Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement

This article challenges the notion that the organised sex worker movement originated in the Global North. Beginning in Havana, Cuba at the end of the nineteenth century, sex workers in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region have been organising for recognition and labour rights. This article f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Amalia L. Cabezas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women 2019-04-01
Series:Anti-Trafficking Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/376
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author Amalia L. Cabezas
author_facet Amalia L. Cabezas
author_sort Amalia L. Cabezas
collection DOAJ
description This article challenges the notion that the organised sex worker movement originated in the Global North. Beginning in Havana, Cuba at the end of the nineteenth century, sex workers in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region have been organising for recognition and labour rights. This article focuses on some of the movement’s advances, such as the election of a sex worker to public office in the Dominican Republic, the system where Nicaraguan sex workers act as court-appointed judicial facilitators, the networks of sex worker organisations throughout the region, and cutting-edge media strategies used to claim social and labour rights. Sex workers are using novel strategies designed to disrupt the hegemonic social order; contest the inequalities, discrimination, and injustices experienced by women in the sex trade; provoke critical reflection; and raise the visibility of sex work advocacy. New challenges to the movement include the abolitionist movement, the conflation of all forms of sex work with human trafficking, and practices that seek to ‘rescue’ consenting adults from the sex trade.
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spelling doaj.art-8d4c96ac5b0f42b993000ab26ea440d82023-04-27T17:31:45ZengGlobal Alliance Against Traffic in WomenAnti-Trafficking Review2286-75112287-01132019-04-0112375610.14197/atr.201219123332Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movementAmalia L. CabezasThis article challenges the notion that the organised sex worker movement originated in the Global North. Beginning in Havana, Cuba at the end of the nineteenth century, sex workers in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region have been organising for recognition and labour rights. This article focuses on some of the movement’s advances, such as the election of a sex worker to public office in the Dominican Republic, the system where Nicaraguan sex workers act as court-appointed judicial facilitators, the networks of sex worker organisations throughout the region, and cutting-edge media strategies used to claim social and labour rights. Sex workers are using novel strategies designed to disrupt the hegemonic social order; contest the inequalities, discrimination, and injustices experienced by women in the sex trade; provoke critical reflection; and raise the visibility of sex work advocacy. New challenges to the movement include the abolitionist movement, the conflation of all forms of sex work with human trafficking, and practices that seek to ‘rescue’ consenting adults from the sex trade.https://antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/376sex worksex worker movementsex worker organisationsmedialatin america and the caribbean
spellingShingle Amalia L. Cabezas
Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement
Anti-Trafficking Review
sex work
sex worker movement
sex worker organisations
media
latin america and the caribbean
title Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement
title_full Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement
title_fullStr Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement
title_full_unstemmed Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement
title_short Latin American and Caribbean Sex Workers: Gains and challenges in the movement
title_sort latin american and caribbean sex workers gains and challenges in the movement
topic sex work
sex worker movement
sex worker organisations
media
latin america and the caribbean
url https://antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/376
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