Sex worker movements

[5] The First World Whores' Congress which met on 14 February 1985, in Amsterdam, served as the impetus for the creation of the International Committee for Prostitutes Rights (ICPR).

The action was initiated by the Slovenian artist Tadej Pgacar and sex workers who created a living installation they titled Prostitute Pavilion.

Established in November 1994 in Cape Town, South Africa, SWEAT is considered by scholars as the most well-known sex worker movement on the African continent.

Upon separation, SWEAT's work began to provide sex workers with services such as health care, legal assistance, counseling, and training programs.

[20] Through their activism, Anya and the members of Platform Layalat have been working towards challenging stigma, improving health services, and fighting for the rights of sex workers in the country.

[22] Health Options for Young Men on HIV/AIDS/STI (HOYMAS), a community-based organization registered by the Ministry of Social Services and Gender, was established in Nairobi, Kenya in 2009 by a group of male sex workers living with HIV/AIDS.

[24] On 11 September 2015, HOYMAS made history by launching Africa's first savings and credit scheme (SACCO) registered by male sex workers.

The SACCO was composed of HOYMAS members who had received training on economic empowerment, finance, and savings from SMEP, a micro-finance institution, and the Kenya Cooperative Bank Ltd, who also assisted them to register the scheme.

[25] Asia's location as the site of international conflict including wars in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan have contributed to the prevalence of sex workers in the region.

[30] Moreover, SWING received financial assistance from the Australian Embassy's Direct Aid Program (DAP) to create and deliver 1,200 survival bags to sex workers in Pattaya.

The press reported the planned protest sarcastically, belittling the mobilizing efforts of the sex workers and attracting a crowd of onlookers and voyeurs.

In 1974, the PPP initiated legal action against the Minister of Interior for the illegal registration of sex workers and against the Chief of Police for their failure to crack down on "pimps.

[47] However, sex work continues to be stigmatized in the region with various laws, zoning restrictions, and local regulations installed to prohibit sexual commerce.

[50] With a total of 15 countries represented, these women have directed their efforts to focus on sex worker visibility, to have their voices heard in political spaces, and to work towards the decriminalization of their profession.

[51] The organization's main objective is to gain recognition from nation-states for its members, who demand to be protected as legitimate workers and have access to adequate work and social benefits.

It fosters unity among members through communication platforms, awareness campaigns, support for community-based organizations, and publishing research on issues faced by sex workers.

[52] May "Maime" Pinzer, a former sex worker from the United States, started an informal halfway house for young women as early as 1915 in Canada, making it the first recorded activist effort in North America.

Organized by thirty women belonging to various feminist groups, the conference featured workshops and a final discussion panel on "The Elimination of Prostitution."

Scholar, Melinda Chateauvert, summed this experience to be one of the moments that would happen again in the feminist movement: a debate on whether sex was good or bad for women with implicit or explicit intentions of controlling male sexuality.

St James gathered together reputable citizens who gave COYOTE credibility, money and recruited professionals to provide legal services, information and expertise.

[56] COYOTE's mission received support from an initial $5,000 grant from San Francisco's Glide Foundation, known for its social justice work and community action organizing.

The crime of prostitution created a huge victim class of women overlapping with legal, social, economic, health, family and education issues.

Transgender sex workers frequently face difficulty obtaining appropriate identification papers which complicates access to state-funded services and further exacerbates and creates obstacles for migration.

Professor of Social Work Benjamin Shepard highlights how Rivera frequently had disagreements with conventional LGBTQ organizations that supported assimilation.

[70][71] Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias provides housing, meals, and medical care to transgender individuals, sex workers, and those with HIV/AIDS.

[72] In addition to their work in Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias, Kenya Cuevas advocates for the legal classification of transfemicide as a hate crime in Mexico.

[70] In Mexico City, the Centro de Apoyo a Las Identidades Trans was established on 23 November 2011, and emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve and advocate for the human rights of transgender sex workers and other LGBTQ+ community members.

This group focuses on the promotion and defense of human rights, community mobilization, access to health care and justice, and legal recognition of gender and identity.

[73][74] Through the Haciendo Calle initiative, the Centro de Apoyo a Las Identidades Trans in collaboration with the Mexican Alliance of Sex Workers (AMETS) distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

“It is a safe space where trans identities can express themselves freely and become an active part of a work designed to create community”, says the director Alexandra Rodríguez.