CAMPAIGNS
Every year, STAR – The First Sex Workers Collective in the Balkans, joins the celebration of important international days to sex workers community. Joint action and organization of public campaigns, cultural events and marches is a key element in the process of advocating for sex work and raising public awareness for the recognition and promotion of sex workers’ human rights.
September 14th The International Sex Worker Pride Day
Sex Worker Pride Day – This day is celebrated on September 14th each year, and was initiatively launched by NSWP (The Global Network of Sex Work Projects) in 2019. This day celebrates sex workers’ self-determination and enhanced visibility and show the achievements of sex worker-led organisations. Sex Worker Pride extends to all marginalised by criminalisation, discrimination and stigma across the sex worker movement and celebrates the diversity within our community during International Sex Worker Pride.
March 3rd The International Sex Workers’ Rights Day
The International Sex Workers’ Rights Day – This day is celebrated on March 3rd each year to emphasize the importance and need for promotion of sex workers’ human rights, to fight against criminalization and receive legal protection from violence and abuse. This day’s history goes back to 2001, when over 25,000 sex workers gathered in India for a festival organized by a Calcutta-based group called Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Unstoppable Women’s Synthesis Committee). In 2002, Durbar invited organizations from around the world to join them in commemorating Sex Workers’ Rights Day on March 3rd.
June 2nd The International Sex Workers’ Day
The International Sex Workers’ Day – This day is celebrated on June 2nd each year in Europe and worldwide as a national movement to recognize and acknowledge sex work as a profession. This day’s history goes back to 1975, when over 100 sex workers occupied Saint-Nizier Church in Lyon, France, to express their anger about their criminalised and exploitative living conditions. On 10 June at 5 o’clock the Church was brutally raided by police forces.
December 17th The International Day to STOP Violence against Sex Workers
The International Day to STOP Violence against Sex Workers – This day is celebrated on December 17th each year to call attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers all over the globe. Inaugurated by Dr. Annie Sprinkle and started by the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, the first annual day was in 2003 and was held as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle, Washington. The killer said: “I wanted to kill as much as I could. I knew that no one would immediately report them missing, and even maybe they will never be reported. I collected prostitutes because I thought I could kill as much as I want without getting caught.” Gary Leon Ridgway was sentenced to life imprisonment and was fined $ 10,000 for each victim on December 18th, 2003.