European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance |
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Justice & Policy | Digital Rights | Health | Community News & Opportunities |
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Justice & Policy |
50 Years of Resistance: Join ESWA’s International Sex Workers’ Day Actions! |
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This year marks 50 years since the historic Saint-Nizier Church occupation in Lyon, the protest that initiated International Sex Workers’ Day and we celebrate to this day. On June 2, 1975, sex workers took over a church to demand safety, dignity, and labour rights. Their bravery ignited a global movement. To honour their legacy, ESWA is organising a coordinated day of action on June 2, 2025. Sex worker-led groups across Europe will reclaim churches and other symbolic spaces, demanding justice, safety, and rights, just as they did 50 years ago. 🎥 Events will be live-streamed on ESWA channels. |
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Digital Rights |
Sweden Must Reject the Expansion of Sex Work Criminalisation! Sign the open letter to Protect Rights, Not Repression. |
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ESWA and Red Umbrella Sweden are fighting back against a deeply concerning legislative development in Sweden: a new law that would expand criminalising the purchase of sx into online spaces. This would cut off vital sources of income like webcamming and erotic content creation, and expose sex workers to even more harm. The proposed law will be voted on May 20th. Stand in solidarity with sex workers, defend #DigitalRights, and help push back against carceral approaches that harm the very people they claim to protect. We launched a statement that has already been signed by 120 organisations, 74 experts and 1400+ supporters. Help us push the campaign forward by sharing the open letter in your network and reaching 1,500 signatures! |
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Call to Action: Sign Our Open Letter to Meta’s Oversight Board |
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ESWA is bringing the struggle against discrimination of sx workers on social media to Meta's @oversightboard. Conversations about “community standards” often ignore the communities they impact most. But these communities are now taking matters into their own hands! |
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New Research: Sex Workers Belong On Social Media - Recommendations for Platform Accountability |
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Health |
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Program Officer, Vera Rodriguez, will attend the first in person meeting in Brussels on the 19th of May of the newly formed HIV Prevention Alliance, an initiative launched by the European Aids Treatment Group, following its official online launch on 7th of April where 25 stakeholders representing the communities most affected by HIV, alongside clinicians, researchers, policymakers, industry and public health authorities, came together. With an urgent goal in mind—𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗛𝗜𝗩 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗯𝘆 2030—this meeting marked a first step in shaping a collective Call to Action for renewed political commitment to an inclusive EU response. Two days later, ESWA will also participate at the panel Broad-Spectrum Harm Reduction Initiatives in LGBTIQ+ Contexts at the second edition of the LGBTQ+ Health Let’s Care conference. This initiative aims to highlight the current challenges faced by LGBTQI+ individuals in accessing safe, competent, and affordable healthcare, emphasizing the structural barriers, discrimination, and lack of funding that continue to impact community well-being. It also highlights the importance of community-led health initiatives, the urgent need for inclusive and participatory research, and the role of public policies in ensuring sustainable support for LGBTQI+ health services. Find the full program below. |
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Community Updates & Opportunities |
ESWA got a website makeover!The ESWA website just got a fresh makeover! It’s now easier to navigate, with new functionalities like resource filters to help you find exactly what you need. Click on the image below to explore! |
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Glitch is Hiring! |
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Glitch is a a Black-led, globally remote charity, with the majority of their staff in the UK. Their mission is to ensure that internet technologies in the information ecosystem do not replicate or further discrimination to Black women and other marginalised people. Glitch is looking for an operations and finance professional to join their team; help with the organisational foundations of the charity, and manage the financial processes. |
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Recommendations |
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Hand picked books, videos, articles and podcasts, recommended by ESWA staff and members. Tell us your recommendations to be featured in the next newsletter! |
Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal |
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Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation. |
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