On December 17th, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (#IDEVASW), thousands of sex workers and sex worker-led organisations around the world will gather to commemorate the sex workers who have lost their lives. Last year, the list included more than 150 sex workers murdered between January 1 and December 1, 2016.
IDEVASW began in 2003 to remember the sex workers who were murdered by Seattle’s Green River Killer in the US. This year, the Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM) and the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) will create a memorial outside the Houses of Parliament on December 18th. We will be calling on MPs to join us and hear our demand for an end to the criminalisation, stigma and poverty which make us vulnerable to all kinds of violence and exploitation.
Monday December 18th: during this public event – from 12-2pm – we will be building a memorial in New Palace Yard, outside the Houses of Parliament with a roll call of those killed since 2016.
December 18th marks the closing date for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) inquiry into “pop up brothels”. Despite calls for decriminalisation from sex workers around the globe, the APPG is currently proposing that the UK increases criminalisation of the industry, putting workers at an even greater risk. Criminalising us, our workplaces, our clients, our friends, or anyone we work with or rely on for support, makes us less safe. We can’t report violence to the police for fear of arrest. Street based sex workers, trans women, migrants and sex workers of colour face added risk of violence.
ALL ARE WELCOME ON DECEMBER 18th IN NEW PALACE YARD. FEEL FREE TO WEAR MASKS, BRING SIGNS, BANNERS, CANDLES AND NAMES OR MESSAGES FOR THE MEMORIAL.
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MP and invite them to this event. Don’t let them ignore the voices of sex workers! You can use our letter template (it’ll take you 60 seconds!)