HRC 56: Women Deliver statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls

56th session of the Human Rights Council

Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls

Good afternoon. My name is Sabrina Sanchez, mexican trans woman, migrant in Europe and sex worker.

25 years ago, Sweden came up with their “End demand” approach model, now rebranded as “Equality model”, but it is the same old failed Swedish Model that is currently contested at European Court of Human Rights by 260 French sex workers, most of them migrants.

Evidence collected over 25 years by Amnesty International in Norway and Ireland, Médecins du Monde in France has consistently demonstrated that criminalisation as recommended by the SR VAW, has been responsible for increasing the economic vulnerability, worsening the quality of life of sex workers everywhere this system is implemented.

Through excessively enforced third party laws, sex workers working together for safety are routinely criminalised by authorities for illegal brothel-keeping, and ‘pimping’ each other, having their premises raided, their phones, computers and cash seized and not returned.

Sex workers also face evictions by landlords, who are often unaware of our activities in their premises, but under the Nordic Model police notify landlords and threaten them with charges unless they evict us.

How can this be a feminist approach and prevent violence against us in any way?

Sex workers need legal tools to defend ourselves, not more criminalisation of our lives.