Copenhagen aims to allow sex workers in unions

Copenhagen’s acting Employment and Integration Mayor, Louise Theilade Thomsen, advocates for improved conditions for sex workers, including registering them as workers with corresponding benefits. The municipality seeks to allow sex workers to join unemployment insurance funds (A-kasse), which is not currently possible since they are not allowed to be wage earners. Thomsen highlights the contradictory stance in asking sex workers to pay taxes without allowing them paid leave or compensation for lost earnings due to illness or violence. The mayor convened a roundtable in January with stakeholders, resulting in recommendations sent to various ministers. These include anonymous reporting of abuse for sex workers and establishing better work environments for them.