12 April 2017

Political Critique: Sex Worker’s March in Ukraine: “We have the right to work”

March 3 has been recognized as International Sex Worker’s Day. The day became widely known after 2001, when more than 25,000 sex workers in India assembled to participate in a festival organized by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, which took place despite the efforts of prohibitionist groups to make authorities revoke their permission to hold the event.

This year, Ukrainians celebrated the day for the first time in history. The All-Ukrainian Legalife League, in participation with the Public Health Alliance, organized a demonstration in Kyiv to march along a route that passes three main governmental buildings in Kyiv: the Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the President’s Administration. The main demand of protest participants was to decriminalize sex work in Ukraine, or more specifically, to revoke the administrative punishment for prostitution provided in the Article 181-1 of the Administrative Code of Ukraine. [...]

Although the demand of this year’s march was to decriminalize sex work, the organizers and the participants, when asked about legalization, answer, “We will see.” It does seem, however, that legalization is the ultimate goal for them, with decriminalization only being the first step towards achieving it.

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