Underserved. Overpoliced. Invisibilised.
LGBT sex workers do matter.
The struggle for sex workers’ rights intersects with many other social movements. Contrary to the monolithic abolitionist discourse, which portrays all sex workers as “prostituted women” without agency, our communities are diverse and resilient. Sex workers are male, female and non-binary, LGBTQ, migrants and workers. Supporting sex workers’ rights means understanding the diversity and complexity of our lives and involving sex workers from diverse communities in decision making, policy making and debates. This series of briefing papers will give sex workers, activists from other social movements and policy makers the tools to explore the intersection of sex workers’ rights with other rights and social struggles such as those connected with LGBT people, women, workers, migrants and health.
LGBT sex workers in Europe and Central Asia often live and work in precarious and dangerous contexts. The reasons for this are the criminalisation of sex work, sexual orientation and gender identity, structural, institutional and direct violence and pathologisation and medical mistreatment. This briefing paper explores the diverse experiences and realities of LGBT sex workers and the intersection of LGBT rights and sex workers’ rights. It also calls upon the LGBT movement to build an alliance with sex workers and their organisations and actively support sex workers’ rights and the decriminalisation of sex work.
To read or donwload the briefing paper please click here.