Sex Work and Sexuality

Walk in Our Shoes
A poster from organisation RedTraSex.

“How different it would be if for a moment health care providers could feel what we feel when we go to a hospital and are challenged…”

And so, the women sex workers of RedTraSex (Network of Women Sex Workers from Latin America and the Caribbean) developed Ponte en Nuestros Zapatos (re-edited 2015). Now, reaching out to a wider community, is the brand new English version Walk in our Shoes: Good Practices Guide for Health Care Staff (2016, translated by Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani). Yes, it is so brand new that it is not up on their website as yet, though we have permission to use it here.

By RedTraSex
April 18, 2016
Walk in Our Shoes
Why Being a Feminist Funder Means Supporting Sex Worker Activism
A group of women walking holding red umbrellas that cover their faces.

Sex work remains a highly contested issue. In most places in the world, societies and laws impose horrendous stigma and abuses on sex workers. But even within human rights movements there are disputes about whether sex work should be seen as labour or as exploitation…

By Barbara Lotti
April 18, 2016
Why Being a Feminist Funder Means Supporting Sex Worker Activism
Why We Need to Bridge the Gap between Sex Workers’ Movements and Abortion Rights Activism
A leafless tree with red umbrellas hung on its branches.

Abortion and sex work share the distinction of being topics on which even feminist activists sometimes find it difficult to remain non-judgmental, confronting feminists with the question: to what lengths are we really willing to go to respect and enable women’s choices and bodily autonomy?

By Kristin Francoeur and Surabhi Srivastava
April 5, 2016
Why We Need to Bridge the Gap between Sex Workers’ Movements and Abortion Rights Activism
क्या ‘धंधा’ (यौनकर्म) भी काम होता है? – भाग II
Six sex workers dressed up in sarees on a stage, smiling. Screen reader support enabled. Six sex workers dressed up in sarees on a stage, smiling.

सम्पादकीय नोट : इस लेख का पहला भाग अप्रैल के पहले संस्करण में प्रकाशित हुआ था सेक्स वर्कर के अधिकारों…

By Meena Saraswathi Seshu and Aarthi Pai
April 18, 2016
क्या ‘धंधा’ (यौनकर्म) भी काम होता है? – भाग II
क्या ‘धंधा’ (सेक्स वर्क) भी काम होता है? – भाग १
A protest by sex workers. They are wearing sarees, holding red umbrellas, and placards reading "Stop policing our morals", "Sexual rights are human rights".

किसी व्यस्क व्यक्ति द्वारा अपनी इच्छा से पैसों के भुगतान के बदले दी जाने वाली यौन सेवाओं को सेक्स वर्क (यौन कर्म या आम बोलचाल की भाषा में धंधा करना) कहते हैं। सेक्स वर्क की इस परिभाषा का कौन सा भाग ‘काम’ के बारे में हमारी सोच का उल्लंघन करता है? क्या पैसे के बदले दी जाने वाली सेवाएं? या फिर किसी व्यस्क व्यक्ति द्वारा पैसे के बदले दी जाने वाली सेवा? या, वयस्कों द्वारा आपसी सहमति से पैसे के बदले दी जाने वाली सेवा?

By Meena Saraswathi Seshu and Aarthi Pai
April 5, 2016
क्या ‘धंधा’ (सेक्स वर्क) भी काम होता है? – भाग १
मेरी अपनी बात
Five transgender people walking down on an Indian road. Someone behind them is carrying a placard "Save us from saviors". They are wearing bright-coloured sareers, gajras, bindis, and jewelery.

अनीता जो महाराष्ट्र में एक देवदासी हैं, के इस आत्म कथ्य से पता चलता है कि सहमति और हिंसा के मुद्दे हमेशा स्पष्ट और सीधे रूप में सामने नहीं आते। अनीता का कथ्य बताता है कि जीवन की कई परिस्थितियों में वो अपना रास्ता खुद मर्ज़ी अनुसार चुन पाई हैं ।

By Anita
April 5, 2016
मेरी अपनी बात
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