Published on Cacti Magazine : Read Here
The defense of sex workers in France : a long battle against the State ; a redefinition of feminist solidarity
Mid-august 2018 in France, in “Bois de Boulogne” a forest famous for the presence of both sex workers and clients, Vanessa Campos Vasquez was murdered. She was a transgender woman.
In February 2020, at night, Jessyca Sarmiento was working in the same place and was hit by a car. She was an immigrant trans woman.
Both women came to France seeking something. Both were proud to be sex workers and both were working unprotected, may this protection come by the state or the police or the surrounding environment.
For building this piece, I have been helped by the generous participation of the STRASS (Syndicat du TRAvail Sexuel – Sex workers Union, national group). This organization was born in 2009 after the colloquia “Assises Droits et Prostitution”. The union saw its creation in reaction to an observation made at the time by a union of sex workers participating this meeting : in France, regarding sex work, French laws are repressive. Sex workers need a union by and for sex workers.
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