Policy Demands: The impact of COVID-19 on sex workers in Europe and Central Asia and recommendations for Policy Makers

The International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE), a network of more than 100 organisations supporting sex workers has published its demands to European institutions and national governments, including emergency income replacement, a moratorium on fines, arrests and prosecution related to sex work and immigration status, access to health care for all and regularisation of undocumented migrants.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on European societies, many organisations ring the alarm on the exclusion of the most marginalised people such as migrants, homeless people and precarious workers from current governmental measures and European policies. Some states have rightfully implemented actions, such as emergency housing, income substitution and regularisation of migrants. However, sex workers, most of them working in the informal economy due to the criminalised and stigmatised nature of the work, have in many countries been completely excluded from social and economic aid. In the absence of European Commission and government attention, sex worker organisations started to self-organise to provide direct support to sex workers - distributing food parcels, cash to cover accommodation and basic necessities - as well as offering emotional and administrative support to each other and formulating their common demands to policy makers across borders.