A new NGO in Nicaragua aims to protect the rights of women who voluntarily work in the sex trade, raising the question of whether sex work should be seen as a legitimate job, or should be treated as a component of organized crime that is inherently linked to problems like human trafficking.
Its application for legal status was approved by the National Assembly on March 22, and the organization has already deployed 25 employees across the country, reportedly providing some women with health aid, literacy training, and legal support.
The group argues that sex work should be recognized as a respectable form of self-employment, one that allows women to support themselves and their families. Nicaraguan law allows the exchange of sex for money, but brothels and the promotion of prostitution are illegal.
It will be a long road. Transferring activism into real protection remains elusive. Some 11, women in Nicaragua are thought to engage in sex work as a living. Even for those who voluntarily enter the trade, the business is heavily stigmatized and filled with violence, with few protections from authorities.
According to Davila, seven prostitutes working with the Girasoles were killed in , and there are hundreds of other attacks against sex workers which go unreported.
