{"id":6103,"date":"2011-03-16T12:36:45","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T19:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/?p=6103"},"modified":"2011-03-22T14:05:23","modified_gmt":"2011-03-22T21:05:23","slug":"us-makes-historic-move-to-recognize-human-rights-of-sex-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2011\/03\/16\/us-makes-historic-move-to-recognize-human-rights-of-sex-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"US makes historic move to recognize human rights of sex workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great news for advocates of sexual health, human rights, and social justice! See my story below (first posted March 15, 2011 at Ms Magazine Blog):<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Recently<\/a> I blogged about how the United Nations\u2019 Human Rights Council flagged sex worker rights in its periodic review of the United States\u2019 human-rights record. Member state Uruguay recommended that the U.S. \u201censure access to public services paying attention to the special vulnerability of sexual workers [sex workers] to violence and human rights abuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within four months of Uruguay\u2019s recommendation to the U.S., and after a subsequent flurry of advocacy efforts by sex worker activists, researchers, and allies (including me), the State Department has released\u00a0its response<\/a>. To each of the 228\u00a0Universal Periodic Review<\/a>recommendations, the State Department replied in one of three ways: \u201cfully support,\u201d \u201cpartially support\u201d or \u201cdo not support.\u201d<\/p>\n

In what is being heralded as a victory for sex workers\u2019 rights, the State Department chose to \u201cfully support\u201d Uruguay\u2019s recommendation, stating: \u201cNo one should face violence or discrimination in access to public services based on sexual orientation or their status as a person in prostitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

This simple statement marks a potential monumental shift in U.S. policy: a new recognition that anti-trafficking policy alone is not an adequate response to the human rights violations of all sex workers. There is\u00a0mounting evidence<\/a> that current anti-trafficking policy ignores (and even exacerbates)\u00a0 human rights violations of adult, consensual sex workers and of people working under coercive or trafficked conditions.<\/p>\n

Members of my group, Human Rights For All: Concerned Advocates for the Rights of Sex Workers and People in the Sex Trade (HRA) were ecstatic. \u201cPeople in the sex trade have been marginalized and stigmatized when seeking public services, including through law enforcement. This is a big step forward to acknowledging sex workers\u2019 human rights,\u201d\u00a0says<\/a> Kelli Dorsey, Executive Director of\u00a0Different Avenues<\/a>, a group dedicated to reproductive justice by and for girls and women of color.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were long overdue for the United States to take the needs of sex workers seriously, particularly the need to stem violence and discrimination,\u201d says attorney Sienna Baskin, Co -Director of the\u00a0Sex Workers Project<\/a> at the Urban Justice Center in New York.<\/p>\n

On Friday, March 18, sex workers will stage demonstrations in cities across the country to celebrate the adoption of Recommendation #86. For further information on the demonstrations, as well as supporting documents, see the\u00a0HRA website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Links:<\/p>\n