Human Rights Council - 60th Session
Item 6: Adoption of Universal Periodic Review - Sweden
Thank you President,
Action Canada makes this statement on behalf of Red Umbrella Sweden, a civil society organization representing sex workers in Sweden and Europe, and the Sexual Rights Initiative.
We regret that Sweden received no recommendations on sex worker rights, and instead received numerous recommendations which go against evidence-based guidance from the WHO, UNAIDS, and the special procedures, which support the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work, noting that decriminalisation reduces violence against sex workers, reduces the risk of HIV contraction, and improves the recognition of sex workers’ rights, and access to justice and healthcare.
We are deeply concerned by the Sweden’s approach to sex work, which indirectly criminalizes the bodies of sex workers, conflates sex work with trafficking, and exposes sex workers to violence, stigma, and exclusion from democratic participation. The criminalization of sex work forces sex workers to the margins of society. Red Umbrella Sweden members often live in precarious conditions, at constant risk of eviction, homelessness, and social isolation, and often face barriers to accessing health care.
Further, in recent years, Sweden has also imposed stricter migration laws, with high demands on self-sufficiency, language, and civic knowledge. Red Umbrella Sweden members describe Sweden as increasingly hostile.
Sex workers have faced and continue to face significant barriers to organizing for their rights. Sweden must strengthen sex workers’ right to organize—through targeted funding, through initiating and sustaining dialogue between government and the sex worker movement, and through sex worker inclusion in legislative processes.
We call on Sweden to:
- Decriminalize sex work.
- Ensure protection for migrant sex workers and others at risk of human trafficking.
- Recognize sex workers’ right to organize and fund sex workers’ self-organization
Thank you