Fight for the right to work
While Thais’ awareness of human rights and democracy is on the rise, sex workers are taking this opportunity to decriminalise prostitution by handing a petition to the parliament. Their request is simple; to remove penalties for selling or buying sex.
Image credit: Thaivisa
Earlier this week, Empower Foundation, an organisation for sex workers’ rights, said they will gather 10,000 signatures in order to show that there are people in society who want to see the change regarding the topic.
The group said that the law “turns us into criminals.”
More than 1,000 signatures have been signed.
Breadwinner for the country
Although Thailand is relatively conservative, we can’t deny that sex workers play a crucial role in red-light districts around Thailand that contributes to a large factor of Thai tourism, from Walking Street in Pattaya to Bangkok’s Soi Cowboy.
People who get arrested with prostitution can get fined up to ฿40,000 and/or jail time of 2 years. However, a lot of businesses are able to bribe the police under the table to get away with this.
Surang Janyam, director of the Service Workers in Group (SWING), said sex workers bring in a lot of income to Thailand and should be protected by law like other types of labour.
If you want to take part in helping, you may find them in pro-democracy gatherings that have been going on right now. To urge the House to listen, we need to individually sign the petition and send it in with a photocopy of our ID card.
https://thesmartlocal.com/thailand/sex-worker-covid-19/
Featured images adapted from: Thaivisa
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