International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021
International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on 8 March around the world. Today we mark the day since it is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights. The 2021 UN theme for International Women’s Day is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world, highlighting the impact that girls and women worldwide had as health care workers, caregivers, innovators and community organizers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hashtag is #IWD2021 and #InternationalWomensDay.
It is a moment for the Women’s movements in the African countries to include our calls for promotion and respect of sex workers as human rights, labour rights and decriminalisation. The International Women’s Day is an opportunity to advocate for inclusion of sex workers’ rights.
It is an opportunity to share insights into the inspiring efforts of sex worker groups to ensure our voices are heard on this day, and our rights as sex workers, included in general calls for women’s rights.
It is an opportunity for sex worker-led organisations to share on reflections on how sex workers engage with both the International Women’s Day efforts and the Women’s Movement more generally in their country.
ASWA urges sex worker groups in Africa to utilise this moment and make sex worker’s voices as visible as possible on International Women’s Day.