Diverse sex workers from all over the world came together for the 56th UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to challenge the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem’s biased and factually incorrect "prostitution report". Despite progressive countries and organisations openly condemning the report, the Special Rapporteur pushed an agenda to criminalise the sex industry, inspiring a protest under the banner "Bodily Autonomy for All" during the UN Human Rights Council session.
European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance (ESWA) Executive Director Sabrina Sanchez gave a first-hand account of this historic event:
“It was incredible. The Special Rapporteur passed our rally on her way out of the UN building. She ignored us in the Palace of Nations – this time we gave her no choice but to listen to our demands to respect sex workers’ consent.”
It is true that the Special Rapporteur is notorious for ignoring sex workers’ voices: many of the submissions for the report that were sent following her call for submissions in November 2023 were published only on the same day as the presentation of her report at the UN Human Rights Council. Some written contributions, including ESWA’s and The Global Network of Sex Work Projects’, were entirely excluded and are missing from the Rapporteur’s website. Global feminist movements and networks have in the past struggled with Reem Alsalem’s transphobia and hostility towards sex workers and have therefore prepared an alternative repository of rights-based submissions.
Not even another UN-level document can change Reem Alsalem’s mind. Shortly before her call for submissions, the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls published a guidance document stating clearly that all forms of criminalisation of sex work cause harm. While other UN human rights mechanisms, the world’s leading NGOs, and sex worker-led organisations agree that a rights-based approach is the way forward, Reem Alsalem continues to campaign against sex work, dismissing scientific evidence and lived experience alike.
ESWA is a network of sex worker-led organisations fighting for equal rights, respect, and inclusion of sex workers in society. Supported by Amnesty International, World Health Organisation and Human Rights Watch, we believe in improving sex workers’ safety, health, and access to justice – not criminalising their means of survival.
For further information, contact [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also watch the recording of our statement to the Human Rights Council here.
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