June 2 marks International Sex Workers’ Day – a day dedicated to advocating for sex worker’s rights and raising awareness about exploitative working conditions.
This day originated from France, where on June 2, 1975, sex workers and their allies took over the Saint-Nizier Church in Lyon and engaged in a highly publicised 8-day strike.
At the time, sex work was legal in some settings, but workers lacked legal protections and faced stigma and violence. The catalyst for this action was the death of two sex workers.
The workers demanded that fines, stigma and Police harassment stop and that 10 of their peers who had been imprisoned a few days earlier for soliciting be released.
They challenged Police to come and arrest anyone who they could identify as sex workers. Many brought their children to make a statement about women who do sex work not being different from others.
Today, we are reminded of the bravery and advocacy of sex workers around the world who have fiercely advocated for their rights to work with safety and dignity.
The tenacious advocacy of Victorian sex workers led to Victoria passing the Sex Work Decriminalisation Act in May 2022.
The objective of the legislation is to decriminalise sex work and provide for the reduction of discrimination against and harm to sex workers, and recognise that sex work is work.
Yet, workers still face challenges to asserting their rights at work. We note that, unfortunately, street- based sex work remains criminalised in some circumstances, and sex workers still experience discrimination in various settings.
Further, most sex workers are independent contractors and are disadvantaged by limitations to workplace protections for independent contractors as compared to those available to employees.
A legislative review of the Sex Work Decriminalisation Act will commence at the end of 2026. The SWLP will draw from casework to provide our perspective on the successes of decriminalisation, and put forward recommendations for building on and extending them. Today and everyday we honour all sex workers and will continue working alongside the community to make workplace rights a reality for all sex workers in Victoria.
To access the Sex Worker Legal Program, see here.
