ПРОЦЕНКА НА ПОТРЕБИТЕ НА МЛАДИТЕ СЕКСУАЛНИ РАБОТНИЦИ ВО ОДНОС НА ЗДРА Проценка на потребите на младите сексуални работни | Page 32

YOUNG SEX WORKERS’ NEEDS ASSESSMENT RELATED
TO HEALTHCARE, SOCIAL AND LEGAL SERVICES
What sort of laws do we have here? Who protects us? – male sex worker.
The majority of our focus group participants have made comparison between
sex work in Macedonia and the manner in which it is regulated in other
countries in Europe. They have referred to Germany as a positive example, a
country in which sex workers’ rights are greatly secured and a place where
sex workers are granted far greater opportunities compared to our country.
In Germany, the state provides apartments and finances for sex workers. In our case, the
state provides us with nothing. – female sex worker.
In terms of transgender individuals’ needs, the focus group participants emphasized
the need of a timely and adequate hormonal therapy, the opportunity to see a
psychologist and endocrinologist in the NGOs service providers, as well as in public
healthcare institutions, so that they could overcome the difficulties and obstacles they
face during their transition process. In addition, they pointed out that there is also a
need for a specialized medical team that would be able to perform surgical gender
reassignment reconstruction for transgender individuals, as one of the most important
stages in the transition process. Sadly, such a medical team is currently unavailable
in Macedonia. The transgender sex workers in Macedonia are not protected against
discrimination and violence based on their gender identity. A legal recognition of
gender and alterations in the Criminal Code are necessary in order to strictly and
explicitly prohibit all violence based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The
major problems that transgender people are faced with can be categorized as legal and
medical. The legal category refers to change and renewal of documentation. This infers
change of their name, sex and the personal identification number. Up to this point, the
Ministry of Justice still refuses to put forward measures and proceedings to change
the sex assignment on documents. The same applies for the Ministry of Interior that
refuses to issue new personal identification numbers for transgender individuals who
have changed their documents based on self-determination. The medical category
pertains to the availability of medical services specific for the needs of this population,
as well as the general healthcare services. Transgender people are still faced with
discrimination and violence in their attempts to obtain adequate healthcare services.
Hormonal therapy should be made available in Macedonia as well as the gender
reassignment surgery. – transgender sex worker.
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