Resources

This case study is the third of five case studies that will be published on a yearly basis from 2016-2020. These case studies will monitor and document the impact of international guidelines and policies on sex work that NSWP and NSWP members have helped develop. NSWP will also monitor how members use these international guidelines in local, national and regional advocacy efforts. Examples of international guidelines include the Amnesty International Policy on State Obligations to Respect, Protect, and Fulfil the Human Rights of Sex Workers, the Sex Worker Implementation Tool, and the development of the UN Women policy on sex work.

Legislation around sex work can be extremely complex; different legal models exist in different countries and sometimes even within countries. NSWP published a mapping of national legislation used to regulate and criminalise sex work in 208 countries and dependencies, with sub-national legislation included for some countries.

NSWP facilitated a delegation from member organisations to attend the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). This delegation aimed to amplify the voices of sex workers’ rights advocates in a space where fundamental feminists and abolitionist groups often dominate discussions about sex work, which do not reflect the diversity of sex workers’ lived experiences and realities. In this context, the conflation of trafficking and sex work is used to promote policies that undermine the rights of sex workers.

This resource is a Community Guide to the Policy Brief on Sex Workers and Travel Restrictions. It provides an overview of the full Policy Brief, and provides key recommendations for policy makers and health service providers. 

Sex workers face many barriers to migration and travel, and are often subjected to arbitrary questioning, biased visa refusals and surveillance and discriminatory immigration checks after entering a country. Sex workers’ movement can also be restricted under measures purporting to be ‘anti-trafficking’. Travel restrictions can create a great deal of stress for sex workers, and some sex workers avoid travel altogether because they are afraid of being denied entry, deported or of being identified as a sex worker.

NSWP provides technical support to regional sex worker networks in line with the needs identified by each regional network. This includes face-to-face technical support around organisational development to the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA), and the Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (SWAN), in addition to virtual technical support provided to other regional networks.

This Briefing Note outlines Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the challenges it presents for sex workers and other criminalised populations. 

NSWP submitted a written submission for the CEDAW discussion on the General Recommendation on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration as part of the 72^nd session, 18^th February – 8^th March 2019.

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 Netowrks Fund grant to provide Global Fund workshops in collaboration with NSWP members. In 2016, there will be a total of 4 updates.

Sex workers and their allies face significant obstacles in the fight to improve the health and wellbeing of sex workers globally. In the Smart Sex Worker’s Guide: Addressing the Failure of Anti-Sex Work Organisations, NSWP explore the effects of anti-sex work programming and anti-trafficking initiatives that deny sex workers their human rights. The Smart Guide explores organisations whose work puts sex workers at risk, directly or indirectly, and provides key strategies from NSWP members on how to combat these approaches.

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 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.

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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.

This global 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 provides an overview of the legal framework that impact people under 18 who sell sex. It also summarises the available literature on the experiences of young people who sell sex. It clearly demonstrates how the systemic discrimination, stigma, and criminalisation experienced by young people who sell sex increases their vulnerability to HIV. A community guide is also available.