Last weekend, the Scarlet Alliance staged their protest for “International Whores’ Day” against the backdrop of the Sydney Opera House. Carrying red umbrellas as a symbol of solidarity, prostitutes and their supporters from all over Australia gathered to march against discrimination and for the rights and safety of sex workers. Three days previously, International Whores’ Day itself was marked by an evening celebration involving food, cabaret entertainment and market stalls.

June 2nd 1975 saw the genesis of the modern sex workers’ rights movement after 150 French prostitutes occupied St Nizier Church in Lyon for a week in protest at increasing persecution by local police. Ever since, International Whores’ Day has seen women – and often men – honour the world’s oldest profession and fight for the legal and human rights of those who work in it.

“Currently levels of discrimination against sex workers are unacceptably high,” Janelle Fawkes of the Scarlet Alliance told ABC News. “From prices to advertise in newspapers, through to getting bank loans, to being affected in custody battles because of our sex work experience being used against us.”

Find out more about the Scarlet Alliance here.