December 17 is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers and our featured video comes to you from Macedonia, where local NGO Healthy Options Projects Skopje (HOPS) partnered with WITNESS this year on a campaign to end violence, marginalization, and criminalization of sex workers.

In Macedonia, as throughout the world, sex workers are pushed to the margins of society by a combination of prejudice, discrimination, and violence. Yet, the fact that a person sells sexual services cannot be used as justification for the denial of their fundamental rights, to which all human beings are entitled.

Through its association with USAID, MTV EXIT has placed itself in the middle of a battle waged by sex workers and garment workers for the right to work and the right to fare wages. Unfortunately, MTV EXIT through its concerts presented a message that potentially made the situation worse for Cambodian sex workers. By conflating prostitution with trafficking, prostitution is reduced to sex slavery and is painted as a degrading and abusive profession. Within this pattern of thought, prostitutes are not considered women with agency who have freely chosen their profession, but instead are considered victims in need of ‘saving’. Critics have pointed out that the MTV EXIT campaign will be seen by audiences as reinforcing the Cambodian government’s anti-trafficking law and agenda. Read full article Cambodia: MTV no EXIT campaign indirectly supports abusive anti-trafficking law.

May 23, Australia -- In a lead up to its major Fundraising campaign, the Salvation Army of New South Wales Australia, launched an offensive add on May 22nd 2009. It read: "To get Rick out of prostitution, we had to resort to smuggling. This is the door that saved his life. When Rick left a message on a computer screen inside our Oasis van we had to act fast. Disguised as a client, we picked him up, took him to the airport and flew him interstate to one of our rehab centres, miles away from the heroin and hustling…”

In this issue of SWAN News we present a video interview with a Swedish sex worker and activist Pye Jacobsson about the legislation around prostitution and its impact on sex workers’ lives in Sweden.

In a shocking incident of moral policing, hoodlums allegedly belonging to Sri Ram Sena, struck in Mangalore on Saturday. Around 40 people reportedly barged into a pub on Balmatha road, and viciously attacked girls who were at the pub. At least two women have been hospitalized.

“Its success came from the fact that the campaign was innovative, almost bizarre, and appealing to the youth too. The cause got wide coverage, embarrassing conservatives justifying restrictions on women or religious-infighting among different groups in this diverse country,” says one of articles on Digiactivism. View video here and read a case study of this campaign read below in Sex Workers' Advocacy School.

Cambodian Sex Worker groups and the APNSW (Asian Pacific Network of Sex Workers) are figthing against for two very abusive systems. The first problem is there are many violations against their 100% Condom Use program. The second problem is relatively new: Cambodia has just recently introduced a new anti-trafficking law which makes all sex work illegal, and where sex workers can be sent for mandatory rehabilitation.
The following film shows the human rights abuses in both approaches.
Watch more videos made by sex workers at SEXWORKERSPRESENT. This ongoing video advocacy project became possible with the support of Open Society Institute and in association with WITNESS Video Advocacy Institute.

Report on the mapping project research data and general conditions for sex workers in Albania. Genci Mucollari, Director of Aksion Plus, was a guest in the live morning program Wake Up! on the Top Channel on December 19.

Report on the mapping project research data and general conditions for sex workers in Albania. Genci Mucollari, Director of Aksion Plus, was a guest in the live morning program Wake Up! on the Top Channel on December 19.

Albanian NGO Aksion Plus about sex work issues and violation of human rights.

ORA News, 2008