Publications et outils

This document has been developed for sex workers’ rights activists as a template on how to approach some of the most commonly asked questions by media representatives. It can be intimidating for activists with no experience to work with journalists and you might not feel confident enough to engage with them. But sex workers have the real-life knowledge from their experiences, and this makes them an expert on sex work. Still, it is important that sex workers feel able to communicate their thoughts and arguments in a way that is useful and safe for themselves, for their community and sex workers’ rights. We hope that this guide will give some directions so that sex workers can become more confident. This document is not meant to tell sex workers what they should think or say but merely to make them aware of the common topic of interests shown by media when talking about sex work and of the rhetoric commonly used by sex workers? rights movement to tackle these questions.

« The lives of LGBTQ sex workers in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia are impacted by many hardships, including precarious living conditions, various forms and levels of criminalisation and discrimination as well as violence and human rights violations. […] This briefing paper developed by SWAN aims to fill the gap in knowledge about LGBTQ sex workers in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. » Available in English and Russian.

The last decade saw increasing attacks against sex worker communities globally, not only from governments and political actors but also from abolitionist feminist activists. While governments chose to tackle ?the issue of prostitution? through punitive, rather than social measures by directly criminalizing sex workers, or indirectly punishing them by offences of drug use and possession, homelessness, hooliganism or vagrancy, abolitionist feminists mobilized and lobbied for the introduction of the criminalization of clients (also known as the Swedish Model). This model criminalizes the purchase of sexual services, at the same time it pushes sex workers into clandestine working environments, exposing them to health risks and violence.

In Central-Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA), similar abolitionist proposals so far have not reached legislative levels, but public debates surrounding sex work have intensified. In the region, abolitionist feminists might not have very close ties to governments (yet), however, they shape public opinion through their platforms and media connections, and frequently (cyber-)bully sex worker rights activists.

This briefing paper presents the findings of a mapping exercise undertaken by the Sex Workers’ Advocacy Network (SWAN) in early 2021. It explores the situation and needs of migrant sex workers in the Central, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia region (CEECA). Despite the significant scale of migration of sex workers throughout the region, there is a lack of available research on the specific experiences of migrant sex workers and what support is available to them.