The Network of Sex Work Projects held a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, 16-19 July.
The meeting had two goals:
UN Member States convened to undertake a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in realising the targets set out in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS at the 2006 UNGASS Review Meeting.
Over 2006, a number of activities were conducted and reports followed. These are some of the activities the Network of Sex Work Projects participated in during 2006, along with links to some of the reports.
The Network of Sex Work Projects held a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, 16-19 July 2006.
The meeting had two goals:
The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers wrote this letter against the funding of International Justice Mission (IJM) for a pilot project to 'rescue' sex workers in Asia. The project coordinates with local police during brothel raids where sex workers are forcibly removed and detained illegally. The Global Network of Sex Work Projects condemns these violations of sex workers' rights, and has demanded that the Gates Foundation immediately cease funding these human rights abuses by the International Justice Mission.
PRESS RELEASE
Dated: April 30, 1998
Today at 12 midnight, around six hundred sex workers observed May Day resolving to continue their fight till the establishment of their rightful position ( right of a worker) in the society and constitute a self regulatory board to prevent exploitative practices rampant in different red light areas at College Square in Calcutta.Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee being the National Secretariat of the National Network of Sexworkers had organised the celebration.
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, November 23, 1998
A two-day follow-up meet of the First National Conference of Sexworkers organised by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) began in Calcutta yesterday at the University Institute Hall. This National level meet of sexworkers and non-government organisations (NGOs) working among them was participated by 32 delegates from Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamilnadu, Mumbai, Delhi etc.It is held in line with the resolution adopted by the National Network of sexworkers during the second phase of the First National Conference of Sexworkers held on March, 1998.
In November 1997, the First National Conference of Sex Workers in India was held in Calcutta. The conference was convened by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Committee for Co-ordination of Women), a forum exclusively of sex workers and their children.
Intervention by Martine Ago, Ivory Coast:
The United Nations General Assembly
High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS
United Nations Headquarters
New York, USA, June 1, 2006
Your Excellency, the president of the United Nations General Assembly; Your Excellence, the Secretary General of the United Nations; and honored invitees, ladies and gentlemen:
I am Martine Ago, representative of sex professionals, from the Ivory Coast, a country that knows firsthand a military-political crisis with its crushing poverty, violence and degradation of the health system.
Fostering Enabling Legal and Policy Environments to Protect the Health and Rights of Sex Workers
Johannesburg, South Africa, June 22-24, 2006
Organised and sponsored by the Sexual Health and Rights Project (SHARP) and Law and Health Initiative (LAHI) of Open Society Institute (OSI), this meeting brought together sex workers, service providers, human rights advocates, researchers and others to discuss how legal and regulatory environments affect sex workers' health and human rights.
MEDIA RELEASE
Monday, August 14, 2006
Advocates gather in Toronto to promote rights and safety of groups vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
TORONTO — The international Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) and other human rights NGOs applaud this week's commitment by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to commit $500 million to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts. At the same time, however, the Gates Foundation has bowed to conservative pressure in the United States by funding groups that conduct and assist police raids on sex workers in countries like Cambodia and Thailand. These raids are infamous for further endangering vulnerable women.
The Challenge of Change is a collaborative report of the Standing Committe on Justice and Human Rights and the Subcommittee on Solicitation Laws in Canada.
This report is the beginning of an important social dialogue about the role that the law will play in governing the sex industry in Canada. Pivot has argued that criminal law reform is the first step towards a shift from the status quo, where sex workers are subject to extreme levels of violence and social marginalisation, to a society where sex workers are empowered to create safe and dignified working conditions. Criminal law reform will be most effectively carried out if all levels of government consider the findings of this research and contemplate how areas of law that fall within their jurisdiction will play a role in creating a safe and legitimate sex industry.
This report focuses on rape and violence perpetrated against sex workers in Phnom Penh, despite a drop in HIV rates among Cambodian citizens through it's 100% Condom Programme and other regulatory approaches that do not extend to rights and safety for sex workers.
Research for Sex Work 9: Sex Work and Money is a peer-reviewed publication for sex workers, activists, health workers, researchers, NGO staff and policy makers. It is available in English. All issues of Research for Sex Work can be found here.
Research for Sex Work 6: Sex Work and Human Rights is a peer-reviewed publication for sex workers, activists, health workers, researchers, NGO staff and policy makers. It is available in English. All issues of Research for Sex Work can be found here.
Women in many cultures have used lemon or lime juice for contraception and vaginal hygiene for centuries; however, despite rumours that say otherwise, these juices are not only ineffective as a microbicide to prevent transmission of HIV, but can actually cause HIV transmission more easily because of the damage that they do to vaginal tissues.