ESWA’s Access to Justice programme currently focuses on examining sex workers’ experiences of change following the decriminalisation of sex work in Belgium in 2022, and the introduction of a labour law in 2024. In collaboration with our members UTSOPI, BoysProject, Espace-P, and Violett, our aim is to use the results to influence policy and legislative drives towards decriminalisation of sex work across across Europe and Central Asia. Results of the survey shall also support partners in Belgium to orient advocacy with political actors and raise awareness of outstanding obstacles sex workers in Belgium face. The research will be conducted according to ESWA’s Gold Standard Guidelines for Safe and Ethical Sex Work Research, published in 2025.  

In 2027 the decriminalisation of sex work in Belgium is about to have its 5th anniversary. To mark that occasion, ESWA is planning to host a “Decrim Academy,” similar to our successful “Red Umbrella Academy.” 

The Academy will bring together sex worker-led organisations at various stages of advancing their own legal texts toward decriminalisation in their national contexts. The aim is to exchange knowledge about methodologies for drafting bills, ensuring a rights-based approach to labour provisions, as well as engaging politicians and the public in moving through legislative processes at national level. More information concerning ESWA’s “Decrim Academy” will be shared with members in 2027.