International Sex Workers’ Rights Day is celebrated every year on March 3. Everywhere, sex workers face manifestations of stigma and discrimination, prejudiced attitudes, which are complicated by the current normative regulation in Ukraine. The presence of administrative and legal responsibility for engaging in sex work increases the vulnerability of sex workers in terms of protecting their rights.
In 2022, the REAct system recorded 2,900 complaints about the violation of the rights of key communities, of which 162 complaints related to the violation of the rights of sex workers. 96% of applications were received from women and 4% – from men.
Most often, the rights of sex workers are violated by police officers – 36%, direct clients – 16%, employees of state medical institutions – 12%, sexual partners – 6%, and unknown persons – 4%.
86% of registered cases were solved completely or partially. 93% of the provided services were received by clients at the place of their application to the REAct project documentator (for more details on the provided services, see the graph below).
REAct is a system for monitoring and responding to violations of the rights of key communities. If your rights have been violated, report it and get help!
Apply if:
- police officers demand money from you, force you to draw up/sign illegal protocols, conduct illegal searches;
- You are subjected to physical and psychological violence by the police (moral humiliation, insult, coercion to cooperate, coercion to sex, rape, etc.);
- one is trying to take away your child/deprive you of parental rights, referring to your type of activity;
- You are being blackmailed, intimidated or have your freedom restricted;
- You are refused medical services, referring to your type of activity.
You can get help from REAct specialists using chatbots and the Project website:
- Telegram – REACT_APH_bot
- Viber – Reactaph
- Website – https://react-aph.org/report-about-human-rights-violations/
Find more information about the work of the Project in the “Response stories” section at the link.