FEATURED IN TAZ

There were hardly any sex workers to be found on Kurfürstenstrich on Monday morning. Many had gathered nearby at the Church of the Twelve Apostles to mark the 50th anniversary of International Sex Workers' Day . Cassidy Lowery, wearing a red patent leather top, a neon pink balaclava, and platform pumps, stood at the pulpit and presented the Sex Work Act (SAG): a draft law to reform sex worker legislation – developed by sex workers for sex workers. Her message: "There is no justice without our voices."

Sex workers criticize being affected by legal regulations that are decided over their heads. The SAG (Sex Workers' Action Group) is their counter-proposal: It was drafted as part of a workshop series organized by organizations such as the Sex Worker Action Group (SWAG) and Hydra e. V.

“We are tired of being excluded, criminalized, pathologized, and silenced,” says Kali Sudhra. She is a sex worker and a board member of the European Sex Workers Alliance (ESWA). The organization is coordinating the Europe-wide week of action, which includes Monday’s event. The occasion is Sex Workers’ Day, which commemorates the eight-day occupation of the Saint Nizier Church in Lyon by sex workers. At the time, they demanded an end to fines, stigmatization, and police harassment.

“Fifty years later, little has changed,” says a sex worker in the brick church in Schöneberg. The wood-paneled gallery is decorated with red umbrellas – a symbol of resistance against the discrimination and criminalization of sex workers. Banners demanding the decriminalization of sex work hang among them.