Decrim now world news digest for June 2026

Vancouverites march in solidarity with sex workers as World Cup anxieties loom

Canada, Vancouver

June 6, 2026

Officials launched programs to prevent crimes such as human trafficking from happening during the World Cup. However, at a march in solidarity with sex workers in Vancouver on Saturday, people say that different measures should be taken.

The protest was joined by hundreds of people as they demand safety, rights, and respect for the workers.

“We have been seeing more violence in the community than we have ever seen before,” said Angela Wu, executive director of SWAN Vancouver. The organization supports migrant sex workers.

Wu adds that Canada’s legal landscape is to blame for the rise in violence, because it pushes sex workers away from seeking help.

“What that means is that they’re really reluctant to go to the police when they need help, and unfortunately, predators know that, so we’re seeing more people being emboldened to target sex workers,” she explained.

SWAN Vancouver says that reaching out for help is harder than ever, with multiple organizations being forced to shut down or scale back operations in the past year due to major funding shortfalls.

The organization itself has had to temporarily shut down its office. It says that the heightened police presence Downtown Vancouver ahead of and during the World Cup frightens its users, which other advocates say is indicative of a larger trend.

“Pushed out of their neighbourhoods, pushed out of safe spaces, it’s definitely affecting street-based sex workers in a really traumatic way,” said Philip Palendat, program manager at Vancouver Sex Work Community Alliance.

Along with the displacement that’s coming with the World Cup, advocates say human trafficking awareness campaigns have been counterproductive.

Among others, multiple police departments launched a human trafficking app last month.

According to the RCMP, it aims at “helping frontline workers and the public recognize real-world signs of human trafficking and feel confident in what they’re seeing so they can act when something doesn’t feel right.”

Additionally, police launched a billboard campaign across Vancouver.

They argue that it contributes to stigmatization, something the community can ill afford.

“Especially leading up to FIFA, we know that the call for sex workers is going to rise exponentially and so will the violence towards them and women in general,” Musqueam activist Audrey Siegl told CityNews.

It’s against this backdrop of anxiety that those in the march say officials need to get serious about providing funding to front-line organizations and treating sex work like work.

“Sex work has always existed, but it doesn’t have to exist in dangerous ways,” Siegl added.

Source portal vancouver.citynews.ca

’Victims, Not Offenders’: Group Representing Sex Workers’ Rights in India Welcomes Landmark SC Order on Trafficking

India, Kolkata

June 14, 2026

The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a collective of over 60,000 sex workers in Bengal, has welcomed the landmark judgment by the Supreme Court on May 29 in which it introduced, for the first time, a victim protection plan for those who have suffered commercial sexual exploitation.

Under the ruling, trafficking victims will be treated as victims rather than offenders, something that Sunitha Krishnan, the founder of the pioneering anti-trafficking non-governmental organisation Prajwala, has noted is one of the most significant aspects of the ruling.

Prajwala is the litigant in this two-decade-long case.

The DMSC has echoed Krishnan’s words in noting that conflating trafficking with sex work obscures the lived realities of both trafficked persons and adult women who voluntarily engage in sex work.

Drawing upon the principles articulated in the 2022 Budhadev Karmaskar judgment, in which DMSC was a party, the Supreme Court has once again emphasised that trafficking and consensual adult sex work are distinct realities. DMSC has long argued that conflating trafficking with sex work obscures the lived realities of both trafficked persons and adult women who voluntarily engage in sex work. Such conflation often leads to ineffective interventions, violations of rights, and misplaced policy responses. The Court’s recognition that the rights and dignity of trafficking victims and those of voluntary adult sex workers must both be protected is therefore a welcome and progressive development.

The judgment also acknowledges that while victims of trafficking have a right to protection and rehabilitation, such rehabilitation cannot be imposed through coercive rescue, detention, or institutionalisation of consenting adults. The requirement that authorities undertake meaningful inquiries regarding age, consent, and individual circumstances before intervention is an important safeguard against arbitrary actions that have often caused further trauma and disruption in the lives of adult sex workers.

DMSC is particularly encouraged by the Victim Protection Plan outlined by the Court. Several of its principles resonate with the work of DMSC’s Self-Regulatory Boards, which have for many years sought to identify minors and trafficked persons, assess individual circumstances, and ensure that all decisions affecting their lives are guided by consent, dignity, and respect for agency.

In the statement DMSC also noted:

“While we wholeheartedly welcome this pathbreaking judgment, we remain conscious that judicial recognition must be accompanied by effective implementation. Sex workers continue to face discrimination and barriers in their interactions with police authorities, welfare institutions, healthcare systems, educational establishments, and financial services. Future reforms concerning sex work, trafficking, rehabilitation, and social protection must be developed with the meaningful participation of sex workers themselves. The principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us” remains central to our vision.

We remain committed to working with governments, institutions, civil society organizations, and communities to advance responses that uphold rights, combat trafficking, and promote equality, dignity, and justice for all. The journey towards equality and recognition is far from complete. However, this pathbreaking judgment gives us a chance to move ahead with confidence.”

Source portal thewire.in

Hochul extends free healthcare program for sex workers

USA, New York

June 20, 2026

Gov. Kathy Hochul has quietly extended a pilot program providing free healthcare to sex workers – with taxpayers footing the nearly $2.5 million bill.

The state Health Department in 2023 awarded $1 million in public funds to two contractors as part of Hochul’s plan to help the “world’s oldest profession,” but new documents reviewed by The Post show the program extending through June 2028, with $1.5 million more in costs.

Under the initiative, sex workers in NYC and the Buffalo area will continue to receive primary, sexual, behavioral, and dental care.

As part of the pilot program, Callen-Lorde and EHS Inc./Evergreen Health will continue to receive yearly payments of $250,000 to provide sex workers access to medical care via the Health Department’s AIDS Institute.

The original deal expired last year, but the Health Department put out a legal notice in September saying “additional time is needed to evaluate the program.”

The vendors received the extra work without competitive bidding because it “was not feasible in this instance,” the notice said.

Callen-Lorde – who calls itself a “global leader in LGBTQ+ healthcare” — endorses the decriminalization of sex work, according to its website.

The Health Department defended the extension, insisting in a statement that “all New Yorkers deserve access to quality, barrier-free health care,” and that” the only thing driving the department’s decisions are what is best for public health and safety of New Yorkers.” 

Source portal nypost.com

Sex workers criticise ‘ill-informed’ content creators

India, Bengaluru

June 24, 2026

The actions of irresponsible reporters and ill-informed content creators have resulted in the harassment of street-based sex workers, say activists. Sensitisation of the general public, including media personnel, to sex workers’ issues, their rights, and dignity is an urgent need, they say.

Last month, a YouTuber posted a video of herself accosting sex workers soliciting on a road in Bengaluru and hurling abuses at them on camera. Her video went viral with commenters praising her for her feat. This is only one among a spate of videos posted by content creators on Facebook and YouTube. Sex workers and activists Metrolife spoke to say it is a violation of their rights and privacy.

 Financial support

“Many women who are into this profession are supporting their entire family. Quite often, family members are not aware of their profession. A number of women contemplated suicide after such videos went viral because the creators did not blur their faces. We then filed a complaint with the cyber crime department,” said Reena (name changed) of Sadhana Mahila Sangha, which works for the rights of street-based sex workers. It currently has around 700 members.

Source portal deccanherald.com

Round-table debate puts Luxembourg’s sex-work laws under scrutiny

Luxembourg

June 29, 2026

A round-table discussion in Luxembourg City has reopened debate over whether the country’s current laws adequately protect sex workers and reflect the realities of the sector.

Prostitution remains a largely overlooked reality in Luxembourg, raising unresolved legal, social, and health questions.

These were at the centre of a round-table discussion held on Wednesday at ErwuesseBildung in Luxembourg City, where representatives of the Luxembourg Red Cross, the University of Luxembourg, and the Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CCDH) examined the country’s current legal framework and the position of sex workers within Luxembourg society.

"Luxembourg has adopted a neo-abolitionist model. It penalises clients and regards prostitutes as victims", said Jessica Lopes, who moderated the discussion and is vice-president of the Association for the Support of Migrant Workers (ASTI).

The model was strongly criticised for its limited effectiveness in practice. In reality, clients are rarely penalised in Luxembourg, while prostitutes are often left to fend for themselves, they explained.

Many lack any recognised status or valid papers and therefore have no access to social security.

Those who do gain access have often had to find ways around the system. To account for their income, "some present themselves as massage therapists or performers", they explained. Others remain in precarious circumstances, leaving them even more exposed to the risks associated with their work.

Combined with a relationship of mistrust towards the police, this can create conditions in which pimps and sexual offenders frequently escape detection.

"The legal framework does not encourage people to speak out", said Salomé Lannier, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Luxembourg.

She explained that clients can sometimes help prevent crimes connected with prostitution and pimping.

"Clients sometimes raise the alarm when they realise they may be dealing with a minor", Lannier said. "That is not possible in a system based on penalising the client."

She has examined approaches adopted abroad, including in the Netherlands, Germany, and, in particular, New Zealand, where prostitution has been decriminalised and regulated. According to Lannier, the results have been relatively encouraging.

In Luxembourg, the latest bill seeking such a change was submitted by MP Fernand Kartheiser of the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR). He argued that prostitution should be legalised as a form of self-employment.

The Council of State expressed several reservations, while the Chamber of Commerce raised questions about how such a system would be implemented and what consequences it might have.

At present, no new legislation is planned to legalise or regulate prostitution in the Grand Duchy. Luxembourg’s most recent National Prostitution Action Plan dates back to May 2016, while the last major field study was conducted in 2007.

"Perhaps it is time to put the subject back on the table", Lopes concluded at Wednesday evening’s discussion.

Source portal today.rtl.lu