«Decriminalise Our Lives!»
International Women's Day: Shared Vision for Feminism.
Statement by ESWA, EuroNPUD, S.A.F.E. and Equinox Initiative.
[I cannot agree more with it. ❤️🔥😍 💯]
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‣ Criminalisation should NEVER be the first response to social and healthcare issues!
3 years ago, the 8 March Principles were launched - to provide a new model on how we see justice.
This International Women's Day, we're calling for care over carceralism, on issues including sex work, abortion, harm reduction, racial justice and poverty.
We advocate for a feminism that is rights-based, not punitive.
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‣ Rights not rescue: sex work is work!
Criminalisation, including the criminalisation of clients, is a massive driver of violence against sex workers.
It drives sex work underground, into more danger and stigma, creates barriers to healthcare, housing, and justice.
The 8 March Principles emphasise that consensual sexual activity between adults should never be a matter for the criminal legal system.
Decriminalisation of sex work prioritises the safety, human and labour rights of sex workers.
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‣ Criminalisation has never stopped abortions from happening. It only makes them less safe.
Under the 8 March Principles, reproductive and bodily autonomy are recognised as fundamental human rights.
We demand the removal of all punitive barriers to healthcare. When we treat abortion as a crime, we violate the right to health, privacy, and bodily autonomy. It is time for a legal system that trusts individuals to make decisions about their own bodies without the threat of a prison cell.
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‣ Support, don't punish! Harm reduction saves lives. Criminalisation destroys them.
The “War on Drugs” is a war on all humans. In practice, it disproportionately impacts women, caregivers and communities already marginalised.
The 8 March Principles advocate for a shift from criminalisation to harm reduction. Drug use is a public health issue, not a criminal one. By redirecting resources from policing to community-supported healthcare and safe consumption services, we can transform our societies for the better.
Lived experience is knowledge.
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‣ Carceralism vs. Racial Justice.
The legal system isn't “neutral”.
It disproportionately targets and penalises Black, Brown and racialised communities.
The 8 March Principles remind us that justice cannot be achieved through a system built on systemic bias. We must dismantle the structures of over-policing and invest in safety measures that are led by and for the communities most affected by state violence.
Anti-carceral feminism is essential to realising racial justice.
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‣ The Shared Vision - Our Demands:
• Decriminalise abortion, sex work, drug use, and activities associated with poverty.
• Redirect resources from the carceral state to community-led safety, health, and housing.
• Adopt the 8 March Principles globally to ensure that human rights, not moral policing, guide our legal systems.
• Center lived experience as expertise: policies are stronger when shaped by the people most affected. Amplify community voices, recognise peer support, and treat people with dignity and autonomy.
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‣ Poverty is not a crime!
In many places, being poor or homeless is effectively treated as a criminal offense.
Laws targeting activities like loitering or sleeping in public punish people for simply existing.
The 8 March Principles state that the criminal law should never be used to address social and economic exclusion.
We cannot jail our way out of poverty, and should never criminalise the means by which the poorest survive.
Resources belong in housing and healthcare, not policing and prisons.
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‣ Further reading:
🌐 S.A.F.E. https://supportingabortions.eu
🌐 EuroNPUD: https://euronpud.net
➕ SisterWUD: https://euronpud.net/project/mobilising-women-who-use-drugs-and-combating-gender-based-violence-gbv/
🌐 European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance: https://www.eswalliance.org
🌐 Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice: https://equinox-eu.com
🗄📄 8 March Principles: https://web.archive.org/web/20230311063011/https://icj2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/8-MARCH-Principles-FINAL-printer-version-1-MARCH-2023.pdf
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A safer world is possible when we stop using the law to punish and start using it to protect.
When we remove the threat of criminalisation, we create space for autonomy, safety, and dignity for all.
It also makes space for well-being and pleasure: safer choices, informed decisions, and self-determination.
‣ LET'S BUILD A FEMINISM THAT LIBERATES EVERYONE, SPECIALLY THE MOST MARGINALISED.
#8M #M8 #IWD #InternationalWomensDay #Europe #ESWA #SAFE #EuroNPUD #EquinoxInitiative #SexWork #HarmReduction #SRHR #Abortion #DrugUse #Decrim #DecrimNow #Decriminalization #Feminisms
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