Resources

The Network of Sex Work Projects held a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, 16-19 July.

The meeting had two goals:

• To identify priority issues for global advocacy, and
• To review the role and structure of the NSWP and make recommendations about ways to improve or reform it.

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:

• To identify priority issues for global advocacy, and
• To review the role and structure of the NSWP and make recommendations about ways to improve or reform it.

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.

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

Health and human rights advocates denounce Gates Foundation's support of raids on sex workers

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 presents an overview of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for sex workers, using case studies and literature to present best practices.

The sections include:

Summary

• Definition and Scope of the Problem
• Methods
• Fact-finding and examples
• General issues
• Conclusions
• Appendix: People consulted
• Acknowledgements

You can download this 31 page PDF resource above. This resource is in English.

The aim of this European report is to provide transparency about the legislation on sex work throughout Europe and its impact on the human rights of sex workers, including their access to public health services. The report assesses legislation and policy developments on sex work, migration and health policies on a national and European level and includes a critical evaluation of the various approaches relating to the interrelated issues of sex work, migration and health.

This manual has three main objectives: to present examples of good practice for health and social service providers offering care for migrant and mobile sex workers working in both indoor and outdoor settings, to present examples of different experiences of HIV/STI prevention strategies, as well as introducing and facilitating implementation of innovative tools for specific outreach methodology, peer education, campaigns for clients and advocacy campaigns, to increase and expand good practice actions targeting sex worker and their clients.

This report aims to identify trends and tendencies in relation to the changing patterns of sex work and the living and working conditions of female and transgender sex workers within Europe, with a specific focus on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and programming. The report also focuses on work migration patterns within the European Union (EU), and how the expansion of the EU is affecting sex workers. The various annexes provide additional information that may be relevant to sex workers interested in learning about the structure of TAMPEP, the questionnaire they used to asses each country, their recommendations, and the individual national reports.

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 summarises the findings of a human rights project conducted by the Sex Workers Project in 2007 and 2008 to explore the impacts and effectiveness of  anti-trafficking approaches in the United States. These approaches include anti-trafficking raids and vice raids targeting sex work conducted by local law enforcement agencies in different cities. It is among the first efforts since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to give voice to the perspectives of trafficked persons and sex workers who have experienced anti-trafficking raids. A total of 46 people were interviewed for the report.

The criminalisation of sex work in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa leaves sex workers vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse, as well as extortion, from law enforcement officers such as police and border guards. Human rights violations and a lack of safe and supportive working conditions render sex workers particularly vulnerable to HIV. These are some of the findings of this report on the health and rights challenges confronted by female, male, and transgender sex workers in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.

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.

This report summarises the research compiled by the Young Women's Empowerment Project in Chicago (United States) about violence & resistance for girls involved in the sex trade. It also examines attitudes and practices for harm reduction, self care, advocacy, and empowerment.

Contents Include:

This edition of the Canadian magazine "Constellation" goes into detail on how to stay safe while doing sex work - legally, physically, emotionally, sexually, and financially. It is filled with information & articles including how to work with clients as a masseuse, how to respond to police involvement, and how to plan & save money.

Content is in English and French.