This April 1st, fierce and fabulous STAR leaders Laura Feer and Tina made a spontaneous action for their rights. This action was all Laura and Tina, no donors, no organizations, just a fabulous idea and the guts to make it happen!

March, 2010, Budapest – The beginning of March proved to be busy and full of events for some of SWAN members. SWAN representatives from Tais Plus (Kyrgyzstan), Legalife (Ukraine), Humanitarian Action (Russia) and the SWAN secretariat were invited to Budapest by the Open Society Institute to take part in an intensive 5-day hands-on training in creating advocacy films.

On Saturday, May 29, 2010 the third and final generation of SWAN groups participated in a training on media sensitizations in Tirana, Albania. Genci and Enkelejda of Aksion Plus were gracious hosts in their beautiful city. Representative from sex work projects from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro and Latvia participated in the one-day event which also brought together sex workers from Hungary, Albania and Bulgaria.

June 3, 2010
By Anna-Louise Crago
Over all the ethical breaches and problems surrounding media representation of sex workers echoed those of previous SWAN groups who did the media sensitization trainings. The fact that Hungary has a legalized system with tolerance zones contributed new dynamics and issues to think about.

Boglárka, of the newly renamed Association of Hungarian Sex Workers informs us about recent research on Hungarian sex workers and drug use. The findings deconstruct many stereotypes about who gets high and why.

On October 8th, 2009, JAZAS, opened a new drop-in center for sex workers funded by the Global Fund called “Center for Support”. The center’s main activities are: the provision of legal advice by the law team; assistance by the social support team in obtaining documents necessary for getting ID, health insurance and social insurance; self-support activities for participants; and the development of promotional materials. HIV counseling and testing are also available at the center. Sex worker peer educators have been active in implementing all the activities and working with clients of the services. Their first hand experience has proved invaluable in promoting the center’s activities among sex workers. So far more than 300 services have been provided to more than 80 clients. The project’s goal is to reach 200 clients in its first year.

Sex workers’ organizations across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia used the opportunity of the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers to advocate SW’s rights. Below is a summary of the activities carried out be the organizations.

For the third consecutive year, on December the 17th sex workers called for society to respect the human dignity of persons involved in commercial sex, to combat discrimination and violence against one of the most marginalized groups of our society.

In Macedonia, as throughout the world, sex workers are pushed to the margins of society by a combination of prejudice, discrimination, and violence. Insults and hate plague their lives, pervade media reports, and direct the approach of social institutions. But the lives and livelihoods of sex workers comprise of much more and the conviction remains that the selling of sexual services does not justify denial of fundamental rights, to which all human beings are entitled.

Albanian SWAN-member Aksion Plus have prepared the first national map on the sex work-scene in Albania. The findings are alarming.