Sex Work and Racism
In April, the European Sex Workers Rights Alliance (ESWA) published Sex Work & Racism: Historical Overview of Racism in Anti-Sex Work, Anti-Trafficking and Anti-Immigration Legislation in Europe, a community report that offers a historical overview of the racist and colonial origins that underpin current anti-immigration, anti-sex work, and anti-trafficking (ASWTI) laws in the region. To do so, ESWA conducted a literature review on the history of sexualised racism in the European context and racism in global and national sex work policies and laws.
Racialised people are an important yet frequently overlooked group of sex workers in Europe. They experience daily racism as a result of North American chattel slavery, colonialism, and militarised prostitution. The report traces how the racism and discrimination experiences by racialised sex workers, many of whom are also undocumented migrants, is rooted in a socio-political landscape that includes anti-sex work, anti-trafficking, and anti-immigration (ASWTI) laws and policies. It concludes with a number of general recommendations aimed at policymakers, civil society, and other actors, as well as specific recommendations for the European Commission.
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