The 1st of March was marked by the second annual March of Sex Workers going along the ‘government district’ in the capital city of Ukraine – from the Cabinet of Ministers along the Verkhovna Rada building to the President’s Administration. The march brought together several dozens of sex workers and their supporters: civil society activists, human rights advocates and mass media.
Traditionally, many participants were wearing theater masks, with some of them having red safety helmets on their heads and holding handmade banners and symbolic red lanterns.
This year, participants of the event dedicated to the International Sex Workers’ Rights Day, which is marked on the 3rd of March, as always focused on the issue of sex workers’ rights violations and called the leaders of the central executive and legislative bodies to cancel the administrative responsibility for prostitution (article 181-1 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences). This article, stipulating the fine of up to ten tax-free minimum income amounts for individual prostitution, continues to be used as a repressive instrument of corruption, extortion, intimidation and violence against sex workers.
To draw the attention of decision-makers to the issue of artificial criminalization, organizers of the event presented “twins” wearing the masks of Petro Poroshenko, Volodymyr Groysman, Andriy Parubiy and Yuri Lutsenko to symbolize the desired willingness of the authorities to cancel the outdated repressive provision, which currently affects about 80 thousand of sex workers in Ukraine.
For the exceptional courage and commitment in taking such brave legislative decisions, participants of the march delivered to all the above-mentioned imaginary decision-makers symbolic “distinctions” – “steel eggs”!
Traditional organizers of the event were the All-Ukrainian League LegaLife and the Alliance for Public Health.
