Dear All,
Please see a letter of protest that in the name of the 4 Sex Work Network
(include TAMPEP that was the promoter of the action and author of the
letter) that was send to the Members Of the European parliament.
Please see a letter of protest that in the name of the 4 Sex Work Network
(include TAMPEP that was the promoter of the action and author of the
letter) that was send to the Members Of the European parliament.
The further action is that today an EPM pose a query on the abuse of the Greece
Government for the European Commission.
Government for the European Commission.
There is also a petition, see below, please sign the petition and circulate
this (see below)
this (see below)
Regards
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Hi All:
Please sign and circulate this really important petition:
http://www.change.org/
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Hi All:
Please sign and circulate this really important petition:
http://www.change.org/
Violation of human rights and breaches of medical
confidentiality by the Greek Police, Health Authorities and Media.
Human and Civil Rights of Sex Workers in Greece are being ignored and violated.
As
part of a Government authorised crackdown on hundreds of unlicensed brothels
around Greece, sex workers are being arrested, submitted to
compulsory HIV testing, facing criminal charges without recourse to due process,
and being publically identified in the media.
In
the ‘first wave’ of this crackdown, 130 women were submitted to
a compulsory HIV test by the state-run Center for Disease Control and
Prevention.
It is expected that hundreds more will be
screened in the next weeks.
In
an action without precedent in a European country, the ‘competent’ authorities
of Greece publicized, through a press release by the Greek Police the full name,
date of birth, nationality, photographs and medical record information of a 22
year old sex worker from Russia.
Following this first publication on the 28th
of April, two days later the police uploaded photos of another 12 sex workers
working in Athens onto a publically accessible police website
As
of today’s date (04-05-2012) 17 women are to face a prosecutor on charges of
intentionally causing grievous bodily harm (merely because they are HIV
positive without any proof of exposure or transmission to others) and
misdemeanours related to alleged illegal prostitution
This
action of the Greek authorities sparked a number of articles in the press and
media; these reports also name and shame the women, including disclosure of personal
data and information.
These
actions of the Greek Police and the Ministry of Health and KEELPNO[1]
violates any concept of human rights, challenges any notions of human dignity,
breeds a culture of discrimination not only against HIV-positive individuals,
but against sex workers and migrants; and contravenes accepted principles of
good public health practice.
Instead
of these draconian actions we call upon the Greek authorities to review the suitability
of the Greek laws on prostitution and the way they are applied; apart from
whether mandatory registration and health checks for sex workers are good
public policy, implementing the current legislation in this way is shameful in
a member state which claims to be a defender of human rights.
We
also demand that the Greek authorities explain why they are taking actions that
are in contravention of international human rights treaties which they have signed
and ratified.
One
such instrument, to which Greece is a signatory, is the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. Section 12 obliges Greece to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
In ratifying this treaty states are
obliged to ensure the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of
health facilities and goods, and to guarantee that universal access to health
prevention, treatment, care and support (PTCS) services are realized, taking
into consideration the basic principle of non-discrimination and respect
confidentiality[2],
as prescribed by the UN Commission on Human Rights.
Article 12 includes the right to have
personal health data treated with confidentiality as part of the right to the
highest attainable standard of health.
Moreover, health facilities, goods and services must
be respectful of medical ethics and be designed to respect confidentiality.
The
actions of Greece fall very short of the undertakings they have made in
ratifying this treaty.
We
further believe that the following should be put into place in order to reach
the goals of the Convention, and support the fundamental principles of
inclusion and non-discrimination:
no
discrimination based on a person’s present or former activity as a sex worker
no
discrimination based on a person’s legal status
no
discrimination based on a person’s insurance status
no
compulsory examinations, tests or treatments
no
disclosure of a person’s health status
Moreover,
governments should respect the confidentiality of all personal data, including
information about a person’s legal status and their involvement in the sex
industry.
Considering
the grave human right abuses in this case, the European and International networks
of sex worker communities condemn such violation and request the international
and European responsible agencies to undertake a critical review of the Greek actions
and censure their activities.
This
letter of protest is signed on behalf of:
International
Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE)
Contact:
Ruth Morgan Thomas, info@sexworkeurope.org
TAMPEP International Foundation: European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health
Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers
Contact:
Licia Brussa, tampep@xs4all.nl; Pia
Covre, lucciole.pordenone@gmail.com
Sex Worker's Rights Advocacy Network of Central and Eastern Europe
and Central Asia (SWAN)
Contact:
Aliya Rakhmetova, aliya.rakhmetova@swannet.org
Global Network of Sex Work Project
(NSWP)
Contact: Thierry Schaffauser, thierry.schaffauser@nswp.org
In
addition an e-petition has been initiated by the international sex worker rights
community at http://www.change.org/
