CSW70 – Join Our Working Group

January 27th, 2026 · · Events Comments Off on CSW70 – Join Our Working Group - Tags: ,

As we prepare for the 2026 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) we invite advocates and organizations committed to the rights of sex workers to join our working group. The group is managed by the Sex Worker Coalition and draws on the access provided by one of our members’ ECOSOC status to apply for events and submit statements. Join us.
Sign up here:  https://forms.gle/L2D2EzuT36cuuvYW8
The direct email for the working group is swrworkinggroup@gmail.com

Please take a moment to read over our statement sent in advance of the CSW70 to UN Women. This will explain more about sex workers’ long term engagement with UN Women and why you should join us in the work we are doing.

Sex workers and trans folks have advised the Commission on the Status of Women of key issues communities are confronting in the United States and globally. In March 2026, the Commission will discuss “[e]nsuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.” The Commission will also review five year progress towards, “[w]omen’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls (agreed conclusions of the sixty-fifth session).”

We submitted a 1500 word statement via BPPP, stating that, “justice cannot exist in spaces where fear, stigma, and criminalization persist. To achieve equality, we must build systems that see, hear, and protect every woman and girl including those society has pushed to the margins.” Read the full report here or download the report as a pdf.

BPPP signed on to a collective statement by the LGBTI Caucus. The caucus stated that, “[e]nsuring access to justice, participation, and protection from violence requires deliberate attention to the lived experiences of LBTI+ persons, reflected in national laws, global policies, and multilateral mechanisms.” Download the LGBTI Caucus report as a pdf.

AIDS2026: Rio

January 12th, 2026 · · Conferences Comments Off on AIDS2026: Rio - Tags:

Right now communities all over the world are facing instability and rights violations due to the impact of US policies on immigrants, trans folks, immigrants, sex workers, people with disabilities and BIPOC folks. We encourage readers to access our reports to the United Nations about these issues and our art published in our magazine. Our organizing as sex workers and trans folks continues and we plan to bring our materials to the International AIDS Conference in Rio, to connect and share. For those who cannot travel, we will plan ways to connect with you virtually and/or come to you.

Sex workers everywhere organize to address the impact of HIV/AIDS.  Representatives and advocates for sex workers and trans people choose to attend the International AIDS Conference so that accurate information can be provided to our communities.  As sex workers and trans people, we also attend this conference because it is one of the very few opportunities we have to network with our colleagues from all over the world, form new connections to learn and to inspire.  We have supported sex workers’ and trans folks’ attendance at the International AIDS Conference for more than 25 years and are here to help our community as much as we can.

The International AIDS Conference is a very large event and can be daunting.  Sex workers have organized protests and actions about specific issues at the conference over the years and have demanded change from the conference itself.  If issues arise that you would like to address at the AIDS2026 you can email (hivaidsbppp@gmail.com) at any time and we will do our best to connect you with the information you need.

This year the International AIDS Conference will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from July 26 to 31, 2026.  The conference can be attended in person or virtually.  The AIDS2026 conference will include people living with, affected by and working with people living with HIV. A major concern being raised by all communities is the unprecedented funding crisis and major cutbacks to HIV programs.

Apply to present your work or organize a workshop at the Global Village – Applications are due January 27, 2026. The exact time applications are due on that day is unknown, so get your application in as early as possible.

Apply to present your work via an abstract submission – This process opens November 2025 and closes January 27, 2026. For additional information about abstract submission contact the AIDS2026 abstract team at the International AIDS Society. Our community is often shut out of the main conference as abstract presenters.

Scholarships – Scholarship applications open November 20, 2025 and close January 27, 2026.  We recommend getting your application in the day before to avoid any confusion with the AIDS2026 system closing early across time zones (many people have missed out in the past because the system closed early, don’t miss your chance to go to Rio). Applications are accepted through conference accounts only.  Use this link to sign in or create an account or use this direct link https://profile.aids2026.org/. Check out our webinar recording from 2018 with tips about how to apply and be successful. When will you hear about the outcome of your application? Scholarship recipients are usually announced in early April.

Media scholarships and registration – opportunities exist for representatives of the media for both scholarships and registration (cheaper or free). https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026/media/registration

Key dates from the conference are listed at https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026/about/key-dates

Find a complete list of opportunities at AIDS2026 at the drop down menu at https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026

Want to learn more about International AIDS Conferences from the past and/or more about the ways in which sex workers are kept out or limited at this event, please check out our links from previous years.

AIDS2024 in Munich

Navigating AID2022 (first steps) by Beyonce K

Navigating AIDS2020 (first steps)

HIV2020: why? how?

Sex Workers Unite for AIDS2018

Being Heard at the United Nations

October 31st, 2025 · · Art, Campaigns Comments Off on Being Heard at the United Nations

Apparently the United States of America has pulled out of the Universal Periodic Review of our country’s human rights record. We will not be silenced.

We are hosting an in person event inside the United Nations in Geneva to share about our survey, our reports and to launch BEING HEARD, a magazine filled with art, commentary, poetry and resistance by sex workers and trans people.

The magazine will be distributed in a limited print run during the side event. Download the PDF here.

Where – Room VIII, United Nations Geneva

When – Noon in Geneva until 1.30 pm, 6 November 2025

This event will not be live streamed but we will create a recording and upload it later.

CSW70 Statements Submitted

October 10th, 2025 · · Reports Comments Off on CSW70 Statements Submitted - Tags: ,

Sex workers and trans folks have advised the Commission on the Status of Women of key issues communities are confronting in the United States and globally. In March 2026 (next year), the Commission will discuss “[e]nsuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.” The Commission will also review five year progress towards, “[w]omen’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls (agreed conclusions of the sixty-fifth session).”

The Sex Workers Rights Coalition submitted a 1500 word statement via BPPP, stating that, “justice cannot exist in spaces where fear, stigma, and criminalization persist. To achieve equality, we must build systems that see, hear, and protect every woman and girl including those society has pushed to the margins.” Read the full report here or download the report as a pdf.

The Best Practices Policy Project signed on to a collective statement by the LGBTI Caucus. The caucus stated that, “[e]nsuring access to justice, participation, and protection from violence requires deliberate attention to the lived experiences of LBTI+ persons, reflected in national laws, global policies, and multilateral mechanisms.” Download the LGBTI Caucus report as a pdf.