THIS MONTH’S FOCUS ON: KAZAKHSTAN


Liter Daily, Kazakhstan:

Rubber Batons: In Almaty the Police Fights Prostitution with the Help of Condoms

Almaty, 28 September, 2006 -- The law enforcement units named their raid “on-the-fly prophylaxis activity PIMP”. It was launched to unveil crimes connected to prostitution and people-trafficking. For six full days the operation was in full swing on the notorious “red light streets” – Saina Str. and Seifullina Str. in Almaty. Police crashed on hotels, saunas and rented apartments. Seven pimps and more than 400 sex workers were arrested. More

Legislation in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Sphere of Sex Services
-A short review-
By Vera Sergunina, Women’s Rights Center, SWAN Member from Kazakhstan

Currently, provision of sex services (prostitution) is not illegal in Kazakhstan, but at the same time there is no official definition of the status of commercial sex workers and no legal regulations of this sphere. The phenomenon exists, and the government admits this fact, but instead of an adequate recognition of commercial sex work and its legalization with all the consequences (taxation, human rights protection, etc.) the state continues to refer to it as an “antisocial behavior”. In spite of the fact that sex work is not prosecuted, the commercial sex workers (both females and males) are outlawed, which justifies the violation of their rights by customers, people in control of their business, as well as the police officers.
More

Voices for Legalization:

Kazakh Society is ready for Legalization of Prostitution (Excerpt)
By Daniyar Yenikeev, Public Committee for Legalization of Prostitution

www.zonakz.net, 21 August, 2006 -- The current bad working conditions of female sex workers require the state interference and an initiative to introduce regulatory mechanisms in this business. Sex workers need state’s help as their living conditions are not simply hard, but often monstrous and unbearable. We have to realize the fact that prostitution exists in modern society, and hence, our attitude toward the representatives of this ancient profession should be more liberal and loyal. Whether we want it or not, prostitution will always exist…. Our civic duty is to protect those women who cannot find the occupation in other spheres of life… Kazakh society is ready for the legalization of prostitution. This will play a positive role in the creation of a constitutional state.
More


… and Against it:

Legalization is Historically Unacceptable in Central Asian Countries (Excerpt)

Nomad, KZ, 23 August, 2006 -- “I am absolutely against this absurd idea”, Dos Kushim, the chairman of public association “Ult Tagdyry” comments on the initiative to legalize prostitution in Kazakhstan. “For Central Asian states it is historically unacceptable. I will agree with the claim that this evil is difficult to get rid of, practically it is impossible. You would need decades to do it. Hence, already today we have to work on improving moral values, culture, respect to the origins and traditions in our future generations. But to imitate the West only because it is so to say “more civilized”, that us is simply stupid. They might be developed, but not more cultured. Every nation has its rules, traditions and mentality. We ought to value our background. Otherwise we will lose our culture. We have our own way and we should not follow the others and make the same mistakes.”

Integral text (in Russian) available on: http://www.nomad.su/?a=8-200608230404

NEWS FROM THE SWAN NETWORK

The First SWAN Network Meeting Held in Budapest

On September 6-10, the first SWAN Network meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary. It was an opportunity for the SWAN Members to meet and get to know each other as well as to discuss the future of the Network. It was also a learning opportunity – part of the meeting was a seminar on working with media and advocacy for rights of sex workers. Participating were representatives of SWAN-member NGOs from 15 countries, as well as the technical coordinators of SWAN from the Hungarian Civil Liberty Union. Special guests were Rachel Thomas from the Sexual Health and Rights Program (SHARP) of the Open Society Institute in New York ( www.soros.org), and Petra Timmermans, Coordinator of the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe, an organization based in Amsterdam (ICRSE, www.sexworkeurope.org).

Impressions from the First SWAN Network Meeting

“The most useful and important experience for me was to meet other people, to get know each other. Beside that, the advices in working with media on this specific sex work issues, made the training even more exciting.” – Marian Ursan, ARAS-APAC, SWAN Member from Romania.

“Personally for me all presentations, discussions, material about media was useful and important, because I had a chance to improve not only my knowledge but also general understanding of media role in advocacy. SWAN meetings being an international event, some cultural programme of the hosting country would be great in the future.” - Lina Verseckaite, I Can Live Coalition, SWAN Member from Lithuania

“I learned new things and ideas for action regarding sex work and how could media deal with this issue. Some things were clarified and explained about the network and its role. The exchange with others was very useful, giving more insights and inspiration for further interventions.” - Genci Mucollari, Aksion Plus, SWAN Member from Albania

Declaration of the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe

One of the guests at the SWAN Network Meeting in Budapest was Petra Timmermans, Coordinator of the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE, www.sexworkeurope.org). The main goal of the Committee is to bring sex workers and their allies together on an international level so to further the social acceptance and respect for sex workers, to guarantee their civil rights, and to facilitate communication and advocacy against oppressive laws. Petra presented the Declaration of the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe, one of the cornerstone documents on human rights for sex workers, adopted by more then 200 delegates participating at the European Conference on Sex Work, Human Rights, Labour and Migration held 15 to 17 October in the building of the European Parliament in Brussels.
More

Seminars for Police Workers, Belgrade, Serbia

Association against AIDS – JAZAS, the SWAN member from Serbia, worked together with the Serbian Ministry of Interior to prepare a series of seminars under the title “Prevention of HIV/STI among Sex Workers”. The seminars are being organized during September and October in several main police stations in Belgrade, with an aim to sensitize law enforcement agency to the health issues surrounding street sex work. The interest seems to be huge, at the first workshop there were almost 100 participants. JAZAS prepared a new curricula for this two-day long event, using its own and experiences from abroad. “We are targeting police units that work on the street” – says Ana Krajnc, JAZAS Communications Officer – “We aim to engage the law enforcement agency to develop sensible and effective policies by considering health issues surrounding sex work. Sex work is illegal in Serbia and for example, condoms have often been used as an evidence material against sex workers.”

Contac person: Ana Krajnc, JAZAS, Serbia
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More about JAZAS
Website: www.jazas.net

New Outreach Program for Sex Workers in Albania

Aksion Plus, the SWAN member from Albania, has recently engaged one of its clients, a Methadone-using sex worker, in an outreach program towards sex workers in marginalized groups. At the moment it is a needs assessment, prior to launching harm reduction services (including Methadone treatment), peer and health education, distribution of condoms, and referral to other services for sex workers. Albania is a recipient of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) support, and Aksion Plus plans to start implementing GFATM by the end of this year. Street sex workers, especially in Roma and transgender communities, are often harassed by the police, practice unsafe sex in parks, under bridges and in other unhygienic venues. This small outreach project has more ambitious plans in the future. In the presence of the law that prosecutes sex workers, Aksion Plus is striving to at least support them by providing basic life-saving services. So far NGOs have been focused on trafficking, shelters for deported sex workers and similar. No services were available to active sex workers in Albania. Aksion Plus started similar activities with drug users in 2000 when the law was against harm reduction, but with a special agreement with the Ministry of Interior managed to launch a very successful program.

Contact person: Genci Mucollari, Aksion Plus, Albania
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More about Aksion Plus
Website: www.aksionplus.net

IN THE NEWS
Note: For the copyrights reasons, we are unable to place the full text of the selected articles on the SWAN-HCLU website. Instead, we are providing a link to the news source, for which we do not know how long it will be active. We apologize in advance for possible inconveniences.

www.Daijiworld.com, India: Sex Worker Bindu Reaches Out to Women in Flesh Trade MANGALORE, 10 August, 2006 - Bindu is the president of an association of 104 women, but is afraid to move around freely on the busy roads of Mangalore. Her fear is that the cops will pick her up and book her under a case. This is because she is a commercial sex worker (CSW). Out of over 500 CSWs operating in Mangalore, sensitized Bindu has formed the Nava Jeevan Mahila Sangha, a registered body, which has total membership strength of 104 members.
For the world, a sex worker has been branded as person with low levels of immorality, but the noble act of Bindu is far superior to the work of moneyed NGO’s.
…On the other hand Bindu tells her co-workers not to pay fine to the police but to go to court. “Now I know what to do when any of my members are arrested. “I go to court and with the help of a lawyer get them out on bail.”
More

Africa News, Netherlands:
Initiative to Legalize Prostitution in Uganda KAMPALA, 22 August, 2006 - The deputy speaker for the Ugandan parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, opened a can of worms when she told a delegation of Ghanaian MPs that legalizing prostitution must be discussed. ‘We think it is time that Parliament should consider a debate about the legality of sex workers and licensing them, but have to handle it diligently’, she said early August. Kadaga said legalizing prostitution would enhance HIV/Aids awareness and improve access to community based services and anti-retroviral drugs. However, this has not been met with positive response from some MPs and majority Ugandans.
More

Nepalnews, Nepal:

UNFPA to Intensify Efforts Against HIV/AIDS

KATHMANDU, 14 September, 2006 - The United Nations Population Fund will be leading the efforts of the UN system in the area of female sex work to intensify the HIV/AIDS response towards this vulnerable group and initiate efforts for the elimination of violence against female sex workers (FSW). The UNFPA will work to empower FSW and meet their sexual reproductive health needs.
"Female sex workers deserve a comprehensive package of services including reproductive health, legal and social services," said UNFPA Representative Junko Sazaki. More

Taiwan Headlines, Taiwan:
Sex Workers in Taiwan Demand Right to Work, Decriminalization of Prostitution TAIPEI, 22 September, 2006 - A group of prostitutes and advocates for the rights of sex workers denounced Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday for continuing to deprive prostitutes of their right to work and urged the Taipei City Government to re-legitimize prostitution. After then mayor Chen Shui-bian criminalized prostitution in 1997, the brothels in Wanhua District closed. But the ban, sex workers and advocates said, has driven prostitution underground, and the city government's clampdown on illegal prostitutes has left many in a severe plight and driven some to suicide.
More

The Daily Star,Bangladesh:
Sex Workers in Bangladesh Demand Right to Burial DHAKA, 25 August, 2006 - Sex workers yesterday demanded the right to burial or cremation of dead workers as per social and religious norms. They placed the demand at their third national conference organized by the Sex Workers' Network of Bangladesh (SWNB) at Mohammadpur in the city. They said they are being neglected in every sphere of life although they are citizens of this country. They also said they are being evicted from their houses and even being tortured by influential quarters. An 11-member new committee of SWNB was also formed at the conference attended by representatives from 29 sex workers' organizations.
More

The Daily Star, Bangladesh:
Sex Workers in Bangladesh Unite For Their Rights DHAKA, 27 August, 2006 -The country's estimated 60,000 or more sex workers started to unite against the persecution and social prejudices against them. The formation of a confederation called Sex Workers Network of Bangladesh (SWNB) in 2000 changed their outlooks. They organized the third national conference in the city last week, attended by representatives from 22 sex workers' organizations and talked freely about their rights.
More

San Francisco Bay Times, USA:
New Zealand MP Speaks Out On Human Rights and Sexual Freedom San Francisco, 24 August, 2006 - The first openly gay New Zealand Member of Parliament, Tim Barnett, made a special appearance at the LGBT Community Center on August 17, focusing on his political role impacting human rights and sexual freedom. MP Barnett discussed the need to decriminalize prostitution and safeguard the rights and dignity of sex workers, including those in the GLBT community. Barnett is noteworthy for having authored New Zealand’s Civil Union Act 2005, establishing the institution of civil union for same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Previously, he authored the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, decriminalizing prostitution and brothel-keeping for adults in New Zealand.
More

PUBLICATIONS

The First SWAN Media and Advocacy Toolkit
At the network Meeting held in the beginning of September in Budapest, SWAN members were presented the SWAN Media and Advocacy Toolkit, first in the series of similar publications that will aim to assist the Network members in working with media and in advocacy for rights of sex workers in their countries. The Toolkit, prepared by Nebojsa Radic, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union’s Communications Consultant, includes the topics and skills covered at the media and advocacy training held during the first Network Meeting. The next toolkit will be issued at the Second SWAN meeting, planned for spring 2007.
Download English or Russian version.

SEX WORKER INTERVIEWEES NEEDED

A call for sex workers from around the world to volunteer in giving anonymous interview to a book author. Please forward to those who might be interested in your country.
More

VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHY FROM 2006 IAC, TORONTO

Below please find websites with video and photography from the sex workers’ rally at the International AIDS Conference held in Toronto, in August 2006.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epq5Wp7g95M
Photography: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photopia/sets/72157594241452465/

CALL FOR FEEDBACK AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Dear readers,
The list of SWAN News subscribers is getting bigger by the day. Please let us know if you receive the News regularly (we hope we are not discarded as mass-mailing spam by your computer email filter?) and give us suggestions for improvement. If you have news or stories on the sex work issues that you think are interesting and/or relevant for the advocates and policy makers who receive the SWAN News, please send them to us. We will carefully read and seriously consider publishing them. Our email address is Indirizzo e-mail protetto dal bots spam , deve abilitare Javascript per vederlo . Thank you.

The Editor

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About us
SWAN newsletter is the voice of the Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network, a network of civil society organizations engaged in advocating the Human Rights of the sex workers in Central and Eastern Europe, CIS and South-East Europe.
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