.png)
International Sex Workers' Rights Day ☂️: Decriminalize sex work and protect the dignity of sex workers in Thailand 🇹🇭
- Manushya Foundation
- 5 hours ago
- 1 min read
🚩 In Thailand, sex work is still criminalized.
For International Sex Workers’ Rights Day, we’re featuring the testimony of sex workers' rights activist and Manushya Board Member Siriton Posh, amplifying the voices of those directly impacted.
Sex workers are excluded from labor protections. Yet their work contributes to the economy just like any other service industry.
Many women and gender-diverse people are pushed into sex work by severe economic inequality and limited livelihood options. Thailand’s tourism-driven sex industry expanded significantly during the Vietnam War, when the establishment of U.S. military bases in the region drove demand and rural women were exploited to supply it.
Today, criminalization deepens stigma while exposing workers to greater violence and harm (up to 1 in 3 sex workers in Thailand report physical or sexual violence every week).
Criminalizing sex work reinforces gender inequality, class discrimination, and stigma. If their labor contributes to the economy, why are they denied the same rights, safety, and respect?
On International Sex Workers’ Rights Day, we call for:
⚖️ Repeal the Protection and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2529 that criminalize sex workers
✊ Legal protections that recognize sex workers’ rights
🚨 An end to entrapment operations that treat workers as criminals
It’s time to face reality: sex work is work.
And all work deserves dignity, protection, and rights. ☂️
#WeAreManushyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings
Comments