International Whore’s Day 2025: 50 Years Later, Who’s Really Listening?
- Filip
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
Berlin and the battle for rights we shouldn’t still be begging for.
Fifty years ago today, more than 100 sex workers occupied a church in Lyon, France. They weren’t there to pray. They were protesting — against police violence, criminalization, and the daily harassment that came with doing their jobs. It was June 2nd, 1975. And it sparked a movement.
Shame isn’t a policy. It’s a punishment
Today is the 50th anniversary of International Whore’s Day — and in 2025, the word “whore” still makes people flinch. Politicians still legislate on behalf of sex workers “safety” without consulting those who actually work in the industry. Sex work is still seen as something to be controlled, not understood.
But they are not being silences. Not whispering.
They are taking up space — in city halls, in strip clubs, online platforms, and being heard at times in articles like this one.
The Situation in Berlin: Legal, but Not Free
Berlin might seem like a liberal playground, and on paper, sex work here has been legal since 2002. But legality doesn’t mean liberation.
Sex workers in Germany are required to register with the state, attend mandatory “health” counseling, and carry a “prostitution ID” — a system critics have compared to tagging or surveillance. Some report being outed when trying to book a hotel or apartment. Others avoid registering altogether and risk fines.
Control disguised as concern is still control
Berlin is better than many places, yes. But it still operates under what activists call a “carceral feminism” model — one where the state claims to “protect” workers by watching, punishing, and controlling them.
And in a city where brothels operate legally but full transparency puts you at risk? That’s not empowerment. That’s compromise.
You don’t have to agree with sex work to respect the people who do it
Globally: Regressions Disguised as Morality
Berlin still looks progressive compared to the global stage. Let’s look at just a few updates from 2025:
Sweden: Starting June 1st, 2025, just one day before this anniversary, the Swedish government will make OnlyFans and similar platforms illegal — citing “digital exploitation.” It’s a devastating move that pushes online creators into precarity while parading as moral high ground.
United States: In some states, adult content creators can’t even access banking services. SESTA/FOSTA continues to haunt online sex workers, with vague “anti-trafficking” language used to demonetize and deplatform.
France: Still operates under the Nordic Model, which criminalizes the purchase of sex, making it harder for workers to screen clients and stay safe.
Poland & Hungary: Intensifying digital surveillance and shutting down queer and kink-friendly spaces, often under “public decency” laws.
UK: Ongoing pushes to include sex workers under laws that don’t actually protect them, like the Online Safety Act.
If you’re seeing a pattern here — it’s control disguised as concern.
If you’re criminalizing the platform, you’re criminalizing the person
Amnesty, and the Call for Decriminalization
Amnesty International — not exactly your local leftist zine — has taken a clear stance: decriminalization of sex work is essential to protect the rights, health, and dignity of sex workers.
They’re not calling for glorification. They’re calling for basic human rights. The right to work safely. To report abuse. To access healthcare without shame. To exist without being erased by algorithm or law.
As their 2016 policy states, “Criminalization makes sex workers vulnerable to abuse, violence, and discrimination.”
So when you see platforms disappear, performers pushed out, or governments like Sweden using words like “rescue,” ask: who is actually being saved?
If the law is watching but not listening — who is it really protecting?
The Shame Game Is Getting Old
You don’t need to be a sex worker to care. You just need to understand that this isn’t about whether you “agree” with it. This is about bodily autonomy, labor rights, and free expression.
When we talk about sex work, we’re not talking about fantasy. We’re talking about rent money, mothers, survivors, queer liberation, and the radical act of owning your body when the world tells you not to.
You can’t rescue someone by criminalizing their autonomy
And for those of us in Berlin — in its strip clubs, fetish studios, and behind content paywalls — we’re not going anywhere.
What You Can Do Today
Educate yourself: read up on sex worker-led orgs like Hydra e.V., DecrimNow, or Sex Workers’ Advocacy Network.
Stop sharing headlines without nuance.
Stop saying “selling their body” — it’s labor, not human trafficking.
Support platforms like Sensuali, which are actually built by and for sex workers, offering safer ways to connect and book experiences.
And if you’re a journalist, creator, or curator: start asking sex workers for input. Better yet, let them speak for themselves.
50 years later, the church has been replaced by hashtags, protests, documentaries, and community organizing. But the core question is the same:
Why are people still punished for using their bodies the way they choose?
If the answer is still moral panic, shame, or control — then we haven’t learned anything since 1975.
