by International Committee On The Rights Of Sex Workers In Europe
Sex workers have been excluded from support packages developed by European governments in response to COVID-19. As a consequence, more and more sex workers are going to be forced into very difficult choices unless urgent action is taken. In response to this situation, the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe has developed a campaign website with a Call for Action based on the calls of national sex workers’ rights organisations and organisations representing marginalised communities.
The webpage includes immediate and long-term demands of the sex worker movement, video interviews with sex workers’ rights activists from many countries, and information about the impact of the pandemic on different sex worker communities. A hundred organisations, including some of the key European networks, have endorsed our call, which will be shared with European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Europe representatives.
After weeks respecting the strict confinement regulations in her rented apartment, Marie will break her isolation tomorrow and start booking clients online again. The state has left her no other options. In France, like in many European countries, lockdowns mean that only ‘essential workers’ can work. Everyone else should stay home - if they have one - and wait for the latest announcements. Read more via OpenDemocracy
Call for action
COVID-19 shines a red light on sex workers’ lack of protection – our demands must be included
Español
Ελληνικά
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Sex workers of all genders have been amongst the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and Central Asia. Lock downs, self-isolation and travel restrictions have put us out of work, pressing some onto the streets and into destitution, where the risks are heightened by the pandemic. As sex work is criminalised to varying degrees in all countries of the region, most of us have been unable to access the safeguards provided for many other workers, such as sick pay and social benefits.
Our communities all across Europe report systemic exclusion from government bailouts and support measures to substitute missing income, and in many contexts we are even facing heightened surveillance and policing. A large number of undocumented migrants working in the industry face no protection from states and social services, whilst trans sex workers and women of colour struggle with extremely high levels of discrimination and violence.
In this context, the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) has set up a website to monitor and document the situation and allow sharing of information between sex worker rights groups, allies and supporters and amplify the sex worker movement’s demands. Even is these hard times, we come together online, support each other and defy the victim label that has been attached to us for so long by abolitionist activists and governments.
Our organisations are calling European governments and institutions to develop and implement evidence-based and rights-based policies to include and protect all sex workers in this crisis and the disastrous aftermath which will follow. We already know that after lifting of lockdowns, an increasing number of women, migrants and LGBTIQ people will enter the industry, having lost their jobs, accumulated debts and been pushed into precarious living situations. Read more via Red Light COVID Europe