HRC 57: NSWP & SRI Statement on General debate item 3

Sex workers are habitually denied opportunities to participate in international human rights platforms, such as the HRC. Many of us are refused visas and lack funding to travel and participate in UN processes. Human rights are universal. You cannot promote the human rights of some people while excluding others.

HRC 57: Action Canada, The Canadian Alliance Sex Work Law Reform & SRI Statement to the ID with SR on slavery

We appreciate the Special Rapporteur’s efforts to hear directly from sex workers in Canada who are experts in their own lives and have solutions to the harms caused by the criminalization of sex work. This is a fundamental principle of human rights - those who are most impacted have a right to participate in the decisions that affect them. We urge Canada and other Special Procedure mandates to heed this principle.

HRC 56: IDPC, GAATW, WHRIN, HRI, IWRAW and SRI Joint Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the SR on extreme poverty

We echo the report’s call on States to repeal all laws and policies that penalise individuals for structural inequality, and to move away from punitive and carceral approaches.

There is overwhelming evidence showing that the criminalisation of drug use and of sex work is deeply discriminatory, disproportionately affecting people on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity and class. It also increases exposure to physical and sexual violence. It is also used as a driver of other harmful policies, for instance by restricting access to safe housing and shelter, as well as to safe places of work and labour rights for sex workers.

HRC 56: SRI statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to health

We support the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations to States to move away from criminal approaches to drug use and control frameworks and rather adopt an evidence-based, human rights approach. Moreover, access to medicines is a human right that must not be impeded by policies that favour corporate interests over people’s health and rights.

HRC 56: Women Deliver statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls

Evidence collected over 25 years by Amnesty International in Norway and Ireland, Médecins du Monde in France has consistently demonstrated that criminalisation as recommended by the SR VAW, has been responsible for increasing the economic vulnerability, worsening the quality of life of sex workers everywhere this system is implemented.

HRC 53 Hi Voices, the Pact and SRI Statment to Pakistan's UPR

We regret that Pakistan did not receive any recommendations on its HIV/AIDS response, as Pakistan has one of the highest rates of new HIV infection in South Asia. Only 12% of people living with HIV can access treatment, and the public healthcare delivery system faces uneven distribution of health professionals among provinces and towns, a deficient workforce, insufficient funding and limited access to quality healthcare services.

UPR Submissions - 42nd session

The 42nd session of the Universal Periodic review begins on the 23rd of January 2023. The working group session will take place from 23 January to 3 February 2023. 13 Countries will be under review during the session: Czechia, Gabon, Benin, Switzerland, Argentina, Ghana, Guatemala, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka and Zambia. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI collaborated on reports for Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Switzerland and Zambia.

HRC 59: 3rd Statement by the Sex Workers' Delegation to the ID with Special Rapporteur on VAW

Sex workers have a right to a safe working environment. We are women, we are mothers, we are workers. But due to criminalisation and discrimination, going back home alive everyday is not assured.

As sex workers, we demand respect for our consent when we say we choose sex work and when we demand the full decriminalisation of our work for our rights, health and safety.

UPR Submissions - 45th Session

The 45th session of the Universal Periodic was held from 22 January to 02 February 2024. 14 Countries were under review during the session: Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria Mauritius, Mexico, Jordan, Malaysia, Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Chad, Congo and Malta. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI submitted reports for Malaysia and Nigeria.

UPR 44 Canada Submission - Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, and the SRI

UPR 44 Canada Submission - Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW), YWCA Hamilton, The Community Research Platform at McMaster University, and the SRI

UPR 43 Botswana Submission - Sisonke Botswana, ASWA and SRI

Whilst the buying and selling of sex is not llegal in Botswana, there are a number of legal provisions in place that prohibit a wide range of activities associated with sex work such as soliciting clients, public indecency or living on the earnings of sex work. This means that sex work is nevertheless criminalised - a status quo that poses a material risk to sex workers, and violates their rights to work, to health, to bodily autonomy and to be free from violence.

UPR Submissions - 42nd session

The 42nd session of the Universal Periodic review begins on the 23rd of January 2023. The working group session will take place from 23 January to 3 February 2023. 13 Countries will be under review during the session: Czechia, Gabon, Benin, Switzerland, Argentina, Ghana, Guatemala, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka and Zambia. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI collaborated on reports for Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Switzerland and Zambia.

UPR Submissions - 43rd session

The 43rd session of the Universal Periodic review begins on 1 May 2023. The working group session will take place from 1 to 12 May 2023. 14 Countries will be under review during the session: France,Tonga, Romania, Mali, Botswana, the Bahamas, Burundi, Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Liechtenstein and Serbia. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI collaborated on reports for Romania and Botswana.

UPR adoption of Denmark

Sex work is deeply intertwined with the public and policy debate on immigration in Denmark. Many street-based sex workers in Copenhagen and other big cities are migrants and are subjected to intersectional discrimination, including xenophobic and racist violence. The anti-migrant, xenophobic and racist sentiment is also frequently expressed by political leaders and senior ranking government officials. Government funding continues to be drastically cut from many sex workers’ organizations and organizations supporting migrants. Absurd and inaccurate reasoning is often provided for these funding cuts, such as conflating sex work with “human trafficking and illegal migrant work.”  

UPR adoption of Mozambique

Patriarchy is pervasive and entrenched in Mozambican society. Women face restrictions and discrimination throughout their lifetime and in every sphere of life. The feminization of poverty and the greater incidence of HIV/AIDS without proper health care, prevent women from enjoying their rights. While important strides have been made by Mozambique as reported on during the UPR, much more still needs to be done.

A/HRC/29/23 Discrimination and violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity

The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 27/32, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to update the report of the Office of the High Commission on violence and discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity (A/HRC/19/41).

HRC35 Item 3: IE on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Human Rights Council – 35th session

Item 3: IE on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Thank you, Mr. President. Action Canada makes this statement on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative.

Sexuality and gender continue to be sites of oppression, discrimination, violence and subject to harsh religious, legal, political, economic and social control. They have become the sites of geopolitical contestation and are often leveraged to win elections, obscure or justify human rights abuses in other areas and cynically used to subvert the universality of human rights.

Response to the UN Women’s call on: “Consultation seeking views on UN Women approach to sex work, the sex trade and prostitution”

We are writing in response to UN Women’s call for submissions regarding UN Women’s policy on sex work. A number of sex workers’, women’s and human rights organizations have been engaging with UN Women for some months about this proposed policy, stressing the importance of a process that meaningfully engages with a broad range of sex workers’ and women’s rights organizations as essential to the policy development process.

UN Women’s Note on Sex Work, Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking

The views of UN Women on the subject are grounded in the relevant human rights principles and provisions, intergovernmental normative frameworks and the best available scientific and epidemiological evidence. UN Women is attentive to the important input of civil society across the wide spectrum of opinion that pertains to the subject.

Sarah Kennell, Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights, on Canada's UPR

Sarah Kennell (Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights) tells us about Canada's review at the UPR and the work done by Action Canada and the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform to call for better access to abortion care, comprehensive sexuality education, and decriminalization of sex work in Canada.

SRI submission to the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls on Deprivation of Liberty of Women and Girls

Deprivation of liberty of women and girls by the State, institutions and families is often the result of the need to control women and girls, accompanied by the fear of sexuality, its expression and assertion.

SRI collaborates with national organizations and activists in preparation for UPR30

The 30th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is taking place now until 18 May, 2018 at the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva. Fourteen countries will be reviewed during the session: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Canada, Cabo Verde, CameroonColombia, Cuba, Djibouti, Germany, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu and Uzbekistan.

SRHR Highlights from UPR26

Find out which human rights recommendations were accepted, noted or deferred by Haiti, Iceland, Lithuania, Moldova (Republic of), South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), and Zimbabwe during the latest UN Universal Periodic Review.

The 26th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was held at the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, from 31 October-11 November 2016.

Concern with UN Women’s Consultation on Sex Work

A fundamental principle of human rights is the equal right to participate in political and public affairs. This is guaranteed by Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as other several human rights instruments, and is a key component of a human rights based approach which seeks to eliminate marginalization and discrimination in the development of laws and policies.

HRC31: SRI Oral Statements

During the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council, the SRI collaborated with national-level organizations and advocates to deliver oral statements regarding outcomes from the Universal Periodic Review ‘s (UPR) of five countries:

HRC30 Event Highlights: Protection Gaps for Sexual Rights

On September 22nd, during the 30th session of the Human Rights Council, we co-hosted a side event to discuss protection gaps around sexual rights. The five panelists discussed the nature and causes of existing protection gaps in sexual rights, and gave recommendations to further protections for all individuals in the field of sexuality.

SRI hosts Human Rights Council Event on the ‘Criminalization of sexuality and reproduction’

Alongside the ongoing 26th session of the Council, the Sexual Rights Initiative, in partnership with, Ipas, Amnesty International and UNAIDS, hosted a parallel event examining the interplay of the criminalization of sexuality and reproduction with the international human rights framework.

“Black Day for Human Rights in India” CREA

Human rights activists across the country are deeply disappointed with today’s decision of the Supreme Court in Suresh Kumar Kaushal v. Naz Foundation to overturn the historic Delhi High Court judgement of 2009, which decriminalised homosexuality in India. CREA believes that today’s decision to set aside that historic and progressive judgement is an unconscionable blow to people’s fundamental rights to equality and freedom from discrimination, violence, and harassment. This is a huge setback not just for the LGBT movement in this country and elsewhere, but also for human rights everywhere.