La Red de Trabajadoras Sexuales de Latino América y el Caribe (RedTraSex) is a transnational network of female sex workers across 15

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

n countries. The network was born at the "Una Sola Voz: Encuentro Latinoamericano de Trabajadores Sexuales" conference in October 1997 in Heredia, Costa Rica. The organization's central headquarters is currently located in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

and their Executive Secretary is Elena Eva Reynaga.Red de Trabajadoras Sexuales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe. ''10 años de acción: 1997/2007 : la experiencia de organización de la Red de Trabajadoras Sexuales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe.'' Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: RedTraSex, 2008. Since its establishment, RedTraSex, aims to achieve nation state recognition for its members demanding that they be protected as legitimate workers and have access to adequate health services, work and social benefits. The organization uses a feminist rights-based approach, to connect its members with programs addressing their needs. It aims to strengthen unity amongst its members through communication platforms,

awareness campaigns Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...

, supporting

community-based organizations Community organization or Community Based Organization refers to organization aimed at making desired improvements to a community's social health, well-being, and overall functioning. Community organization occurs in geographically, psychosocially, ...

, and publishing research on issues faced by

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work i ...

s. It is particularly significant for its transnational impact in the regions.

Outreach campaigns

Feminist scholars Kate Hardy and Megan Rivers-Moore suggest that the current

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

for sex worker unionization in Latin America is directly linked to RedTraSex. This transnational organization plays a crucial role in supporting and financing activist movements, and provides guidance to sex workers interested in forming unions. RedTraSex also organizes workshops on

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures us ...

, and self-esteem to help members gain international exposure, share ideas, identify commonalities, and work towards achieving autonomy in unionization.Hardy, Kate, and Megan Rivers-Moore. “Compañeras de La Calle: Sex Worker Organising in Latin America.” ''Moving the Social'', May 2018, pp. 97-113 Pages. ''DOI.org (Datacite)'', {{doi, 10.13154/MTS.59.2018.97-113. The organization has established four sex worker unions and is politically recognized by Colombia, Guatemala,

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

.Opazo. “Red de Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe denunció censura de Instagram en su contra.” El Ciudadano, July 26, 2021. https://www.elciudadano.com/chile/red-de-mujeres-trabajadoras-sexuales-de-latinoamerica-y-el-caribe-denuncio-censura-de-instagram-en-su-contra/07/26/. RedTraSex campaigns for fair access to

medical services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

for sex workers. It urges health ministries to offer discrimination-free services and promotes health protocols and prevention measures. In collaboration with AMMAR (Asociacion de Mujeres Meretrices de Argentina), RedTraSex played a key role in establishing "El Centro de Salud

Sandra Cabrera Sandra Cabrera (27 October 1970 – 27 January 2004) was an Argentine street-based sex worker, trade unionist, and campaigner for sex workers' rights. She was murdered in 2004 in Rosario, Argentina by the police. Cabrera was murdered for speakin ...

" on September 13, 2006. The organization has attended several international conferences related to the

HIV/AIDS epidemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

. In 2007, members set up booths and presented their report "Un Movimiento de Tacones Altos: Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales y Activistas" at the Fourth Forum of HIV & AIDS in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the World

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

Conference in Mexico in 2008, Elena Reygoza delivered a speech to raise

awareness Awareness is the state of being conscious of something. More specifically, it is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognizant of events. Another definition describes it as a state wherein a subject is aware of some info ...

about the impact of insufficient health resources on the

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious d ...

. From 2012 to 2017, RedTraSex initiated the "El Sueño no Soñado de Objetos de Estudio a Sujetas de Acción" project, which was funded by Fondo Mundial.''“20 Años de RedTraSex (Parte 2)”'', Youtube, uploaded by RedTraSex LAC, October 11, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmEA5ORXBOE. The goal of the project was to provide sex workers with work equipment that would enable them to conduct investigations, research, and data collection. As a result, the project created a map of sex work

policies Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

and

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

, which empowered sex workers to serve as judicial facilitators and address

police violence Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

in their regions. Additionally, the organization offers informative training sessions for police cohorts to raise awareness about the infringement of rights and abuse of power that sex workers often face. In 2019, RedTraSex launched “Biblioteca Virtual Sobre Trabajo Sexual Sandra Cabrera”, the first virtual library compiled by reports, reflections and informative bulletins about and by sex workers. The archives available are made in collaboration with ONUSIDA,

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

and Amnesty International. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, RedTraSex partnered with Amnesty International to demand discrimination-free health services and

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

benefits. They also communicated directly with governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to prevent the violation of human rights. RedTraSex actively works towards addressing the censoring and violation of expression that sex worker organizations' face on their social media platforms.Elena Eva Reynaga. “Gracias Por Ayudarnos A Denunciar y Detener La Censura,” December 8, 2021. https://www.redtrasex.org/Gracias-por-ayudarnos-a-denunciar. The organization participated in the 2011 Human Rights Moderation of Internet Content and Freedom of Expression hearing in

North and South America The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along wi ...

to raise awareness on censorship and silencing sex worker organizations platforms face. RedTraSex experienced a violation of expression when their Instagram account was disabled and later banned on June 3, 2021. Their account was removed for over two months without any explanation.

Organizations

* Argentina
Asociación de Mujeres Meretrices de la Argentina
(AMMAR) * Brasil - Red de Brasilia de Prostituas * Bolivia - La Organización Nacional de Activistas por la Emancipación de la Mujer (ONAEM) * Chile
Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadoras Angela Lina
* Costa Rica
Asociación La Sala
* Ecuador - RedTrabSex * El Salvador
Movimiento de Mujeres Orquídeas
* Guatemala -
Organización de Mujeres en Superación
(OMES) * Honduras - Red Gestora de Mujeres * Mexico
Asociacion en PRO Apoyo a Servidores
(APROASE A.C) * Nicaragua
GIRASOLES
* Paraguay
Unidas en la Esperanza
* Peru
Asociacion de Trabajadores Sexuales Miluska Vida y Dignidad
* Republica Dominicana -
Movimiento de Mujeres Unidas
(MODEMU) * Uruguay
Asociación de Meretrices Profesionales del Uruguay
(AMEPU)

References

External links

Asociación de Mujeres Meretrices de la Argentina (AMMAR)

Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadoras Angela Lina

Asociación La Sala
Sex worker organizations Sex workers' rights Sex worker activists