AIDS 2012
Kolkata
- July 21–26: Sex Worker Freedom Festival
Our social media team in Kolkata is blogging, tweeting and filming at this alternative AIDS 2012 conference for sex workers and allies.
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Video: Sex Workers’ Farewell to Kolkata
27 July 2012
Sex Workers’ Farewell to Kolkata from Matthias Lehmann | Matt Lemon on Vimeo.
(Posted with permission)
[July 26th, 2012] Sex workers and the unforgettable MC Tini say farewell to Kolkata after the Sex Workers’ Freedom Festival concludes. Travel restrictions by the US government had barred sex workers from attending the International AIDS Conference in Washington, but they made sure that their voices would be heard loud and clear!
Posted by Alissa Sadler, 2012-07-27 | Categories: Kalkota, Video | Comments (0)
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John Mathenge: Where is the change?
27 July 2012
We sat down and chatted with John at the Sex Workers’ Freedom Festival in Kolkata, India. Here’s what he had to say… I was born in a poor poor poor family in the Central Province, a very remote place in Kenya. I am born gay – it is my identity. For 11 years now I [...]
Posted by John Mathenge, 2012-07-27 | Categories: Blog, Kalkota | Comments (0)
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Sienna Baskin: A Call to Change U.S. Policy on Sex Work and HIV
24 July 2012
The International AIDS Conference (IAC) presents a golden opportunity to engage with those that have been most affected by the global HIV/AIDS crisis. Sex workers worldwide have been deeply affected by HIV/AIDS, and have shown self-determination by running successful HIV prevention programs, taking action through peer-based teaching and education, as well as educating their clients. [...]
Posted by Sienna Baskin, 2012-07-24 | Categories: Blog, Kalkota | Comments (1)
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Ruth Morgan Thomas: We can’t turn the tide on HIV without the participation of sex workers
20 July 2012
In May, as we were getting neck-deep in organizing the Sex Worker Freedom Festival, we heard that sex workers in Greece were being forcibly tested for HIV and arrested if they tested positive. To begin with, it is a human rights violation to forcibly test anyone for anything without their consent, including sex workers. On [...]
Posted by Ruth Morgan Thomas, 2012-07-20 | Categories: Blog, Kalkota | Comments (2)
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Kyomya Macklean: It’s Getting Harder and Harder to Defend Sex Workers’ Rights in Uganda
13 July 2012
Two years back, our Minister of Ethics and Integrity blocked a sex workers’ regional workshop that we had organized in Kampala. Because sex work is illegal in Uganda, he insisted that all our activities are illegal. He even called our activities “criminal”. He said sex workers should stop using HIV/AIDS as an excuse for breaching [...]
Posted by Kyomya Macklean, 2012-07-13 | Categories: Blog, Kalkota | Comments (4)
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Meena Saraswathi Seshu: Flawed Laws and Policies Will Not Right Our Wrongs
11 July 2012
Just two months back, I marched with hundreds of sex workers in India to demand justice for Anu Mokal. Anu, a sex worker, was picked up by the police at a bus stop one evening, charged with ‘soliciting’ customers at the bus stand, abused and beaten up. As a consequence, Anu, who was then four [...]
Posted by Meena Saraswathi Seshu, 2012-07-11 | Categories: Blog, Kalkota | Comments (2)
