ASWA Observed The International Sex Workers Rights Day By Calling For The Decriminalisation Of Sex Work

The theme of International Sex Workers’ Rights Day is ‘labour’.

On 3^rd March 2022, sex workers in Africa celebrated International Sex Workers Rights Day. The day started in 2001 when over 25,000 sex workers gathered in India for a sex worker festival. The organisers wanted to celebrate the lives of sex workers as well as highlight the community’s determination and strength.

On the Sex Workers Academy Africa (SWAA) Programme, module two highlights 8 rights of sex workers. The module focuses on sex workers’ rights which are:

1. The right to associate and organise
2. The right to be protected by the law
3. The right to be free from violence
4. The right to be free from discrimination;
5. The right to privacy, and freedom from arbitrary interference
6. The right to health
7. The right to move and migrate
8. The right to work and free choice of employment

All sex workers are entitled to these fundamental rights.

Uganda: the Uganda Network of Sex Worker-led Organizations (UNESO) and its members joined the rest of the world to commemorate the International Sex Workers’ Rights Day by calling on the Government to recognize sex work as work and extend to sex workers all the legal protections and rights which all workers are entitled to. Find the press release here:

Uganda: The Lady Mermaid Empowerment Centre launched the first sex workers-led magazine NEEKO MAGAZINE.

Sex workers in Africa called for the decriminalization of sex work in Africa during the International Sex Workers’ Rights Day.

ASWA observed the International Sex Workers Rights Day by calling for the respect, protection and promotion of the rights of the sex workers in Africa.