It was also the first time in several years that I have seen all the global and regional sex workers rights activists. In that time the Network of Sex Work Projects NSWP and other networks have formalised and gathered funding and rights awareness has spread to more countries. It was great to catch up with people who have gone from being peer educators to managing programmes and public advocacy, to see the materials sex workers are producing and to see the NSWP itself thriving under the leadership of my old friend Ruth Morgan Thomas three months older than me.
I am sure that for many people the Red Umbrellas would be the most potent symbol of the struggle for human rights they remember from the conference. Sex workers had the largest and most diverse delegation of sex workers since we began attending in The Network of Sex Work Projects held a meeting to prepare for the conference.
It was attended by over sex workers and our allies. We have several booths and a big networking zone, lots of panels and presentation. There are high expectations among sex workers for this conference. Sex workers have always argued for decriminalisation of sex work but now some of the key institutions are backing this. The Red Umbrella is our symbol of our demands for human rights which are not limited to the removal of anti sex work laws but extending to our rights to freedom of movement, to protection from violence and to the right to earn a living from sex work.
The conference theme was Rights Here Right Now which was well timed for first conference since the Bush administration which human rights were subjugated to ideological responses to HIV.
I was surprised not hear anyone mention the history of the modern global notion of human rights there so close to its birthplace after the Second World War. Meena spoke about human rights violations and stigma illustrating her points with short films that made the audience both laugh and cry.
