HELP OF DATACHECK: A COMMUNITY IN DEFENSE OF SEX WORKERS’ RIGHTS

The sex worker community of Ukraine continues to share and use DataCheck, a system for recording and responding to human rights violations.

According to our surveys among SWs, the percentage of SWs facing violations of their rights during the war increased from 56% at the beginning of the war to 62% in the second year of the war. Almost half of those we surveyed admit that the war and its consequences have negatively affected their ability to defend their rights.

More than 120 paralegals from all key populations vulnerable to HIV (PLHIV, MSM, PWID, sex workers, trans* people, former prisoners, women living with HIV, adolescents living with HIV, people with or who have had tuberculosis) and primary and secondary legal aid lawyers are connected to the Datacheck Ukraine system to provide assistance to those whose rights have been violated.

Among them, 10 regional paralegals are the leaders of our community, who are dealing with violations of sex workers’ rights in the following regions of Ukraine: Vinnytsia, Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Cherkasy, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Lutsk, Kyiv, and Rivne.

Our paralegals record appeals from sex workers about violations of their rights and provide legal assistance to sex workers if they need it. Most often, SWs are facing refusals to provide services in state institutions, delays in the process of registering social benefits, and demanding charitable contributions for the opportunity to receive services.

During the first half of 2023, the network of paralegals of CO "LEGALIFE-UKRAINE" recorded 184 appeals from SWs in DataCheck system.  Of these, 91 SWs received paralegal assistance and decided to defend their rights. Also, paralegals helped for 2 SWs to restore their lost documents (passports, birth certificates, etc.), and at the same time almost 100 SWs got compensations for transportation costs and help to get to medical and social institutions and receive appropriate services.

The DataCheck application was created by CO "100 PERCENT LIFE" with the support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as part of the project "Accelerating Progress in Reducing the Burden of Tuberculosis and HIV in Ukraine".

Activities to develop a network of paralegals are implemented by CO "Legalife-Ukraine" with the support of CO "100 PERCENT LIFE" and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

To expand the types of services for our community, CO “LEGALIFE-UKRAINE” was able to attract additional funding:

  -  to provide emergency assistance to SWs in the regions, namely to provide temporary housing and transport to SWs affected by military operations in Ukraine.

  -  to conduct a qualitative study of the impact of the war on the social and legal situation of SWs, who stayed in Ukraine and those, who left the country (this was conducted in partnership with the SWAN network of sex workers).

  - to involve psychologists and to develop a handbook with tips for SWs on how to avoid violence, including how to behave in situations of aggression from military clients.

If you are a member of sex worker community of Ukraine, you can contact our representatives/paralegals in different regions of Ukraine through the Hotline for sex workers.

HOTLINE: +38 (050) 450 777 4, +38 (067) 450 777 4

BY CALLING, YOU CAN TALK TO A LAWYER BY PHONE OR GET CONTACTS OF PARALEGALS IN YOUR REGION WHO WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE ON THE SPOT

[Paralegal aid is primary legal assistance in cases of rights violations provided by specially trained paralegals. Paralegals are people who have undergone special training and can provide primary legal aid in cases of rights violations].