justice for jasmine and dora
I – like everyone else I know – was shocked and upset to hear that Petite Jasmine, a sex worker from Sweden, was murdered last week by her abusive ex husband; a man she had reported to the police previously and been dismissed as undeserving of their protection because of her job.
Swedish law defines sex work as a form of self harm, and because of this Jasmine was declared an unfit mother. Her children were taken from her and placed with their father – the man who stalked, harassed and eventually killed her, and as readers of her blog will know she had only recently begun to see them again after fighting multiple court cases for the right to do so.
Jasmine was an active campaigner and activist for sex worker’s rights and for her tireless work and bravery in a country where she was systematically persecuted, refused protection and finally left to a fate she herself had feared, she should always be remembered.
Dora Özer, a trans sex worker from Turkey, was murdered by a client on the 9th of July. She was the 31st trans person to be killed in Turkey since 2008, yet the response has been more ignorance and further oppression and discrimination is rife – sex work is not illegal in Turkey, but virtually every related activity is. I don’t want to read any more of these stories.
The ‘Swedish Model’ only narrowly avoided by Scotland last month does not protect sex workers and the abolitionist’s claims to the contrary are now proven to be a crock – if it were not for the stigma resulting from this legislation, Jasmine may still be alive. On Friday 19th July at 3pm, there are protests in more than twenty five cities in memory of Jasmine and Dora. For more information please follow this link to the homepage or see the campaign Facebook page here.
May they rest in peace.
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