Creator: Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT)
Description: Law reform for sex work has been in process for over a decade now. Many politicians say they can’t support decriminalisation of sex work because you – the public – don’t support change. This means that as many as 182,000 women and men who make a living selling sexual services in South Africa remain vulnerable to abuse and have no recourse if they experience violence. This video highlights the consequences of criminalizing sex work and what the decriminalization of sex work would do.
Creator: Pivot Legal Society
Description: For years Pivot Legal Society, Sex Workers United Against Violence, and the PACE Society have been fighting for the rights of sex workers. That fight led to intervention tactics in the Bedford case at the Supreme Court of Canada in June of 2013. On December 20th, 2013 the Supreme Court of Canada released a historic verdict.
Creator: New Zealand Prostitutes Collective (NZPC)
Description: This video outlines the process of successfully lobbying to decriminalise prostitution in New Zealand, which happened in 2003. The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective was actively engaged in lobbying and submitting briefs to Parliament, as well as ongoing in-person advocacy processes. NZPC also been actively involved in research and evaluation of the post-decriminalisation environment with academics, legal professionals, the Ministry of Justice, and the police. We provide outreach and advocacy for workers of the sex industry and the transgender street work community. NZPC has led the world in legislative reform and this is their story.
Creator: International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE)
Description: On the 17th of December, sex workers, their advocates, allies, friends and families gathered around the world to denounce all acts of violence against sex workers. In this video, sex workers from Serbia, Macedonia, Spain, Turkey and Romania talk about human rights violations they face in their countries. Agata Dziuban from ICRSE presents powerful evidence that states that sex work has to be decriminalised and sex workers must be involved and heard in order to achieve an effective global HIV response.
Creator: Rattapallax "DAVIDA"
Description: Brazilian sex worker activist Gabriela Leite challenges political correctness and explains why she likes the word "puta" (whore in Portuguese). At such a dark time in Brazil, Gabriela's brilliant commentaries and voice are absolutely necessary! Here, she talks about why she likes the word whore.
Creator: Rattapallax "DAVIDA"
Description: Gabriela Leite was the first sex worker to run for Brazilian Congress. A remarkable woman and Brazil's most well-known activist for sex worker rights, “A Kiss for Gabriela” tells the story of her 2010 campaign. In the film, Gabriela faces 822 opponents and challenges a male dominated political system to see if a sex worker, activist, wife, mother, and cultural icon since founding the clothing line, Daspu, can beat the odds and win the election.
Creator: Sonke Gender Justice
Description:People all over the world are coming together to talk about sex work and how we could change the law to improve the lives of people involved in sex work. This is good news for sex workers and others in South Africa who have been advocating for years for our government to remove the outdated criminal laws we have on sex work and to develop new policies and laws to protect sex worker rights. In recent years, lawmakers in Europe and other parts of the world have been talking a lot about The Swedish Model, a policy model first introduced in Sweden in 1999. This allows sex workers to sell sex without facing prosecution from the police, but their clients would be arrested and prosecuted for buying. This model is sometimes referred to as The Swedish or Nordic Model, partial criminalization of sex work, and partial decriminalization of sex work. The names might be different but the result is the same. People who buy sex are arrested and those who sell sex are encouraged into exit or rehabilitation programs. While this model is a bit better than the full criminalization of sex work in that it recognizes that sex workers are not criminals who need to be punished.