Thank you, President.
Akahata makes this statement on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative.
We appreciate the emphasis of the report on social protection as a human right and its gender perspective, which shows the impact on pensions of the gender pay gap, and of career breaks due to childbirth and the unequal distribution of care work.
Pensions must be sufficient to guarantee an adequate standard of living. However, in many countries, setbacks are being observed due to adjustment policies, debt repayment, and neoliberal policies. This is the case in Argentina, where pensions are too low and a moratorium that benefited people without sufficient contributions, especially women, has been repealed. In addition, the right to protest of older people is being violated, as they are systematically repressed with tear gas, batons, and rubber bullets, in a serious anti-democratic turn.
While the report addresses intersectionality, we regret the lack of mention of sex workers, who are systematically excluded from the social protection system due criminalization, stigma and lack of legal recognition of their work. This exclusion results in a complete lack of access to pensions, health insurance, or income support—harshly felt in older age.1.
We urge States to guarantee decent universal pensions, without discrimination of any kind.
Thank you.
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1 As highlighted by global community-led research by NSWP on this topic. See “Global Findings on Sex Workers’ Access to Social Protection and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights” by the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (10 June 2024)
https://www.nswp.org/resource/nswp-global-and-regional-reports/global-findings-sex-workers-access-social-protection-and