Resources

PION, Norway, with support from NSWP, submitted this shadow report to the 68th CEDAW Session, which took place October-November 2017. The report is based on in-depth interviews, conducted over a two-month period, with sex workers and social service providers. It documents how local administrative laws and the criminalisation of clients and third parties increase stigma and discrimination, impede access to justice and health services, and result in arbitrary deportations and evictions.

The Kenya Sex Worker Alliance (KESWA) and Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme, with support from NSWP and CREA, submitted this shadow report to the 68th CEDAW Session, which took place October-November 2017. Titled “Aren’t We Also Women,” the report incorporates quotes from sex workers and is based on desk research and extensive interviews with KESWA member organisations.

Project X, Singapore, with support from NSWP, submitted this shadow report to the 68th CEDAW Session, which took place October-November 2017. The report focuses on the various human rights abuses and discrimination. In particular, it focuses on the ambiguous legal framework governing sex work in Singapore and the impact it has on women’s lives.

This Smart Guide builds on NSWP’s existing toolkit on the 'Nordic model’, and looks at the harms caused to sex workers in countries where the Nordic Model has been introduced. It draws on the experiences of NSWP members, using submissions, in-depth interviews and case studies gathered through a consultation process.

17 December 2017 marks the 14th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

For fourteen years, sex workers around the world have used this day to highlight the need for action to end violence against sex workers. The issues faced by sex workers often vary from region to region, 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 resource is a Community Guide to the Policy Brief on the Impact of Criminalisation on Sex Workers’ Vulnerability to HIV and Violence. This guide summarises how criminalisation increases sex workers’ vulnerability to violence and HIV, and makes a series of recommendations towards the full decriminalisation of sex work as an integral step to improving the lives of sex workers. The full Policy Brief is available here. 

This policy brief examines the impact of laws that criminalise sex work, informed by NSWP members’ submissions to an e-consultation. It examines the impact of criminalisation at three distinct phases: the surveillance and policing of sex workers prior to arrest; arrest and formal involvement of the criminal justice system; and release and return to the community. The paper covers various areas of law and law enforcement practices that disproportionately impact sex workers, including immigration laws, policing of public spaces, anti-LGBTQ laws, HIV criminalisation and religious codes.

This resource is a Community Guide to the NSWP Briefing Paper on the Meaningful Involvement of Sex Workers in the Development of Health Services Aimed At Them. This Community Guide provides a summary of NSWP’s full Briefing Paper, and provides key recommendations for governments, policy makers and health service programmers. 

This Briefing Paper discusses the extent to which sex workers are currently meaningfully involved in the development of healthcare services that are aimed at them. The paper looks at this on a global scale and in five regions: Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America and the Caribbean. Case studies were developed based on in-depth research conducted in ten countries: Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, and the U.S.A.

This Smart Guide is a quick reference for sex workers and people who use drugs to help understand the transition from Global Fund financing. ‘Transition’ is the process that happens when Global Fund financing for programmes (for HIV, TB and/or Malaria) comes to an end and the country takes full responsibility for funding and implementing programmes without any external Global Fund support.

This resource is a Community Guide to the Sex Work and Gender Equality policy brief. It highlights the linkages between sex workers’ rights and gender equality. It argues the women’s movement must meaningfully include sex workers as partners. It advocates for a feminism that recognises sex workers’ rights as human rights and highlights shared areas of work under an international human rights framework.

This policy brief highlights the linkages between sex workers’ rights and gender equality. It argues the women’s movement must meaningfully include sex workers as partners. It advocates for a feminism that recognises sex workers’ rights as human rights and highlights shared areas of work under an international human rights framework. Ultimately, there can be no gender equality if sex workers’ human rights are not fully recognised and protected. A community guide is also available.

MSMGF, NSWP, INPUD, GATE, IRTG, GNP+ and ICW published this resource which concludes with a call to action for renewed commitment to HIV primary prevention strategies that are proactive, address upstream factors, and re-center communities most impacted by HIV. The resource and call to action pushes for HIV and other sexual health services that are led by or done with the community.

This resource is a Community Guide to the Sex Work as Work policy brief. It summarises international frameworks that address work and the right to work, and particularly, sex work as work. It shows the benefits of viewing sex work as work through a labour approach. It also summarises the consultation with NSWP members about what decent work would look like in the context of sex work.

This global policy brief looks at sex work through a labour framework, and advocates for the recognition of sex work as work. Where sex work is criminalised, sex workers’ workplaces are often excluded from national labour laws. This creates an environment where sex workers have no option but to accept exploitative working conditions. As a result, the struggle for the recognition of sex work as work is closely tied to the struggle for decriminalisation. This policy brief outlines the benefits of looking at sex work through a labour approach. A community guide is also available. You can also view and download an infographic summarising this paper.

This is the 19th issue of NSWP's quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’, covering the period from May - July 2017. 

August 2017

The NSWP Global Fund Quarterly Update includes information about the most recent topics being discussed and addressed within the Global Fund. In 2017, there will be a total of 4 updates.

Contents include:

• Full Review of the CCM
• Blended Financing

This resource is useful for any sex worker or sex worker-led organisation interested in learning more about the Global Fund. These updates provide insight into issues being discussed at the Global Fund, and how these decisions will impact sex workers.

The Nigeria Sex Workers Association- Precious Jewels (NSWA) submitted this shadow report to the 67^th CEDAW Session, which took place in July 2017. The report focuses on the impact of stigma, penalisation and discrimination on female sex workers' ability to access HIV prevention and health services, and their vulnerability to HIV and violence at the hands of police. The report also provides background information about NSWA and economic, health, and population context in Nigeria.

This report by Empower Foundation Thailand describes the organisation’s experience submitting a shadow report to and attending the CEDAW committee’s 67th session in Summer, 2017.  The report includes detailed information on all stages of Empower’s engagement with CEDAW, including their goals for engagement, drafting their report, and participating in formal and informal CEDAW sessions in Geneva.

Empower Foundation Thailand submitted this shadow report to the 67^th CEDAW session, which took place in July 2017. The report focuses on raids against entertainment industry establishments, which are perpetuated by the conflation of sex work and trafficking. The report details entrapment and police violence during raids, as well as lack of access to a fair trial, labour protections, and health for Thai sex workers. A detailed report on their experiences engaging with the CEDAW committee is also available here.