Legislation and Policy

Global Monitoring of CEDAW Concluding Observations Relating to Sex Work

NSWP has developed a global monitoring system to track and analyse the concluding observations relevant to sex work that are published by the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) three times a year for those countries that have ratified the CEDAW Convention. The purpose of the monitoring is to track which types of recommendations that CEDAW makes for different countries to improve the status of women and what this shows about CEDAW’s awareness and inclusion of sex workers’ rights. 

Animation: Funding the Sex Worker Rights Movement

Sex worker-led organisations are the core of the sex worker rights movement and must be adequately resourced and capacitated to address their communities’ priorities. Yet globally, sex worker-led organisations remain chronically under-funded, and are often excluded from critical discussions with key stakeholders, including donors.

The Smart Sex Worker's Guide to Social Protection

‘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.

Briefing Paper: Migration and 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.

Sex Worker-Led Networks Statement of Support for UN Working Group position paper on sex work

Global and regional networks of sex worker-led organisations, express support for the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls’ position paper, “Eliminating discrimination against sex workers and securing their human rights

You can download this resource above. This resource is available in English only. 

NSWP Submission to European Parliament re Report on Sex Work

NSWP submitted this letter to Members of the European Parliament as they prepared to discuss the report, “Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights, 2022/2139(INI)”. 

The report, from the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality will be put to a vote in plenary on 14th September 2023.

NSWP called on all Members of the European Parliament to reject and to vote against the report.  

Briefing Paper: How Sex Work Laws are Implemented on the Ground and Their Impact on Sex Workers - A Study of Ten African Countries

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.

Animation: Social Protection and Sex Work

Sex workers worldwide are overwhelmingly excluded from social protection schemes and government emergency responses put in place for other workers. Criminalisation, stigma and discrimination, and the failure to recognise sex work as work compound sex workers’ exclusion and foster economic insecurity. Sex work must be recognised as work and all aspects decriminalised to ensure that sex workers can access the same social protections, emergency financial support, and labour rights as all other workers.