2. June World Whores' Day - Red light on!
Introduction
Sex work is not limited to women. There are also men and queer sex workers who offer sex services!
Whore
This expression may seem offensive, but a world without these ladies would undoubtedly be very dangerous. This is primarily due to men, but also to the bigotry of a society that legislates lust.
History
On 2 June 1975, more than 100 sex workers occupied the Saint-Nizier church in Lyon, France, to protest against their criminalized and exploitative working conditions. They put up a banner on the church tower and initiated a media campaign to draw attention to the precarious conditions worldwide.
The action attracted both national and international attention and led to a strike that spread to sex workers across France. This created a legacy of activism that is honored annually on International Sex Workers' Day - "International Whores' Day".
Among other things, the sex workers demanded an end to police harassment, the reopening of the hotels in which they worked and a proper investigation into the series of murders of sex workers. The action was supported by French sex workers across the country, who joined the eight-day strike in several churches in France.
This strike is considered the beginning of the whore movement!
Despite the nationwide reaction, the police were unwilling to deal with the demonstrators' complaints. Instead, they threatened increasingly harsh punitive measures. Eight days after the strike began, the police evacuated the church. Although the occupation and strike did not directly lead to legal reform, sex worker movement activists consider these events to be the catalyst that started the modern whore movement for sex workers' rights in Europe and the UK.
Every year on June 2, NSWP (Global Network of Sex Work Projects) focuses on the issue of access to justice on "International Sex Workers' Day". In order to make access to justice more accessible for sex workers worldwide, it is crucial to build on the experiences of the 1975 strike.
The initial action in Lyon and the subsequent nationwide strike highlighted the enormous strength of solidarity within the sex worker community. Days such as International Sex Workers' Day should therefore serve as a focal point to amplify the voices of the global whore movement and at the same time reaffirm the demands for fair access to justice.
Across the world, sex workers still face numerous challenges in accessing justice, both as victims of crime and as defendants. Due to the widespread criminalization of sex work, most sex workers are denied the benefits and rights of employment law and are subject to criminalization, deportation, imprisonment and legal sanctions.
Prostitution in Austria
Austrian Prostitutes Protection Act
There are many different views on the subject of prostitution: while some see it exclusively as sexualized violence against women, others view it as normal gainful employment.
In Austria, the aim is to create a clear, comprehensible legal framework for prostitution, as it seems unlikely that the situation for prostitutes will improve as a result of a ban on buying. Clear regulation of legal prostitution combats discrimination and promotes the identification of victims of human trafficking and violence through counseling and monitoring.
Prostitution is legal in Austria and regulated by law. The main components include the introduction of a licensing requirement for brothels, compulsory registration, health insurance and mandatory health counseling every 6 weeks (green card).
In Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Upper Austria and Vienna, the minimum age for sex workers is 18. In Carinthia, Lower Austria, Burgenland and Styria it is 19. The legal regulations vary from province to province. This fact alone makes it difficult to keep track of the rights and obligations of sex workers.
Legal and illegal prostitution
There are currently 3,300 women and 70 men officially registered in Vienna, 90 to 95% of whom have a migrant background. The number of unreported prostitutes is much higher. The extent of this illegal market is difficult to quantify. It is assumed that the illegal market is larger in urban areas than in rural areas, although overall it is smaller than the legal market in the respective regions.
In illegal prostitution, the problematic areas are human trafficking, violence, pimping and health risks.
Demand for more rights and decriminalization
Meanwhile, the symbolic significance of the protests in Lyon remains - the French "whore strike" is seen as the beginning of the global movement for the rights of sex workers, whose commitment is still extremely necessary today.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, LGBTI+ groups, sex worker associations, anti-trafficking organizations and UN collaborations such as the WHO and UNAIDS have been documenting the negative consequences of the criminalization of sex work for years.
On International Whores' Day, the demand for more rights and decriminalization is raised and a ban is spoken out against, as the conditions would only worsen.
Some links to counseling centers for sex workers
VIENNA
MA 15
VIENNA, Lower Austria, BGL
SOPHIE
LINZ
LENA
GRAZ
SXA INFO
SALZBURG
PIA
INNSBRUCK
iBUS
VILLACH
MOBILE CONSULTING
A list of advice centers can also be found at
https://www.gesundheit.gv.at/
"International Day for the Rights of Sex Workers"
Every year on March 3, there is another day of remembrance for sex workers, the "International Day for the Rights of Sex Workers". This takes place mainly in oriental countries and in India.
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