Despite unfortunate circumstances preventing two of our speakers from getting to the conference the sex work major went ahead. Dinara from Tais Plus could not join us due disruption associated with revolution and border closures in Kyrgyzstan. Nicolette from Scarlett Alliance could not get a flight due to the volcanic dust and associated flight disruption. I know both were disappointed. We were able to go ahead as Melissa Ditmore from the US and Prostitutes of New York was attending and was able to join our session. So the session was as follows:

Despite unfortunate circumstances preventing two of our speakers from getting to the conference the sex work major went ahead. Dinara from Tais Plus could not join us due disruption associated with revolution and border closures in Kyrgyzstan. Nicolette from Scarlett Alliance could not get a flight due to the volcanic dust and associated flight disruption. I know both were disappointed. We were able to go ahead as Melissa Ditmore from the US and Prostitutes of New York was attending and was able to join our session. So the session was as follows:

The War Against Sex Workers
Chair: Pye Jakobsson, Sweden

• Marija Tosheva, Macedonia “Mobilization of national and international communities against raids, human rights violations and criminalization of sex workers in Macedonia”
• Catherine Stephens, UK “Getting in the door, getting to the microphone, getting to be heard: a long journey: making space in civil society for sex workers’ rights”
• Melissa Ditmore, US “PEPFAR, the Trafficking Discourse, and Their Consequences for Human Rights and Harm Reduction”

We had a good attendance, we were in the main conference hall. Feedback was good, with people saying the session made an impact on them.

Thanks to all the presenters! Pye was a great Chair pulling it all together.
Pye also presented in a session on Drug User Networking, the presenters and titles are listed below. This was good, since it meant having sex worker issues in a wider session, reaching a different audience and drawing out common ground.

Drug User Networking

• Oscar Montenegro – “The movement of “going out of the closet”: next generation of drug users and activism in Latin America”
• Pye Jakobsson – “More in common than not: sex workers and drug users’ rights in Sweden”
• Olena Kucheruk – “A “return ticket” for people who use drugs: media/ advocacy campaign to promote OST in Ukraine”
• Eka Setiawan – “Creative intervention in a creative city for justice to all drug users”

The UK-NSWP concurrent session went ahead with the following speakers:
Sex Work and Harm Reduction in the UK: Safety, Skills and Struggles for Social Inclusion
Chair: Rosie Campbell, UK

• Georgina Perry, UK – “Through pragmatism to possibility: an exploration of how harm reduction principles make a difference to the lives of sex workers”
• Shelly Stoops, UK – “Hate crime, harm reduction and social inclusion: addressing violence against sex workers in Merseyside”
• Justin Gaffney, UK – “Contemporary harm reduction and support service needs of male sex workers in the UK: the Sohoboyz male sex worker needs assessment and skills development programme”

The next IHRA conference – 2011 will be in Beirut, Lebanon.