Decrim now world news digest for November 2024

Sydney Brothel Strike, Protester Allegedly Assaulted

Australia, Sydney

November 14, 2024

Sex workers at an inner Sydney brothel went on strike late Friday night, marking what strikers claim is Australia’s first ever brothel strike. Workers demanded better working conditions, including better pay and a cleaner workplace environment, as well as the right to decide which services they provide to clients.

Former employees of the Penthouse club delivered letters, supported by 14 signatories, to the front desk, where protestors allege their demands were met with aggression.

“Today, we walk out – until our needs are met,” they wrote. “You raise your cut on extra services we provide, without a raise for the ones providing it. Dictating the services we provide, taking away our choice with our own bodies.”

Speaking to the Guardian, former contractor Iris Hues said the club changed their pricing structure and service menu, raising rates without increasing workers’ pay, and also penalised them with hidden fees and fines. The letters also addressed the unhygienic work conditions, which the protestors said were to blame for an outbreak of respiratory illnesses.

While some demands were met, others, such as the reinstatement of the 60/40 sex worker/business earning split, were ignored.

After delivering the letters, the workers entered the club’s bar area where a 21 year old holding a placard was allegedly assaulted in front of approximately 40 patrons and employees.

New South Wales police said they received reports of an alleged assault at a business on Pitt Street, with officers being told of an altercation between “a group of people and a man, before the group left the scene.”

Investigations are in progress.

Source portal cityhub.com.au

Sex workers’ group hits out at minister over delay in publishing review of sex work laws

Ireland, Dublin

November 24, 2024

The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) has said that a delay in releasing a review of anti-prostitution laws are “convenient” ahead of the election.

In a statement, SWAI has said that the review, promised by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to be published by the end of 2024, was now due to be released in early 2025.

The review was initiated to examine the consequences of new prostitution laws that decriminalised sex work, but criminalised the purchase of sex, and made brothel keeping illegal.

The review could result in Gardaí being given more powers to arrest and convict men who are paying for sex under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017.

The review was called for by Ruhama, a charity for survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation, and Minister McEntee confirmed in September that it would be ready in the coming weeks.

SWAI said its own study as shown a correlation between the laws and the rising levels of violence sex-workers are exposed to.

“Brothel-keeping laws criminalise shared workspaces, leaving sex workers vulnerable to eviction, exploitation, and homelessness,” the group said.

“Criminalisation isolates sex workers, limits access to peer support, and erodes trust in Gardaí, with only 1 percent of sex workers reporting crimes compared to 81 percent of the general population.”

The Ireland-based alliance criticised Ireland’s adoption of the Nordic Model of sex work laws in 2017 which does not allow for sex workers to live together in brothels “forcing workers to prioritise client safety over their own, exacerbating risks and undermining their autonomy.”

Spokesperson for SWAI, Linda Kavanagh, questioned workers’ ability to believe Minister McEntee’s word after being misled about the release date of the review report.

“We learned this news through the media, which has been a feature of this farcical process over the past four years,” she said.

“This review will be five years delayed come 2025. The can has been kicked down the road because there is a lack of political support, unlike other laws that have experienced strong public backing, such as the abortion law.

“However, this does not mean that health, safety, bodily autonomy, and lives are not at risk, just as they are at risk without access to abortion. Will the new government formed after November 29 ignore marginalised communities as much as the current one has?”

She said the Department of Justice has given assurances that sex workers were engaged in the review process.

"We await evidence of this claim because when we engaged with the former independent reviewer, who has since stepped back, we were informed that there was not enough time to consult more sex workers. That was in 2022.”

The alliance criticised what it said was the “deeply flawed legal framework” around sex work that “prioritises ideology over evidence.”

SWAI said the number of incidents of abuse and crime being reported to the app UglyMugs.ie by sex workers in the Republic of Ireland has greatly increased.

The app allows sex workers to report abusive or violent clients.

Ms Kavanagh said: “The Irish government’s inaction and contempt for sex workers’ lives is a disgrace – we will not stand by while their harmful laws continue to maim, silence, and kill.”

Source portal independent.ie

Belgium’s sex workers win maternity pay and pension rights in world first

Belgium. Brussels

November 30, 2024

Move by lawmakers hailed as ‘huge step forward’, ending legal discrimination against sex workers

Belgian sex workers have gained the right to sick days, maternity pay and pension rights under the first law of its kind in the world.

Lawmakers voted in May to give sex workers the same employment protections as any other employee, in an attempt to clamp down on abuse and exploitation.

The law, which went into force on Sunday, ensures that sex workers have employment contracts and legal protection.

It is intended to end a grey zone created in 2022 when sex work was decriminalised in Belgium but without conferring any protections on sex workers, or labour rights such as unemployment benefit or health insurance.

Under the law, sex workers have the right to refuse sexual partners or to perform specific acts and can stop an act at any time. Nor can they be sacked for these refusals.

Employers must be of “good character” with a business residence in Belgium; they must also ensure their premises are equipped with panic buttons, clean linen, showers and condoms.

The protections do not cover home working, or activities such as striptease and pornography.

The Belgian Union of Sex Workers described the law as “a huge step forward, ending legal discrimination against sex workers”.

But it said the rules could “be instrumentalised” to reduce or eliminate sex work. It added: “We already see certain municipalities hiding behind the words ‘safety’ and ‘hygiene’ to promulgate very strict local regulations that make sex work almost impossible on their territory.”

Source portal theguardian.com