Infographic: Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers
This infographic summarises the Briefing Paper: Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers.
economic empowerment
Community Guide: Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers
This resource is a Community Guide to the Briefing Paper: Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers. It provides an overview of the full Briefing Paper, and identifies good practice and key recommendations.
You can download this 5-page Community Guide above. It is now available in English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese.
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Briefing Paper: Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers
The criminalisation of sex work creates a range of barriers for sex workers when it comes to accessing their economic rights. Sex workers face overlapping and mutually reinforcing risks, such as social marginalisation, violence and poor health, which restrict the ability of sex workers to improve their living and working conditions and to achieve economic security. Furthermore, sex workers commonly report a lack of access to bank accounts, saving schemes, loans and legal forms of credit, insurance, pensions, and other basic employment benefits.
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National Case Study: Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited – Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers
Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (USHA) is the largest and the first ever sex worker-led financial institution in South Asia, exclusively run by and for sex workers. Steered by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a sex worker collective in West Bengal, India, USHA provides economic empowerment to sex workers by offering them loans at low interest rates, encouraging short and long-term savings and supporting self-employment schemes.
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Briefing Note: Social Protection
This Briefing Note outlines the key areas within social protection systems that must be addressed in order to meet the needs of sex workers.
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Demonetised Notes in India Negatively Impact Sex Workers
A recent announcement which has seen two highest value bank notes in India (Rs 500 and Rs 1000) demonetised has had wide reaching impacts on many communities. Demonesation means the bank notes are no longer legal to use.
NSWP Publishes Africa Regional Report: Economic Empowerment Programmes for Sex Workers
We recently wrote about how sex workers are often encouraged to take part in economic empowerment programmes when we published the briefing paper titled: ‘Economic Empowerment: Does Rehabilitation Have a Role?’
AWID Report Highlights Sex Workers' Projects Transforming Economic Power to Advance Women's Rights
The Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) have published a report sharing highlights from the four recipients of the organisation’s “Innovation Seed Grants” whose projects focused on advancing the rights of sex workers.
When Economic Empowerment Programmes Fail Sex Workers
Sex workers are often encouraged to take part in economic empowerment programmes to help them exit sex work by requiring that they give up sex work while they learn new skills like hairdressing and sewing. Some of these programmes work but the majority of them fail sex workers to such an extent it is hard to imagine why such programmes are still considered as acceptable by some.
NSWP Publishes Asia Pacific Regional Report & Briefing Paper: Sex Workers Demonstrate Economic and Social Empowerment
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) has published received funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the ‘Stepping Up, Stepping Out Project’ by Aids Fonds to support the development of advocacy tools around rights-based economic empowerment for sex workers. The first year of this three-year project was coordinated by the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), whose office is in Bangkok, Thailand.