The European Union (EU) is founded on values such as human dignity, freedom, equality, and respect for human rights. Yet, when it comes to sex workers, the EU fails to uphold these values. Sex workers across member states face systemic discrimination, stigma and violence. Existing policies contribute to these harms.
The EU has already taken action on the issue of sex work regulation several times (INI 2103 in 2013; INI 2139 in 2022). However, it has failed to set a clear standard in line with core EU values.
The European Model addresses these failures by decriminalising consensual sex work, recognising sex work as work, and implementing support measures to guarantee sex workers’ rights. This would benefit the estimated 700.000 to 1.250.000 sex workers in the EU (Adair & Nezhyvenko, 2017).
Policy brief (sharing licence CC BY-NC-ND)
Policy report (sharing licence CC BY-NC-ND)
Group members: Esther Braun, Abha Calindi, Julia Furtado de Barros, Ebba Mark, Francesco Nasi, Doris Kristina Raave, Rohan Stevenson.
