What is "tampep"

TAMPEP (European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers) is an international organization that supports the health and human rights of migrant sex workers in Europe. Founded in 1993, with headquarters in Amsterdam, the organization initially operated in Italy, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. Today, it coordinates a network of 26 organizations in 25 countries of the European Union and receives funding from the European Commission as well as from national governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The main concern of the project is HIV/AIDS prevention; it approaches the problem from a general health and human rights approach, working for empowerment and self-determination of female and transsexual migrant sex workers, and for improvements in their working conditions and social situation. The member organizations employ street work, peer educators and informational materials to contact migrant sex workers. The organization produces regular reports about the situation of prostitutes in Europe.

TAMPEP's literature emphasizes the need to cleanly distinguish between the issues of trafficking, sex work and migration. TAMPEP opposes trafficking as a human rights abuse, but supports efforts to improve working conditions of sex workers and to facilitate migration.

TAMPEP has also operated in Nigeria, where it helps to rehabilitate sex workers deported from Italy.