Mycelial post screening panel

Open Clasp theater company co-created Mycelial with sex work activists from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Ireland and the UK. The play tells the story of:-

‘An underground community of sex workers scattered across the globe and rooted in their fight for justice, stand together, deciding enough is enough. Twelve powerful activists are connected by invisible threads that build the strength and power they need to make change above ground.’

A screening of the play was followed by a panel discussion at the MAC Belfast. Reclaim the Agenda took part in the panel discussion alongside Sex Workers Alliance Ireland and Open Clasp. We discussed themes brought up in the play, including the negative impact of the Nordic Model on sex workers in Ireland North and South, and how decriminalisation in Aotearoa/New Zealand has gone some way to improving conditions for sex workers there.

The Nordic Model, which criminalises the purchase of sex, was introduced in Northern Ireland almost 10 years ago in 2015. Since then violence against sex workers has gone up and there has been no decrease in the amount of sex workers despite advocates of the law purporting that it will ‘end demand’. Instead it has removed any safety measures sex workers had, for example it is illegal to work together for safety.

Reclaim the Agenda’s contribution focused on allyship. It is important that we educate ourselves on the different legislative models, on the differences between trafficking and sex work, and most importantly that we listen to sex workers when they share how the current law puts them in danger.

You can find out more about why decriminalisation of sex work is a human rights issue and a feminist concern at the link below.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/28/landmark-un-report-calls-sex-work-decriminalization