The Association of Hungarian Sex Workers (SZEXE) was founded in 2000 by sex workers and allies in order to step up together for the human rights of sex workers and improve their social and health situation. Since the very beginning, our partners, sex worker colleagues and the community have been relentlessly working to erase discrimination and violence from sex workers’ everyday experiences. In doing so, they resisted all attempts that aimed to exclude, exploit and stigmatize sex workers.

The Association of Hungarian Sex Workers (SZEXE) was founded in 2000 by sex workers and allies in order to step up together for the human rights of sex workers and improve their social and health situation. Since the very beginning, our partners, sex worker colleagues and the community have been relentlessly working to erase discrimination and violence from sex workers’ everyday experiences. In doing so, they resisted all attempts that aimed to exclude, exploit and stigmatize sex workers.

SZEXE kindly invites its partners and supporters to celebrate the last 15 years of SZEXE with them and the community on 17 September in Budapest, expressing their solidarity and support for the Hungarian sex worker community. You can find further details HERE.

The anniversary celebration program includes a march, a press-conference and a celebration with champagne and a cake on the 17th of September, and screening of a film “Victoria” on the 18th of September. 

Below you can see key events in the past 15 years of the life of SZEXE.

2000: SZEXE was founded.

2005: HIV and STI testing with a mobile unit across Hungary.

2006: Trainings with the Tax Authority to enable sex workers to become individual entrepreneurs.

2007: Peter Bacsó’s movie ‘Red Umbrellas’ about the exit program of SZEXE.

2009: With the help of 4 lawyers SZEXE operates a legal aid network covering multiple regions in Hungary.

2011, September: Performance in front of the Parliament on the occasion of SZEXE’s 10 years anniversary.

2011, December: The Constitutional Court withdrew a decree according to which the obligatory health certificate for sex workers contained the word ‘prostitute’.

2012: SZEXE and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union launch a joint film.

2013, March: Based on SZEXE’s shadow report to the UN CEDAW Committee, the Committee expressed their concern of the discrimination against sex workers and the lack of safe working conditions.

2014, July: Successful case at the Equal Treatment Authority: CIB Bank was fined as they discriminated against SZEXE, not opening a bank account.

2014, July: The first Hungarian sex worker conference takes place with great success and positive media coverage.

2015, August: Amnesty International: support for the full decriminalization of all aspects of consensual sex work.