FEMM I

Introduction 

Sex worker labour rights greatly differ between Member States. Despite this diverse approach to its regulation, it is undeniable that various forms of sex work are present within all EU Member States. In regard to current legislation, a study conducted at the request of the European Parliament’s FEMM committee clustered two approaches to relevant legislation as either having a legalised or prohibited approach.² The former is present in countries such as Germany, The Netherlands and Latvia, in which most forms of sex work is legal. However, the regulations of each Member State within this “Macro Group” vary.³ The latter presents the same challenges in which there is varied prohibitive legislation in regard to the selling or buying or sex work, criminilasing either the worker or the buyer, or in some cases, both. 

A significant development in this field is present in Belgium as they are the first Member State to allow sex worker’s employment contracts and access to labour rights equal to those offered in other professions. The decision follows the decriminalisation of sex work in Beligum in 2022 with new legislation aiming to combat cases of assault and exploitation within the industry.⁴ Belgian news articles state these contracts will now ‘provide social coverage and adherence to rules regarding working house and remuneration’. Additionally, they will also provide access to health and parental benefits, paid leave and pensions.⁵⁶

Social Protection

The current standing of sex workers across the EU sees them frequently ‘subjected to punishment, blame and social exclusion for being seen to transgress social, sexual and gender norms’.⁷ Due to this stigma labelleing sex work as ‘shameful and dishonourable’, sex workers often hide their involvement in sex work as a way to protect themselves from public shaming for themselves and their families.⁸ This restricts sex workers in their access to housing, education or childcare as these often require proof of employment.⁹ Whilst groups such as the European Sex Worker’s Rights Alliance (ESWA) vouch for the equal treatment of sex work amongst other professions, mentioning all aspects of the trade from marketing to safe spaces, anti sex work groups such as the European Women’s Lobby state that ‘[the] system of prostitution allows for men’s use of and control over women’s bodies and sexuality’, claiming that ‘being in prostitution leads in itself to a situation of violence’, predominantly by men.¹⁰

Access to Public Services

This stigmatisation is also seen in sex worker’s access to public services such as healthcare and law enforcement. A study conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) found that sex workers who had experienced repressive policing—such as recent arrests, imprisonment, displacement from their workplace, extortion, or violence by law enforcement—were three times more likely to experience sexual or physical violence from any source, including clients, partners, or individuals posing as clients. Additionally, these individuals were twice as likely to be living with HIV or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) compared to sex workers who had not been subjected to such policing practices.¹¹

This also plays a role in sex workers’ access to external healthcare. At the interpersonal level, this involves the stigmatizing attitudes of healthcare professionals and their insufficient understanding of the specific healthcare needs of sex workers. On a structural level, there is a shortage of comprehensive services beyond STI care, especially in areas like mental health. Additionally, the complex bureaucratic systems of Member States, for instance Germany, creates numerous barriers, which are particularly challenging for migrant sex workers who have limited knowledge of the state specific system. A study conducted in 2024 highlighted these main barriers as: health insurance, language barriers, bureaucracy, mobility and discrimination. It further went on to note that both sex workers’ organisations and relevant medical organisations saw that ‘health services should be anonymous, voluntary and non discriminatory; […] and available to sex workers without health insurance.’¹²

Labour Protection

With new forms of gentrification being seen within local communities where sex work is socially acceptable, the reduction of tippelzones is seeing an increase in the displacement of sex work into unconventional spaces. The idea of tippelzones was to offer public spaces (i.e street sex work) specifically intended for sex workers of ‘complex intersecting social and economic needs’.¹³ This includes but is not limited to: drug users, transgender sex workers, and those who cannot or choose not to work through organised groups i.e windows, brothels or through agencies. The Netherlands has seen the closure of four tippelzones and it is assumed that those who benefited from these spaces have either stopped sex working or changed their mode of work.¹⁴ A lack of adequate labour protection has incited that sex workers are unable to earn income when not working, leaving those who have chosen to leave the profession in financial hardship. This lack of labour protection continues into other aspects such as since the beginning of labor organising, sex workers have been excluded from trade unions, leaving them unprotected in their line of work and unable to create their own.¹⁵ With many sex workers having either never signed a contract or been offered a “phony” contract, there is often a lack of proof of employment or formal income. As a result, sex workers seldom have access to welfare benefits or the work-related social and financial protections typically available in standard employment, such as accident compensation, sick leave, parental leave, paid vacation, pension benefits, or disability allowances. Instead, they are required to cover these expenses on their own.¹⁶

Additionally, due to the criminalisation of organised or managerial involvement in sex work, third parties ‘tend to focus on protecting and increasing profits rather than the safety and wellbeing of sex workers’. More often than not this results in placing the blame for any illegal activity onto the sex worker themselves.¹⁷

Fundamental Challenges 

Any regulation or legislative measure regarding sex work in its entirety falls under the exclusive competence of Member States. With this comes the root of the diversity of sex work legislation across the EU. This is seen as not only a reflection of Member States’ historical and cultural background, but also to the current local state of affairs, primarily the priorities of the governments in power. Stakeholders both internal and external to EU institutions advocate for the framing of sex worker policy to fall within linked areas where the EU does have competence; including gender equality, violence against women, human trafficking and the free movement of services.¹⁸ However, in regards to the implementation and consultation of sex work related policy, ‘sex workers in all their diversities and their representative organisations must be duly consulted and included in the […] process’.¹⁹ As the actor who any change in legislation will affect, the opinions of sex workers must be at the root of all decision making. 

With the difference in legislation there is an introduction of increased sexual trafficking with the EU which acts against the exact human right violations that the EU aims to counteract and eradicate. Within the EU, 41.1% of victims of trafficking have been identified as victims of sexual exploitation.²⁰ This is introduced through organised criminals who, in assessing the weight of their actions in comparison to national legislation, ‘“shop” national legislations that facilitate their criminal activities’.²¹ This is due to some policies carrying less criminal costs in comparison to others, thus providing less of a risk for human traffickers. However, in the process of prosecuting human traffickers comes the risk of limiting voluntary prostitution. It should also be noted that most clients are unable to identify indications of forced prostitution.²² This also becomes apparent in the difficulty of proving whether sex services were consensually delivered, thus causing difficulties in the implementation of these policies accurately and efficiently.²³ In the “United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime”, also called the Palermo protocol which is recognised by the EU, it is stated that “In combating trafficking in human beings, full use should be made of existing instruments on the seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime”.²⁴ Whilst at first, one could argue that sex work is relevant outside of this scope, in an adoption of the clause in 2014 by the European Parliament it now states “ organsied crime, human trafficking, extremely violent crime and corruption flourish in the shadow of prostitution”.²⁵ This now implies that prostitution solely falls within the scope of human trafficking as it cites “the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve consent of a person having control over another person”. This in course also puts the stability of the sex worker at risk and in blames way despite their willingness or not, in conducting sex work.²⁶

In discussing the topic, it is important to mention the lack of official records and data regarding sex workers within the EU, specifically the identification and numbering of violent crimes against sex workers. In many Member States, it is suggested that law enforcement often engage in acts violence, both sexual and physical, against sex workers. With this inadequate protection, ‘police are seen as a threat as opposed to guardians of their safety’.²⁷ Through this lack of trust additionally comes a hesitation in the reporting of acts of sexual assault, making its accuracy in tracking difficult. However, this hesitation is also fueled by a fear of prosecution, stigmatisation, sanctions or deportation, regardless of whether the any act of sex work is criminalised or not. This stigmatisation also carries into other areas of public service as the adequate prosecution of perpetrators is clouded by the notion that “only innocent women and girls can be victims of rape”, relating back to sex work being seen as “transgressing social norms”.²⁸

Where research does agree however, is that the criminalisation of sex work proves ineffective in protecting the wellbeing of sex workers, in fact it does the opposite. Within the parts of Europe where it is criminalised, any amount of sex workers working together to protect their own safety are prosecuted for brothel-keeping. With the lack of safe housing to practice, this entices sex workers to offer their services in spaces void of detection, leaving them at risk of harm or death.²⁹

However despite the actions taken by Belgium in establishing sex work as a profession, it additionally comes with the same regulations seen within other fields. For instance, employers must now comply with providing sex workers with reference people, alarm buttons in each room in which services are being provided and access to unions in which support organisations must have access to the workplace at all times.³⁰ With the EU operating under the freedom of movement, this additionally means that Non-EU nationals without legal residence cannot benefit from the labour protection nor offer their services legally. With a large portion of sex workers within the EU being Non-EU citizens, this leaves those most vulnerable unprotected.³¹

Key Stakeholders

Civil Society Organisations

Due to a restriction in organised unions for sex workers in most Member States, the sex worker community, along with the dedication of sex worker-led organizations and activists, provided crucial support to their own. Their support acted as “unofficial unions” to offer advice, assist in negotiations, and help develop and administer emergency relief efforts. Some sex workers have chosen to join international umbrella organisations such as the “international Union of Sec workers (ISUW) or “The Global Network of Sex Work Projects” which aim to exercise the profession without the interference of the state and free from violence. In some cases, these organisation receive partial funding from the government, such as in Germany.³²

Sex worker-led organisations such as the European Sex Workers Rights Alliance (ESWA), aim to ensure the voices of sex workers across Europe and Central Asia. Their work centers around the protection and upholding of human, health and labour rights through the creation of a network of member organisations and allies. There vision aims for the recognition of sex work as work and thus being able to offer suitable labour and social protection seen in other professions.³³

These forms of organisations hold no legislative power, but are important for the voice of sex workers, highlighting their needs and foreseen issues in current legislation. 

National Governments

In regard to legislative power, each Member State holds its own competence on its position of sex work, although some regulations are left to local authorities, such as the confined districts in which local sex work is allowed. 

The Council of Europe

Coined as the “guardians of human rights within Europe” the Council of Europe monitors and upholds human rights, the right of law and democracy in its 46 member states, among which the 27 EU Member States. Given that the Council of Europe is not an EU institution, it can only recommend what action its own member states should take. For instance, they state ‘member states should adopt a human rights based approach to sex work. Such an approach must ensure sex workers’ protection from violence and abuse, their equal access to health and other social rights, as well as their rights to private life and to participate in public and political life.’³⁴ Within the council smaller expert groups are often formed to tighten the scope of their work, for example the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO). 

As the name suggests, their work specifically focuses on protection women who experience gender based violence, including sex work. They acknowledge that sex workers are vulnerable to gender based violence, vouch for the provision of support services and suggest states adopt policies and legislation to prevent human trafficking. They additionally monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Convention within member states as although is lacks direct mention of sex work, it promotes issues of gender inequality, domestic violence and discrimination.

Measures in place

Nordic Model

An approach that is often discussed in relation to national legislation is the “Nordic Model”. Which introduced by Sweden in 1999, targets the demand of sex work by criminalizing those who buy sex. It advocates for an abolitionist stance on prostitution, with the goal of reducing demand and ultimately eradicating the “prostitution” of women. However, this model has faced significant criticism from academics and professionals who argue that it is more rooted in ideological beliefs than in evidence-based reasoning.³⁵ There are serious concerns about the effects of this model on the lived experiences of all sex workers, regardless of gender. Studies have shown that sex workers remain criminalized under this system, that it hasn’t reduced the number of sex workers and has failed to offer protection. For instance, research commission by the Northern Ireland Department of Justice showed a 92% jump in reports of violent crime against sex workers in the two years following the adoption of the Nordic model in 2017.³⁶ With further research showing no sign of the criminalisation of buying sex leading to any form of decrease in demand for sexual services. In fact, it has driven sex work underground, further marginalizing and stigmatizing sex workers both by individuals and the state.³⁷

The European Parliamentary initiative 2022/2139(INI), noted ‘the asymmetry between national rules on prostitution within the EU, given its cross-border nature, leads to more victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and makes for fertile operating ground for organised crime.’ It claimed that prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation exist due to the demand for sex services within the EU. Thus the initiative, in place of aiming to recognise sex work as part of the work force, aims to reduce the demand for sex work in the hope it will protect the safety of sex workers and offer them essential services, protecting their rights. It specifically mentions this not to place additional harm on those already in lines of sex work. The parliament voted in favour of this initiative and called for access to health and social services as pathways out of prostitution.³⁸

Istanbul convention

The Istanbul Convention, formally known as the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, is an international treaty aimed at protecting women and girls from violence. Adopted in 2011, it sets comprehensive legal standards for preventing violence, protecting victims, and prosecuting offenders. The Convention covers various forms of violence, including domestic violence, sexual violence, and harassment, and emphasizes the need for coordinated government action, public awareness, and support services for survivors. Actors such as GREVIO are tasked with monitoring the treaty’s implementation. Why this is relevant in the scope of sex worker labour rights, relates to the roundabout approaches needed in order to address the lack of labour rights and protection due to the lack of competence of the EU. 

FOOTNOTES

1. Carolyn Sally Henham (2021). The Reduction of Visible Spaces of Sex Work in Europe. Sex Res Soc Policy 18. (Link) ↩︎
2. Andrea Di Nicola (2021). The Differing EU Member States’ Regulations on prostitution and their cross-border implications on women’s rights. European Parliament (Link) ↩︎
3. Ibid. ↩︎
4. David O’Sullivan (2024). Sex workers In Belgium gain historic labour rights as new law takes effect. Euronews (Link) ↩︎
5. (2024) Sex workers protected by employment contracts from December. The Brussels Times (Link) ↩︎
6. David O’Sullivan (2024). Sex workers In Belgium gain historic labour rights as new law takes effect. Euronews (Link) ↩︎
7. POL 20/4062/2016. ‘Amnesty international policy on state obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of sex workers’ (Link) ↩︎
8. Ibid. ↩︎
9. 15.02.2024, Protecting the human rights of sex workers, Commissioner for Human Rights (Link) ↩︎
10. European Women’s Lobby, (2011) (Link) ↩︎
11. Lucy Platt, et al. (2018). Associations between sex work laws and sex workers’ health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies. PLOS Medicine. (link)  ↩︎
12. Mirjam Faissner, Laura Beckmann, Katja Freistein. et al. (2024) Healthcare for sex workers—access, barriers, and needs. Ethik Med 36. (Link)  ↩︎
13. Carolyn Sally Henham, (2021). The Reduction of Visible Spaces of Sex Work in Europe. Sex Res Soc Policy 18. (Link) ↩︎
14. Ibid. ↩︎
15. (2018) DIVERSE, RESILIENT, POWERFUL IntersectIonal actIvIsm toolkIt for sex Workers and allIes, International Committee on the Rights of Sex workers in Europe (ICRSE) (Link) ↩︎
16. Ibid. ↩︎
17. Ibid. ↩︎
18. Piotr Bąkowski and Martina Prpic, (2024). Regulation of prostitution in the European Union, Laws and Policies in selected EU Member States. (Link) ↩︎
19. 15/02/2024, Protecting the human rights of sex workers, Commissioner for Human Rights (Link) ↩︎
20. (2024) Forms of exploitation for registered victims of trafficking in human beings 2008-2022, Eurostat (Link) ↩︎
21. Andrea Di Nicola (2021). The Differing EU Member States’ Regulations on prostitution and their cross-border implications on women’s rights. European Parliament (Link) ↩︎
22. Ibid. ↩︎
23. 15/02/2024, Protecting the human rights of sex workers, Commissioner for Human Rights (Link) ↩︎
24. (2014), Resolution on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality, European Parliament (Link) ↩︎
25. Ibid. ↩︎
26. (2014), Resolution on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality, European Parliament (Link) ↩︎
27. GREVIO/Inf(2018), GREVIO’s (Baseline) Evaluation Report on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), (Link) ↩︎
28. Ibid. ↩︎
29. Ibid. ↩︎
30. Marianne Chargois, (2024). Belgium: A Transformative Law for Sex Workers Rights, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) (Link) ↩︎
31. Ibid. ↩︎
32. PE 493.040(2014). Sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality, European Parliament, (Link) ↩︎
33. European Sex workers Rights Alliance (Est. 2002) (Link) ↩︎
34. 15/02/2024. Protecting the human rights of sex workers, Commissioner for Human Rights (Link) ↩︎
35. Carolyn Sally Henham, (2021). The Reduction of Visible Spaces of Sex Work in Europe. Sex Res Soc Policy 18. (Link) ↩︎
36. Erin Kilbride (2023). Spain Debates Dangerous Sex Work Law, Human RIghts Watch. (Link) ↩︎
37. Carolyn Sally Henham, (2021). The Reduction of Visible Spaces of Sex Work in Europe. Sex Res Soc Policy 18. (Link) ↩︎
38. 14.09.2023. Reduce demand and protect people in prostitution, say MEPs, European Parliament (Link) ↩︎