - October 2016. 

The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) submitted the following response to the UN Women consultation on "sex work, sex trade, and prostitution. They argue the conflation of sex work and trafficking trivialises trafficking and victimises, infantilises and patronises sex workers and creates a hostile atmosphere against them.

Amnesty International have submitted the following response to UN Women have submitted the following response to the UN Women consultation on "sex work, sex trade, and prostitution." Their submission highlights their Policy on State Obligations to Respect, Protect, and Fulfill the Human Rights of Sex Workers and the extensive reasearch they conducted in Norway, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, and Argentina in the development of their policy.

NSWP has formally replied to UN Women's consultation "seeking views on UN Women approach to sex work, the sex trade and prostitution." This letter, sent to UN Women on the 21st of September, 2016, includes NSWP's responses to the three questions asked by UN Women in their online consultation. In addition to this letter, NSWP has published an online petition calling on UN Women to meaningfully include sex workers in the development of their policy on sex work. NSWP has also provided UN Women with a Draft Framework for a UN Women Human Rights Affirming Approach to Sex Work in response to UN Women E-Consultation.

Open Society Foundation have published No Turning Back: Examining Sex Worker-Led Programs that Protect Health and Rights. Stigma, criminal laws, and punitive policing practices harm sex workers, including their health. In response, a growing number of authorities across the world have called for the decriminalisation of sex work. The six case studies in this publication—in Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, South Africa, and Zimbabwe—offer a look at sex worker–led programming that has reduced police abuse, health risks, and other adverse impacts of bad laws and law enforcement on sex workers.

Beyond Trafficking and Slavery have published a sex worker-led anthology Sex Workers Speak. Who Listens? on Open Democracy edited by Giulia Garofalo Geymonat and P.G. Macioti. This anthology addresses the violence, exploitation, abuse, and trafficking present the sex industry. It does so through the perspective of sex workers themselves. The first section is dedicated to contributions from Europe; the second section includes views from Latin America, Asia and Africa; while the third section features some of the arguments put forward by transnational organisations.

NSWP has published a draft framework for a UN Women human rights affirming approach to sex work in response to a UN women e-consultation. NSWP received an invitation from UN Women to participate in a formal e-consultation on the 7 September 2016. However, such a process is biased towards those with privilege and will exclude the majority of sex workers in the global south who have limited access to the Internet. This resource for UN Women is in addition to NSWP's online petition of UN Women available here. Please sign and share the petition!

This is the 15th issue of NSWP's quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’, covering the period from January - July 2016. 

NSWP, the African Sex Workers Alliance, Sisonke, and SWEAT are proud to invite sex workers to the sex worker networking zone at the International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. For a full schedule, please see below or download the schedule as a PDF.