Winds of Change

Trans Day of Visibility | Out and calling on your empathy

31 March marks Trans Day of Visibility – also known as TDOV – a day which many trans people such as myself mark by celebrating and taking pride in our identities, commemorating how far we have come, and how far we still must go. TDOV is an opportunity to be “out and proud”; to educate those around us; and to take stock as a community.

, ,

Isolation and HIV memories hit LGBT+ elderly hard in lockdowns

, ,

As lockdowns are imposed around the world to stop the spread of coronavirus, LGBT+ groups are scrambling to support older members of their community who are more likely to live alone and suffer from poor health than their heterosexual peers.

,

Europe: SEX WORKERS NEED IMMEDIATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND PROTECTION

,

Download English/Español/Français/Polska/Portugues/Italiano/Ελληνικά

ICRSE is calling for national governments to urgently act to ensure that sex workers, along with their families and communities, can access social protections during the COVID-19 pandemic. As more countries impose lock downs, self-isolation and travel restrictions many sex workers will lose most, or all, of their income and face financial hardship, increased vulnerability, destitution or homelessness. The often criminalized nature of sex work also means that many will be unable to access the safeguards provided for other workers, such as sick pay.

Many sex workers come from communities that already face high levels of marginalization and social exclusion including people living in poverty, migrants and refugees, trans people and drug users. Sex workers who are the primary earners in their families, or who don't have alternative means of support are at risk of being forced into more precarious and dangerous situations to survive.

Sex workers in our region are already reporting:

  • Drastic loss of income

  • Closure of workplaces

  • Lack of funds to pay for basic needs, support family members and dependents

  • Inability to access community  health services which have shut down or decreased their activities

  • Increased pressure to take risks while working in order to secure income

This pandemic is revealing, with extreme urgency, the ways in which sex workers are forced to operate on the margins, in precarious circumstances, without the protections enjoyed by other workers.

ICRSE supports efforts by governments to control transmissions of the virus. However, public health measures that do not consider the circumstances of the most marginalized groups put their overall success at risk. In providing emergency measures and relief, governments must ensure that they reach workers who are excluded from the formal economy.

As a minimum government’s must urgently provide:

  • Immediate, appropriate and easy-to-access financial support for sex workers in crisis,

  • No eviction and emergency housing for homeless sex workers

  • A firewall between immigration authorities and health services

  • Access to health care for all sex workers, irrespective of their immigration status

All measures related to sex work must be based on public health and human rights principles and be developed in consultation with sex workers and their organisations to limit their negative impact. This unprecedented crisis calls for meaningful collaboration between all sectors of society, including those most marginalized. Only by involving sex workers do governments stand a chance to limit the pandemic and  eventually end it. “Sex workers are not the problem, we are part of the solution’

Read more