labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...

gender-related violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence (GBV) refers to any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification, culture may have a role to play, being lower in egalitarianism societies and higher, sexist ...

social stigma Stigma, originally referring to the visible marking of people considered inferior, has evolved to mean a negative perception or sense of disapproval that a society places on a group or individual based on certain characteristics such as their ...

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

criminalization Criminalization or criminalisation, in criminology, is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into crime and criminals". Previously legal acts may be transformed into crimes by legislation or judicial decision. However, ...

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, ...

feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...

Las Horizontales Las Horizontales were a group of sex workers in Havana, Cuba during the late 19th century that produced a newspaper, ''La Cebolla'' (1888). Gender studies scholar and Cuba expert, Amalia Cabezas identified this as the first documented sex worker or ...

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. An important moment in that movement was the shift from using the term prostitution to using the term

sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volun ...

to emphasize their role as workers. The term, coined by

Carol Leigh Carol Leigh (January 11, 1951 – November 16, 2022), also known as The Scarlot Harlot, was an American artist, author, filmmaker, sex worker, and sex workers' rights activist. She is credited with coining the term ''sex work'' and founded the ...

and Margo St. James, played an influential role in the sex worker movement in the U.S. and abroad. Sex work as a political issues has been a source of considerable debate within

feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...

. The onset of the

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

epidemic in the 1980s framed sex work as a public health issue and led some state organizations and community groups to work more closely with sex worker organizations in HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.

Global and distributed efforts

The First World Whores' Congress which met on 14 February 1985, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, served as the impetus for the creation of the International Committee for Prostitutes Rights (ICPR). It included sex worker representatives from the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany, England, Sweden, the United States, and Canada and sex worker advocates from Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Translation was provided into Dutch, English, French, German, and English.Pheterson, Gail, and Margo St James. ''A Vindication of the Rights of Whores''. Seattle, WA: Seal Press, 1993: 33-51 The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers is an international day of action to protest the violence leveled against sex workers around the world. First observed in 2003, it was organized by

Annie Sprinkle Annie M. Sprinkle (born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954) is an American certified sexologist, performance artist, former sex worker, and advocate for sex work and health care. Citing: Sprinkle has worked as a prostitute, sex educator, fe ...

and Robyn Few, founder of the Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP). It is observed annually on 17 December. Red Umbrella Marches, sometimes referred to as Sex Worker Pride marches, began in 2001 as part of the 49th Venice Biennale of Art. The action was initiated by the Slovenian artist Tadej Pgacar and sex workers who created a living installation they titled ''Prostitute Pavilion''. Sex Worker Pride is observed on 14 September. Another day associated with sex workers' rights is 3 March, International Sex Workers' Rights Day. Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a Calcutta-based group that has over 50,000 sex worker members, and members of their communities. Sex worker groups across the world have subsequently celebrated 3 March as International Sex Workers' Rights Day. The International Committee for Prostitutes Rights changes its name to International International Committee for Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE), and more recently changed it again to European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance. Sex workers have engaged the arts and publishing internationally as a means to bring attention to their own stories, experiences, and perspectives. They have published memoirs, poetry collections, self-help guides, and mixed genre edited volumes. They have also organized arts and film festivals in Berlin, London, San Francisco, and elsewhere. Sex workers have also produced guides that detail best practices for teaching and writing about sex worker in academia and which provide exhaustive bibliography on the subject; best practice guides for providing services to those working in healthcare; and tips and strategies for those wishing to support through legal efforts and organizin

Africa

While sex worker movements have been most active in South Africa, other sex worker communities across the African continent have also taken action to promote their rights and combat issues such as Police misconduct, police abuse and the spread of

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Cameroonian sex workers protested police mistreatment through a strike in 2007, while sex workers in Zambia formed a union to address the concerning rates of HIV/AIDS in their community. Sex workers in Kenya created the Commercial Sex Workers Association to regulate their work, The Association of Women at Risk from AIDS, a prominent organization advocating for the rights of sex workers in Senegal, was founded in 1993 during an AIDS prevention campaign in Dakar and the Platform layalat advocate for the rights of trans sex workers in Morocco

South Africa

Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force (SWEAT) is the first sex workers' rights organization founded in southern Africa. Established in November 1994 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, SWEAT is considered by scholars as the most well-known sex worker movement on the African continent. SWEAT was originally associated with the Triangle Project, a South African LGBTQ+ rights organization, until 1996 when SWEAT advocates recognized a need for a human rights approach in providing services and assistance to

sex workers 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 is vo ...

s. Upon separation, SWEAT's work began to provide sex workers with services such as health care, legal assistance, counseling, and training programs. They also engage in advocacy efforts to promote the rights of sex workers, including advocating for policy and legal reforms to protect the health and human rights of sex workers. At a 2003 SWEAT conference in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, Sisonke, a sex worker-led movement, was founded in response to the lack of sex worker leadership in SWEAT. Sisonke's members work to empower and educate sex workers, and to advocate for policy and legal reforms that promote the health, safety, and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

of sex workers in South Africa. SWEAT continues to provide support and assistance to Sisonke and other sex worker-led organizations through health and human rights trainings in their efforts to promote sex worker rights in South Africa. Pltaform layalat logo image-

Morocco

Transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

women

sex workers 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 is vo ...

in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

have been at the forefront of advocating for the rights and recognition of both status: recognition of sex worker as work and legal recognition of transgender status. One prominent figure in this movement is Anya Dahan, a transgender woman and the founder and coordinator of Platform Layalat, a feminist network of trans women sex workers in Morocco, member of the global network of sex work projects. 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.

Kenya

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 Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a reference to the Nairobi Riv ...

in 2009 by a group of male sex workers living with

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. The organization's primary objective is to promote human rights through police sensitization training, paralegal training, community education, and advocacy for sex workers' rights. HOYMAS conducts community outreach programs, such as health talks, mobilization, prevention, care and treatment, and economic empowerment. On 11 September 2015, HOYMAS made history by launching Africa's first savings and credit scheme (SACCO) registered by male sex workers. This initiative was created to enable the organization to access financial resources, including small loans. 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.

Asia

Asia's location as the site of international conflict including wars in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

,

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

have contributed to the prevalence of sex workers in the region. Organizing efforts started locally with one of the first documented organizations being EMPOWER Foundation in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in 1985. By the 1990s, sex workers in Asia began to formally organize to advocate for the decriminalization and legalization of sex work alongside providing assistance to workers. Most of the organizations were locally based and provided resources to sex workers in their regional languages. Regional organizations such as the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) and Sex Workers and Allies South Asia (SWASA) have worked independently and collaboratively to promote the health, safety, and human rights of sex workers in the

Asia Pacific Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

regions, respectively.

Thailand

Founded in September 2004 in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Service Workers IN Group (SWING) is a Thai sex worker organization that seeks to offer services and resources to male, female, and

transgender sex workers Transgender sex workers are transgender people who work in the sex industry or perform sexual services in exchange for money or other forms of payment. In general, sex workers appear to be at great risk for serious health problems related to thei ...

. SWING evolved from the EMPOWER Foundation, a national Thai sex worker network, in order to provide services and assistance to male and transgender sex workers who were not included in the national and civil society response to

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Since its founding, SWING has expanded to offer services and assistance to female sex workers as well. SWING has drop-in spaces and offices in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

,

Koh Samui Ko Samui (or Koh Samui), often locally shortened to Samui (, ), is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko Samui was granted municipal status ...

, and

Pattaya Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the List of municipalities in Thailand, eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and h ...

, all of which are considered Thailand's most infamous

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...

s. At each location, SWING offers core services such as care and support programs for HIV-positive sex workers and English language classes. In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, SWING extended additional support to sex workers who were struggling financially due to a lack of work opportunities and were not eligible for government health care or financial benefits, as sex work is still considered illegal in Thailand. To address the issue, SWING began distributing pre-prepared food bags and providing free HIV and syphilis testing through their mobile testing trucks. 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.

India

Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee was a group started in 1995 as a forum for sex workers in Kolkata and was created out of an HIV prevention group, Sonagachi Project in the red light district of the city. In 1999, they took over control of the

All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AIIH&PH) is a pioneering Indian institute for research and training in public health and allied sciences in Kolkata. It was established on 30 December 1932 with assistance from the Rockefeller ...

to promote the health, safety, and legal rights of sex workers. They have organized marches, run clinics, adult literacy centers, residential homes for children of sex workers, created

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, and developed a wing of the organization that supports creative expression through dance, music, and visual arts; and runs a

micro-credit Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically do not have access to traditional banking services due to a lack of collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credit history. The primar ...

program.

Australia

The history of the Australian Prostitutes Collective (APC) and the role they played in decriminalizing sex work is documented by sex worker scholar and activist Eurydice Aroney in the TikiTok

digital history Digital history is the use of digital media to further historical analysis, presentation, and research. It is a branch of the digital humanities and an extension of quantitative history, cliometrics, and computing. Digital history is commonly know ...

project entitled "Whore Laws of Yore: How

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Decriminalized Sex Work: 1979-199

The series documents the central role that sex workers played in the decades long struggle to decriminalize sex work and highlights the role the Australian Prostitutes Collective (APC) played in that legal victory.

Europe

While there are numerous instances of individual acts of protests throughout Europe, the start of sex worker activism in Europe is generally attributed to the events of 1975 that led to the Occupation of Saint-Nizier church by Lyon prostitutes, occupation of the ''Église Saint-Nizier'' in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. However, a previous attempt to organize sex workers in Lyon had occurred earlier in 1972.

France

In August 1972, local politicians and police officers in Lyon, France were charged with corruption and procurement following anonymous complaints. The scandal implicated a Member of Parliament and revealed that many hotel owners were paying

bribes Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

to police in exchange for ignoring the fact that their hotels were being used as brothels. Brothels were legal in Frances since 1946 but were subject to strict regulation. As a result of the scandal, the estimated 400 sex workers in Lyon were no longer able to work in hotels, which had previously provided them with safer working conditions. On 24 August, sex workers in Lyon planned a protest to call for safe working conditions, but the protest only attracted 30 sex workers who were willing to attend. The press reported the planned protest sarcastically, belittling the mobilizing efforts of the sex workers and attracting a crowd of onlookers and voyeurs. The police mocked the sex workers and sent them to the police station for arrest where they were held for several hours. Following the events, the Lyon police took a harsher approach, resulting in increased repression and damage to the relationship between the police and sex workers. Sex workers felt outraged by the treatment they received and were unable to mobilize effectively in Lyon until 1975. On 2 June 1975, sex workers in Lyon occupied the Saint-Nizier Church to draw attention to their "inhumane" working conditions, churches being considered a space of asylum for the marginalized and dispossessed. The occupation lasted ten days until the women were removed by the police. Sympathetic occupations of churches by prostitutes followed in other French cities. Although the protest was deemed a failure, it has been argued that it was the event that consolidated the movement by forging a collective identity and shifting public attitudes. The date is commemorated as International Whores' Day and is observed annually on 2 June of each year.

Italy

In September 1973, a group of sex workers in Rome established a group, "Partito per la Protezione delle Prostitute-PPP" to safeguard the rights of sex workers. The organization saw itself as a labor union that aimed to oppose the

criminalization Criminalization or criminalisation, in criminology, is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into crime and criminals". Previously legal acts may be transformed into crimes by legislation or judicial decision. However, ...

of sex work and promote social and pension benefits for sex workers. 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." The group Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute (Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes), or CDCP, was formed in 1983 by the sex worker activists Carla Corso and Pia Covre to promote the labor rights of sex workers.

Germany

In October 2013, Johanna Weber created the first professional association for sex workers in Germany to promote the rights of sex workers after the 2001 German law allowed them to register as workers eligible of receiving social insurance. The organization is called the Professional Association of Erotic and Sexual Services. Its primary focus is educating the public about the differences between human trafficking and consensual adult sex work.

Regional network

European Sex Workers Rights Alliance - ESWA (formerly ICRSE) is a European network of sex workers and allies across Europe and Central Asia.

Latin America and the Caribbean

In

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

sex worker movements date back to the late 19th century in Havana,

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. A catalyst in the movement being a newspaper published by Havana sex workers. This publication went by the name ''La Cebolla'', created by

Las Horizontales Las Horizontales were a group of sex workers in Havana, Cuba during the late 19th century that produced a newspaper, ''La Cebolla'' (1888). Gender studies scholar and Cuba expert, Amalia Cabezas identified this as the first documented sex worker or ...

. Researchers report that in the 1900s, many immigrants arriving in Latin America and the Caribbean from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

,

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

were engaged in sexual labor. Even though sex work was part of larger movements for industrialization in Latin America, and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

is the site of the first sex worker organization in the world, sex workers in the region did not begin to organize themselves as workers or to demand equal rights until the 1970s. During periods of

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

, various Latin American countries recognized

sex tourism Sex tourism is the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships, in exchange providing money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly oper ...

as a new industry, bringing in millions of dollars through

sex shop A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products. An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in Par ...

s,

live sex shows A sex show is a form of live performance that features one or more performers engaging in some form of sexual activity, typically on stage, for the entertainment or sexual gratification of spectators. Performers are paid either by the spectators ...

, clubs,

exotic dancing Exotic may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Exotic R4, a differentiable 4-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the Euclidean space R4 *Exotic sphere, a differentiable ''n''-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordinar ...

, and

escorts Escort may refer to: Protection *Bodyguard, a security operative who accompanies clients for their personal protection * Police escort, a feature offered by law enforcement agencies to assist in transporting individuals * Safety escort service, ...

services. However, sex work continues to be stigmatized in the region with various laws, zoning restrictions, and local regulations installed to prohibit sexual commerce. The demand for sex work shows no signs of slowing down, therefore many Latin American sex workers continue to fight for political visibility, legalization, and basic

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

protections and numerous sex worker organizations have been started in the region. Latin America serves as one of the leading forces for achieving change in the

sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related se ...

, though this is often overlooked in analyses of sex worker movements and organizing. Sex workers from Latin America were also active in other parts of the world, particularly North America and Europe. By the 1970s, 30 to 60 percent of prostitutes in Europe came from developing countries. Latin American sex workers have also written about their experiences of migration, the transgender activist Alexandra R. DeRuiz published a memoir entitled ''Crucé la Frontera en Tacones'' which chronicles the issues of transphobia women who migrate, including their experiences with sex work.''Crucé la frontera en tacones Alexandra R. DeRuiz''. Accessed May 5, 2023. http://www.editorialegales.com/libros/cruce-la-frontera-en-tacones/9788419728067. The start of the sex worker rights movement can be traced back to the late 1970s. One of the oldest and most influential organizations in Latin America is the Red de Mujeres Trabajadores Sexuales de Latino America Y El Caribe (Women's Network of Sex Workers of Latin America and the Caribbean), also known as RedTraSex. Started in 1997, RedTraSex is a prime example of transnational cooperative efforts that mobilize sex workers in multiple Latin American countries. 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. In addition, many also provide support services and referrals to local resources to help individuals survive within this sphere.

Migration

Sex workers from Latin America have also activated for sex worker rights in other parts of the world, particularly North America and Europe, focusing on the unique challenges impacting those who migrate to work. By the 1970s, 30 to 60 percent of prostitutes in Europe came from developing countries. Latin American sex workers have also written about their experiences of migration, the transgender activist Alexandra R. DeRuiz published a memoir entitled ''Crucé la Frontera en Tacones'' which chronicles the issues of transphobia women who migrate, including their experiences with sex work.

RedTraSex

RedTraSex is a transnational network of

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

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 is ...

s from 15

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

countries. It was founded in 1997 in Heredia,

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and currently has its central headquarters in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. 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. RedTraSex uses a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

rights-based approach to connect members with programs that address their needs. It fosters unity among members through communication platforms, awareness campaigns, support for

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

-based organizations, and publishing research on issues faced by sex workers. Its transnational impact in the region is particularly noteworthy.

North America

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, making it the first recorded activist effort in North America. Known as the "Montreal Mission for Friendless Girls." it was explicitly aimed at

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

sex workers, because as Maimie observed that "what help is extended to girls at all here is thru the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

." The organized sex workers' rights movement in North America began in 1973, at the peak of the second-wave feminist movement. Sex workers organized demanding that feminists acknowledge the decriminalizing sex work as a women's issue and a race issue. The crusade against trafficking and sex work in the United States has been dominated by a coalition of religious rights and abolitionist feminists. Abolitionist feminists are those who argue that the

sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related se ...

should be eliminated because of its objectification and oppressive treatment of women. Contrary to

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

and abolitionist feminists, other feminists allied with sex workers to support of

decriminalization Decriminalization or decriminalisation is the legislative process which removes prosecutions against an action so that the action remains illegal but has no criminal penalties or at most some civil fine. This reform is sometimes applied retroacti ...

. On 16 December 1971, a feminist Conference on Prostitution was held in Chelsea High School in New York City. Organized by thirty women belonging to various feminist groups, the conference featured workshops and a final discussion panel on "The Elimination of Prostitution." This event was one of the earliest confrontations between

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 is ...

s and

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

who had never worked in the sex work industry. Participants confused

sexual coercion Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person w ...

with sex work which caused a small group of sex workers to speak up rejecting the feminists' plan to save and rehabilitate them. Decriminalization was the main topic in the final discussion panel, but things quickly became a debate when it was brought up that decriminalization would increase the

criminalization Criminalization or criminalisation, in criminology, is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into crime and criminals". Previously legal acts may be transformed into crimes by legislation or judicial decision. However, ...

of the client. 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. In Canada, sex workers in Toronto and Vancouver launched constitutional challenges in 2007 to strike down provisions related to adult prostitution in the Criminal Code of Canada. Despite ongoing social movement obstacles, the history of sex worker rights activism in Canada has produced sex worker-run organizations and political coalitions that have garnered support from other organizations, researchers, and cause lawyers, making it possible for sex workers to mobilize legally against federal prostitution laws.

COYOTE, ''Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics''

In May 1973, Margot St James founded COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) with Jennifer James, a Seattle-based professor of anthropology. COYOTE was preceded by WHO (Whores, Housewives, and Others) a group that sought to bring women together based on their commonalities and engaged mainly in consciousness-raising. COYOTE was one of the several liberal groups that wanted to expand the rights of privacy in the wake of Roe versus Wade; the

National Gay Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force (formerly National Gay Task Force; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ ...

, and

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

Sexual Privacy Project also began as initiatives. COYOTE believed that women who worked as sex workers should have the same citizenship rights as others. St James gathered together reputable citizens who gave COYOTE credibility, money and recruited professionals to provide legal services, information and expertise. 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. With this money, COYOTE organized its first sex worker conference in 1974 at the Glide United Methodist Church in Tenderloin, SF. St James didn't want to "organize" or build an activist membership core. Rather COYOTE took a

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

approach to organize by providing a safer space for sex workers to meet and find support. To spread the word, local and national underground papers ran notices of meetings and events. COYOTE's contact information was passed out by

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called the Haight and the Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the countercultu ...

and the San Francisco Sex Information switchboards, at the Tenderloin's free medical clinic and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

and referral centers. ''

Off Our Backs ''Off Our Backs'' (stylized in all lowercase; ''oob'') was an American radical feminist periodical that ran from 1970 to 2008, making it the longest-running feminist periodical in the United States. Marilyn Salzman-Webb and Marlene Wicks we ...

'' and other women newspapers across the country listed COYOTE's twenty-four-hour emergency phone number. COYOTE created a bail fund created with money raised from its Hookers' Ball, the project was intended to free women from exploitative

pimps Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...

. The crime of prostitution created a huge victim class of women overlapping with legal, social, economic, health, family and education issues. In the SF Bay Area, COYOTE created

social welfare Welfare spending 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 specifically to social insurance p ...

groups and assistance services. COYOTE's programs were radically different in their approach to sex workers' problems. The few services available for sex workers were still perpetuating sexual shame towards women and girls, COYOTE shifted this

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...

. COYOTE did not train "

fallen women "Fallen woman" is an archaic term which was used to describe a woman who has "lost her innocence", and fallen from the grace of God. In 19th-century Britain especially, the meaning came to be closely associated with the loss or surrender of a ...

" for minimum waged jobs they wanted women to be conscious to be angry and to do something about the way society treated "loose women." COYOTE offered a radical critique that affirmed women's anger and let them know they were not alone in the experiences of whorephobia and

slut shaming Slut-shaming is the practice of criticizing people, especially women and girls, who violate expectations of behavior and appearance regarding issues related to sexuality. It may also be used in reference to gay men, who may face disapproval for ...

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

.

St James Infirmary, San Francisco, California

St James Infirmary is fundamentally against the

criminalization Criminalization or criminalisation, in criminology, is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into crime and criminals". Previously legal acts may be transformed into crimes by legislation or judicial decision. However, ...

of sex workers. They believe in a revolution through healthcare and challenge the conventional healthcare model that divides patients with an unhealthy power dynamic. St James Infirmary provides a peer-based model to create a safe, trusted and honest environment that provides services and empowers communities. They are funded on the principle of

harm reduction Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of intentional practices and public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. H ...

and support sex workers being treated with dignity and respect in every aspect of their lives. Some of their services include increasing access to primary healthcare and social services for sex workers throughout the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. St James Infirmary also formalizes communication and collaboration among individuals and agencies that serve sex workers. In all their work, St James promotes a peer-based public health initiative to improve occupational health and safety standards to develop comprehensive medical and social services for sex workers around the world. The story of St James is a famous story of the power of a phone call. Early one morning, COYOTE received a telephone call from a sex worker who had just left court. She wanted to know about the blood she got drawn in jail was legal. From this, the

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

to the Department of Public Health put COYOTE in touch with the Director of Prevention and Control at the

San Francisco Department of Public Health The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), previously called as the San Francisco Health Department, is the public health department of the city of San Francisco, California in the US. It has two main divisions: The San Francisco Heal ...

to find out what was occurring at DPH and in the jails.

Carol Leigh Carol Leigh (January 11, 1951 – November 16, 2022), also known as The Scarlot Harlot, was an American artist, author, filmmaker, sex worker, and sex workers' rights activist. She is credited with coining the term ''sex work'' and founded the ...

, also known as Scarlott Harlott, and others from COYOTE met with Dr. Klausner to discuss the testing he was doing in jails to eradicate

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

. Dr. Klausner saw this testing as logical while COYOTE did not agree. Despite initial doubts, Priscilla Alexander shared her plan for St James Infirmary with Dr. Klausner. Shortly after, Dr. Klausner became a partner of St James Infirmary and gave them their first office space. In June 1999, COYOTE and EDA appointed Johanna Breyer as the first executive director of St James Infirmary. Dawn Passar, who had been the Outreach Coordinator at the Asian AIDS Project, joined the Infirmary as its first Outreach Coordinator, and Dr. Deborah Cohan became the first medical director. "Dr. Chuck" Cloniger was St. James Infirmary's first Nurse Practitioner, who worked with the Infirmary for over two decades. St. James Infirmary opened its doors in June 1999 one night a week. By week two, participants had to arrive early because the line for peer-based, non-judgmental health care was flowing out onto the sidewalk.

Sex Workers Action Program (SWAP), Ontario, Canada

Sex Worker Action Program, (SWAP) in Hamilton is a sex worker led advocacy group in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

. Although begun in 2018, in May 2022, SWAP established a physical communal space where individuals could gather in a safe environment. The Executive Director is Jelena Vermilion. Located on Barton Street, the group offers community education on health and safety, including

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is the use of medications to prevent the spread of disease in people who have not yet been exposed to a disease-causing agent. Vaccination is the most commonly used form of pre-exposure prophylaxis; other forms of ...

—a medication for

HIV prevention HIV prevention refers to practices that aim to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV prevention practices may be undertaken by individuals to protect their own health and the health of those in their community, or may ...

. The organization actively engages in advocacy efforts, promoting the fair treatment of individuals in the sex industry. The group frequently sends representatives to participate in academic and community based conferences. SWAP also conducts workshops for businesses and organizations in Hamilton. SWAP is dedicated to supporting sex workers, addressing their diverse challenges through a combination of educational initiatives and direct actions. SWAP has also organized protests and vigils to bring attention to the murder of sex workers.Reporter, Fallon Hewitt Spectator. “‘Sex Workers Are Human Beings’: Community Rallies in Support of Woman Violently Sexually Assaulted Last Month.” ''The Hamilton Spectator'', July 16, 2022. https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/sex-workers-are-human-beings-community-rallies-in-support-of-woman-violently-sexually-assaulted-last/article_b0babe05-c05b-56d6-b094-fc65f786b87a.html . In July 2022, they helped raise $9,000 to support the victim of a beating and sexual assault on Barton Street East, in Hamilton. SWAP has partnered with the Greater Hamilton Health Network (GHHN), an Ontario Health Team to provide support services to sex workers.

Transgender sex worker movements

Transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

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 is ...

s have historically formed part of sex worker movements and have also formed part of

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

movements. The struggle for the rights of the LGBTQ community has always been interconnected with the struggle for the rights of sex workers, both of which maintain that the state and the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

do not have the authority to dictate how consenting adults utilize their bodies. Due to intersecting stigmas surrounding transgender identity and social attitudes around homosexuality, sex workers face dangerous working conditions such as disproportionate rates of

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence (GBV) refers to any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification, culture may have a role to play, being lower in egalitarianism societies and higher, sexist ...

,

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

, higher rates of unsolved murders. 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.

Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR)

The first of many LGBTQ+-led efforts for transgender sex workers was

Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) was an organization founded by Stonewall veterans Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson in the wake of the Weinstein Hall occupation to advocate for LGBTQ rights. Taking influence from contemporar ...

(STAR). STAR was founded and funded by

Gay Liberation Front Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the name of several gay liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots. Similar organizations also formed in the UK, Australia and Canada. The GLF p ...

Leaders and activists

Sylvia Rivera Sylvia Rivera (July 2, 1951 – February 19, 2002) was an American gay liberation and transgender activism, transgender rights activist September 21, 1995. Accessed July 24, 2015. who was also a noted community worker in LGBT history in New Yo ...

and Marsha P. Johnson in 1970. Both were engaged in sex work and wanted to create an organization that helped other

transient Transience or transient may refer to: Music * ''Transient'' (album), a 2004 album by Gaelle * ''Transience'' (Steven Wilson album), 2015 * Transience (Wreckless Eric album) Science and engineering * Transient state, when a process variable or ...

transgender street youth. Professor of Social Work Benjamin Shepard highlights how Rivera frequently had disagreements with conventional LGBTQ organizations that supported assimilation. She represented the alternative community of young

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

individuals who resided, survived, and labored on the streets.

Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias

In 2019 Kenya Cuevas Fuentes established Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias the only

shelter A shelter is an architectural structure or natural formation (or a combination of the two) providing protection from the local environment. A shelter can serve as a home or be provided by a residential institution. It can be understood as both ...

in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

exclusively for transgender women after witnessing Paola Buenrosto, her friend and fellow transgender sex worker, killed in front of her in 2016. Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias provides

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

, meals, and

medical care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance 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 deliver ...

to transgender individuals, sex workers, and those with

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. The organization also works to provide chances for social reintegration to individuals who have been released from

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

and works on HIV/AIDS prevention as transgender sex workers are more at risk because of the inaccessible

healthcare system A health system, health care system or healthcare system is an organization of people, institutions, and resources that delivers health care services to meet the health needs of target populations. There is a wide variety of health systems aroun ...

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

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

in Mexico.

Centro de Apoyo a Las Identidades Trans

In

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, the Centro de Apoyo a Las Identidades Trans was established on 23 November 2011, and emerged during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

to serve and advocate for the

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

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 Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

and

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, and

legal recognition Legal recognition of a status or fact in a jurisdiction is a formal acknowledgment of it as being true, valid, legal, or worthy of consideration, and may involve approval or the granting of rights. For example, a nation or territory may require ...

of gender and identity. 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 Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

(PPE). The PPE included

sexually transmitted infection A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, e ...

prevention supplies such as

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

s along with food and monetary support for transgender sex workers to help mobilize during the economic hardships of the pandemic due to loss of work and lack of support from the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of Mexico City as they are not recognized as workers.

Jauria Trans

The grou
Jauria Trans
operates in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and offers a ranges from workshops and to concerts, fashion shows, and art exhibitions as a way to address issues such as trans families, religion,

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

systems and with trans childhoods they made a fashion show. “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.''History of Trans Sex Workers in Mexico City'', 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqSBU_wqL3w.

References

{{Portal bar, Human sexuality, Prostitution, Sex work Wikipedia Student Program Sex workers' rights Labour movement Reform movements

Global and distributed efforts

Africa

South Africa

Morocco

Kenya

Asia

Thailand

India

Australia

Europe

France

Italy

Germany

Regional network

Latin America and the Caribbean

Migration

RedTraSex

North America

COYOTE, ''Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics''

St James Infirmary, San Francisco, California

Sex Workers Action Program (SWAP), Ontario, Canada

Transgender sex worker movements

Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR)

Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias

Centro de Apoyo a Las Identidades Trans

Jauria Trans

See also

References