Resources

The Global Fund COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM) was intended to be an improved version of the Global Fund COVID-19 response. Responding to criticisms and concerns that the initial response failed to engage with or benefit key populations and communities, C19RM 2022 was expected to address those concerns.

This is the 35th issue of NSWP's quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’, covering the period December 2022 - March 2023. 

Features include:

This Global Fund technical brief provides information for countries preparing funding requests for comprehensive programs that address the continuum of HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care for the following key populations: 

The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), along with the European Sex Workers Alliance (ESWA), the Count Me In! consortium and other feminist organisations, urge the government of the Netherlands to reject amendments to the Wet Regulering Sekswerk (WRS) and work towards the full decriminalisation of sex work in the Netherlands.

In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the Consolidated guidelines on HIV, viral hepatitis and STI prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations.

This animation is a summary of the NSWP Briefing Paper on The Impacts of Anti-Rights Movements on Sex Workers.

This is the fifth video in a series from NSWP called Global Fund Basics.

This short video is about using the Global Fund Strategy 2023 - 2028 in advocacy work. Using the Strategy of a Global Institution as an advocacy tool is not easy, especially a 70 page one like the Global Fund Strategy. What we have tried to do in this video is pick out some important areas where we feel referencing commitments in the Global Fund Strategy could make a difference.

‘Social protection’ refers to measures designed to prevent and address situations which negatively affect people’s well-being, as well as measures which reduce vulnerability and facilitate social and economic stability. Sex workers are frequently viewed as requiring protection due to the predominant misconception of sex workers as ‘victims’ of trafficking and exploitation.

This infographic summarises the Briefing Paper: Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers.

Despite the global trend of increasing mobility, migrant workers are still stigmatised and silenced – in politics and media alike. Additionally, migrant sex workers are painted as either victims or criminals in discourses that conflate sex work with human trafficking and deny sex workers the right to migrate. Their human rights are often ignored in favour of driving broader political agendas to restrict migration and criminalise sex work. 

Despite the global trend of increasing mobility, migrant workers are still stigmatised and silenced – in politics and media alike. Additionally, migrant sex workers are painted as either victims or criminals in discourses that conflate sex work with human trafficking and deny sex workers the right to migrate. Their human rights are often ignored in favour of driving broader political agendas to restrict migration and criminalise sex work.

This animation summarises the Smart Sex Worker’s Guide to Community-led Responses to COVID-19.

The Sex Worker Implementation Tool (SWIT) offers practical guidance on effective HIV and STI programming for sex workers.

Sex workers all over the world were among the hardest hit communities at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be impacted by this global public health crisis. The structural oppression that sex workers faced before the pandemic as a result of criminalisation, stigma and discrimination was exacerbated as sex workers experienced hardship, a total loss of income, increased harassment, human rights abuses, and health inequalities. The vast majority of sex workers were excluded from emergency responses and national social protection schemes.

Anti-rights movements pose numerous threats to sex workers, with their diverse ideologies, aims, and emerging alliances. These threats must be better understood to promote sex workers’ rights.

This resource is a Community Guide to the Briefing Paper: The Impacts of Anti-Rights Movements on Sex Workers. It provides an overview of the full Briefing Paper, and provides key recommendations for respecting and protecting sex workers’ human rights.

In recent years, movements organised against the rights of marginalised and criminalised groups have grown in influence and impact around the globe. Anti-migrants’ rights groups have lobbied for more restrictive border policies, in violation of the right to move and migrate. Anti-sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and anti-LGBT groups have pushed back access to sexual and reproductive services and gender-affirming care for women, trans, and gender-diverse people, in violation of the right to health.

This infographic summarises the Smart Sex Worker’s Guide to Community-led Responses to COVID-19.

Sex workers were among the hardest hit at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be impacted by this global public health crisis. The challenges that sex workers faced before COVID-19, as a result of criminalisation, stigma and discrimination, were all exacerbated by the pandemic.

Legislation around sex work can be extremely complex and different legal models exist in different countries, and sometimes even within countries. While understanding the written laws and regulations is important, it does not provide a complete picture of the impact of sex work laws on the lives of sex workers. To understand this, it is essential to understand how the laws are interpreted, enforced, and implemented on the ground.

The 2023-2028 Global Fund Strategy will guide Global Fund approaches, decision-making, and investment for the next 6 years in a 70-page document. It is important because it describes what the Global Fund will do and how it will do it. The Strategy will influence how investment will be disbursed at the country level, how and who will implement programmes, and how and who will be involved in making the decisions.