Asociación de Mujeres Meretrices de Argentina (AMMAR)

The Asociación de Mujeres Meretrices de Argentina (AMMAR) is a trade union created in 1994 whose main objectives are to achieve the respect of the female sex workers’ human rights in Argentina, and to fight against the institutional abuses and corruption, particularly the aggressions from police forces.

AMMAR seeks the repeal of current regulations in Argentina that criminalize sexual work and allow for more intensive exploitation, abuse and rights violations of these workers. In addition to this, AMMAR demands to be officially acknowledged as a trade union by the Labor Ministry, as well as the recognition of sex workers as right holders and strategic actors for social development.

The Association carries out training, community organizing, education, political organizing, monitoring, documentation and public awareness of issues around sex work legislation, right to health, right to housing, and legal assistance to sex workers.

AMMAR has achieved the abrogation of regulations that criminalized sexual work in the provinces of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe, as well as in the City of Buenos Aires. In 2010 during the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Austria, AMMAR won the Red Ribbon Award for its leadership in response to HIV. AMMAR has built its first elementary school in Córdoba. It is a worker-led space, open for access to the general population. In La Plata, they have created the “Sandra Cabrera Health Center “, which is also a worker-led space, open for access to the general population.