Serbia:
On December 18th, JAZAS held a press conference/ round table discussion “Prostitution in Serbia: Is there an adequate answer?” The conference was attended by stakeholders from the non-governmental sector and the media. Overall 51 people attended. The round table discussion/ press conference was significant in that it provided several different viewpoints on sex work and opened up discussion on the different terms and concepts related to sex work i.e trafficking, legalization, decriminalization and other models of regulation of sex work.
This was the first ‘meeting’ of this sort in Belgrade, in which different stakeholders were brought together to create discourse and shed light on this “taboo” subject.
SWAN Network:
In September 2009 SWAN’s third network meeting in Ohrid was preceded by a meeting of 18 sex worker activists from Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia. ICRSE Coordinator and SWAN trainer Petra Timmermans, together with the editor of Macedonian community newsletter STAR shared their experience in advocacy and in developing newsletters for communities. The result of the workshop is the newsletter „You Are Not Alone, Together We Are Stronger” launched for 17 December 2009; a generous glimpse into the personal and political opinions and ideas of sex workers. (download the newsletter in English here).
Toulous, France:
l'association Grisélidis organised a demonstration on 17 December at Place de Capital, Toulous to denounce the violence faced by sex workers in everyday life. Les travailleurs du sexe «Nous voulons nos putains de droits!» You can read more press clippings (FR) here
Siberia:
Siberian Initiative sent out a press release about 17 December and SWAN materials to organizations working with sex workers in Russia. A few organisations were able to show the new Macedonian film "You should know about me", and hold discussions with sex workers. A seminar was held with journalists covering topics related to sex work and other social issues and documents and materials on protection of the rights of sex workers were transferred to a referral-centre site working with sex workers and to the forum of a site of NGO organisations.
Kiev, Ukraine:
On December 17 in Ukraine, Kiev - the sex worker group "LegaLife" (now registered!) Held a press conference. After the press conference the Drop-in center held a flash mob in the central square (Independence Square), on the main street of the capital of Ukraine (Khreschatyk) and near the Kiev mayor's office with red umbrellas, on which (each!) was written: "Equal rights!" and "No to violence!". The action was attended by 10 women from different regions and organizations of Ukraine! After the rally we handed out leaflets to the public.
Boston, USA:
Newly formed Boston chapter of Sex Workers Outreach Projec held their first event, a memorial observance for The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers on 17 Dec 09. Over 20 people were in attendance at SWOP Boston’s first observance of International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, held at Lucy Parsons Center. The event began with a moving speech by Melora Marshall, founder of SWOP Boston. This was followed by a brief speech by Rhode Island sex worker rights advocate, filmmaker Tara Hurley and then an audio creation by Sex Workers Internet Radio Library.More information about this event can be found on the SWOP-Boston website: www.swopboston.wordpress.com.
Kazakhstan:
Members of ARK/СБ "Ковчег" participated in a number of activities around 17 December including holding a round table with representatives of local authoritie to address the topic of discrimination of sex workers and injecting drug users, as well as people living with HIV and the issues around legalization of prostitution in Kazakhstan. ARK also held a workshop/dialogue with journalists who revealed that one of the problems is that many journalists do not have the personal motivation or interest to write about the sex industry. Workshop participants talked about the way media could play a role in changing public attitudes towards sex workers and a few tricks were shared with reporters when writing articles in order to not have problems getting their work past editors and published.
On December 17 the drop-in center brought together activist sex workers for a party. At the party the film about the life of the Macedonian sex workers was shown and there was a discussion with some examples of activities and legislation on sex work in other countries. Later outreach workers handed out red umbrellas along with a message "Fight for your rights!" to the sex workers and shared information about the history of this day as well as asking if they wanted to become activists and participate in common activities. In the cafe, instead of coasters under glasses were placed red umbrellas. Visitors' asked: why the red umbrellas? giving waiters and social workers the opportunity to talk about this day.
December 16 was a Independence holiday of Kazakhstan. There were large-scale public festivities, because of this we decided not to pursue outdoor activities, but still wanted to arrange an evening to remember the sex workers who were victims at the hands of police. Sex worker activists in the area lighted candles and paid tribute.
Arizona,USA:
On Friday December 18th sex workers from around the country gathered to remember Marcia Powell, a woman considered mentally impaired by the court, who was incarcerated for solicitation of oral sex and sentenced to over two years in prison. On May 20, 2009, Marcia Powell died after being left in an uncovered outdoor cage in 107-degree heat at Arizona's Perryville women's prison. Sex workers and prisoners' rights activists rally at the Arizona Department of Corrections as part of a series of events in conjunction with the 7th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Read the full article
Montengro:
NGO organisation Juventas, implemented National Campaign regarding Human Rights in Montenegro that included talking about the rights of sex workers as the rights of every human being to be free, safe and respected. They did this by talking about the problem of violence against sex workers in television interviews and during 2 tribunes with the Head of Human Rights Division in Gender Equality Department of Government of Montenegro and the Deputy of Ombudsman, defender of Human Rights and Freedoms
Part of the campaign included informing over 180 organizations in Montenegro, all media and UN Agencies about this date and it's meaning. A mini workshop was also organised with sex workers on their rights. the workshope went well but participants agreed the Montenegro society was not yet ready to accept sex workers and that is was not yet safe to report violence to the police without consequences.
Albania:
NGO Aksion Plus was interviewed on TOP News TV on the 17th of December. During the interview we presented our findings from a recent report on sex worker issues in 7 main cities of Albania.

Don't forget to visit the Scarlet Alliance website to see news about the fabulous events that were held across Australia.
For more news about events across North America and elsewhere visit the SWOP USA 17 December website
To learn how sex workers and allies marked 17 December across Canada visit the "Sex Workers in Solidarity" page on the Stella Montreal website