Dears,
as the conference is approaching, I wanted to share with you the programme. If you are not presenting but would like to come and take part as the audience, please fill the registration that is available at the webpage with the conference details.
https://www.sh.se/english/sodertorn-university/calendar/events/2025-05-15-j…
I also wanted to ask those of you who are planning to attend, if you would agree to chair the panels at the conference? Then I could maybe introduce the network as a partner in this conference so that the Fosme could also included? What do you think?
All the best
Anna
ANNA RATECKA POSTDOC
School of Social Work
SÖDERTÖRN UNIVERSITY | STOCKHOLM
Alfred Nobels Allé 7, Flemingsberg
141 89 Huddinge
08 608 40 00
sh.se
[cid:110d2e43-3a02-45fa-ad49-6a5fb9b0850f]
Dear all
As several of you expressed a wish to continue our discussion on challenges studying the field, and how to turn them into advantages, we scheduled a meeting for today at 14.00.
I have not prepared a particular agenda, but I can lead the meeting, picking up from where we left off. I would for instance appreciate hearing how the preparations for the Special Issue is going.
Also, my apologies for not sending you my notes from our last meetings.
I believe Charlotte will provide a zoom-link.
Cheers
Petra
FYI, I would also be interested in writing something related to this proposal from a research perspective if there are others who would like to do the same.
Please do not share this with others before 22nd of April when this becomes public.
Niina
________________________________
From: Niina Vuolajarvi <niina.vuolajarvi(a)gmail.com>
Sent: 14 April 2025 11:37
To: Vuolajarvi,N <N.Vuolajarvi(a)lse.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Sign our statement!
to 10.4.2025 klo 10.15 Red Umbrella Sweden (info(a)redumbrella.se<mailto:info@redumbrella.se>) kirjoitti:
Dear allies!
I hope this message finds you well. I'm reaching out to ask for your support in challenging a deeply concerning legislative development in Sweden.
The Swedish government has proposed an expansion of its criminalisation framework on sex work to include the purchase of sexual acts performed remotely, such as webcamming and erotic content creation. This would significantly broaden the scope of criminal liability and introduce new harms to sex workers, particularly those who operate online. We were contacted by our national member organisation, Red Umbrella Sweden who asked our support in raising awareness and fight against this proposal. The proposed law will be voted on May 20th.
We have prepared a public sign-on statement <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fUS9cNXNkxNLArtYPDlIn4_97mIwMzkfLsGsTyG…> (please keep this confidential for the time-being and do not share with others) urging the government to reject this proposal. We would appreciate if your organisation would add your name in support.
Why it matters?
This proposal, while framed as a protective measure, would in fact:
- Criminalise consensual digital labour and remove one of the safest, most autonomous income sources available to many sex workers.
- Exacerbate the harms of client criminalisation, which is already shown by global research to increase stigma, decrease safety, and limit access to justice for sex workers.
- Expand state surveillance, threatening privacy and digital rights for sex workers, clients, and platforms alike.
- Introduce vague and overbroad legal language that risks criminalising consensual relationships and undermines legal clarity.
- Threaten Sweden's constitutional protections on freedom of expression.
As the statement outlines, we are calling on the Swedish government to:
- Withdraw the proposal in its current form
- Engage directly with sex workers and digital rights experts
- Protect digital safety and income rights of workers
- Invest in services, not criminalisation
We believe this is a critical moment to stand in solidarity with sex workers, defend digital rights, and push back against carceral approaches that harm the very people they claim to protect.
If your organisation would like to sign on, please reply to this email with:
- The name of your organisation
- The name and role of a signatory contact person (for transparency only, not for publication)
Alternatively, you can add your support via this form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fUS9cNXNkxNLArtYPDlIn4_97mIwMzkfLsGsTyG…<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fUS9cNXNkxNLArtYPDlIn4_97mIwMzkfLsGsTyG…>
We aim to publish the statement on April 22, so we kindly ask for responses by then. We will keep the statement open for signatures after this date also, however we would like to have some support already shown when we first launch the campaign.
What else you can do to help?
- It would be great if you have contacts in Sweden - policymakers, trusted journalists or civil society organisations - that are pro sex workers' rights, please put us in touch with.
Thank you for your continued commitment to human rights and justice.
/Kira Stellar and ESWA
Red Umbrella Sweden
________________________________
https://linktr.ee/RedUmbrellaSweden
--
Niina Vuolajarvi PhD
Assistant Professor in International Migration
London School of Economics and Political Science
Tel. +44 7587515167 (UK) / +1-631-746-1716 (US) / +358-44-554-3323 (Europe)
Website: https://vuolajarvi.weebly.com/
Pronouns: she, her, hers
Vuolajärvi, N. (2023) "The Discipline of Hope. Abolishing the Prison of Immobility in Post-Deportation Narratives." <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2222916> Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
Vuolajärvi, N. (2019) "Governing in the Name of Caring: Nordic Model of Prostitution and Its Punitive Consequences for Migrants Who Sell Sex." <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-018-0338-9> Sexuality Research and Social Policy.
Vuolajärvi, N. (2018) "Precarious Intimacies: Europeanized Border Regime and Migrant Sex Work." <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1430558?journalCo…> Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
