african sex worker alliance

sex work

by Matt Wade, New Delhi January 8, 2011 SUMAN is proud of her boob job. It cost about $2500, a small fortune for most Indians, but comes with a ”lifetime guarantee” and the promise of higher earnings. Like many Indian transsexuals, known as hijras, Suman boosts her income with sex work. Breast enhancement operations, now easily available in big city hospitals, are increasingly popular among the naturally flat-chested hijras. Suman’s investment is paying handsome dividends. On International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers the PLRI are circulating a media release to launch their new website and stress the need

health

Delegates from the African Sex Worker Alliance (ASWA) and a church leader from Nigeria gathered in Pretoria from the 28th September to 10th October for a second historic meeting as a follow up to the first ever African sex worker lead conference in February 2009. The Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR), Mahidol University together with the Service Workers in Group (SWING) conducted a survey on Sexual and Reproductive Health of Sex Workers in four major cities in Thailand in 2007. The survey was structured to provide up-to-date information about sex workers regarding their socio-economic background, their access to

law

PATTAYA, Thailand, 15 October 2010 – At the first-ever Asia-Pacific consultation on HIV and sex work, sex workers, government officials and United Nations participants emphasized the need for urgent action to increase focus and positioning of sex work within HIV responses in the region. Close to 150 delegates from eight countries (China, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Thailand) met in Pattaya, Thailand, to form partnerships and review policies and laws that keep sex workers from accessing HIV services and sexual and reproductive health services. “Sex work interventions must be central to scaling up the HIV response,

policy

human rights

This case study from 2005 by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network explores sex work related laws and argues for reform of provisions related to sex work in the Criminal Code which undermine sex workers’ ability to realise their human rights. Kenyans, drawn from the gay and lesbian community, male and female sex workers, representatives of the police force, health care providers and also legal professionals came together to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO)in Kisumu, Kenya. The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers provides this window on the internet for all the issues affecting male, female and transgender sex workers

Africa

Delegates from the African Sex Worker Alliance (ASWA) and a church leader from Nigeria gathered in Pretoria from the 28th September to 10th October for a second historic meeting as a follow up to the first ever African sex worker lead conference in February 2009. Sex work is an important feature of the transmission dynamics of HIV within early, advanced and regressing epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV prevalence among sex workers and their clients is commonly 20 fold higher than the general population. Together, these factors may contribute to a differential in HIV transmission potential of more than 1000 times compared

Kenya

This report documents human rights violations experienced by female, male and transgender sex workers in four African countries (Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe), and describes barriers they face to accessing health services. Through cross-country comparison and documenting sub-regional trends, the study moves beyond previous often-localised descriptions of violations against sex workers in Africa. The study also fills information gaps about violations in male and transgender sex workers in this setting. Delegates from the African Sex Worker Alliance (ASWA) and a church leader from Nigeria gathered in Pretoria from the 28th September to 10th October for a second historic meeting

Words from the Regional Coordinator of ASWA

“We are here! We are here as brothers and sisters, moms and dads, sons and daughters some of us even grandparents, but WE ARE HERE!” These were the words I spoke at the opening of the 1st African sex workers conference in Johannesburg 3 years ago and now I say them again, “WE ARE HERE!” We are the African Sex Worker Alliance, from South African to Kenya to Nigeria, we are everywhere. Ready to be heard, seen and recognized. ASWA has been natured and mothered, she has crawled, and taken baby steps, fell along the way but now she is

Sex Work coverage at the South African AIDS conferences: What’s the verdict?

By Marlise Richter In June 2011, South Africa has hosted two significant conferences related to HIV and AIDS. The South African AIDS Conference and the 1st HIV International Social Science and Humanities Conference. Between them they attracted over 5000 delegates from academia and the HIV sector more broadly. As in previous years, I analysed the number of abstracts published in conference proceedings that related to sex work in relation to the rest of the conference content (see article in Gender & Media Diversity Journal Issue 7.) The net was cast very wide – any abstract that contained the word ‘sex work’ or ‘prostitution’/’prostitute’

Police Assault Sex Workers and Get Caught Red Handed Taking Money from Sex Worker

A significant police backlash is being felt by sex workers around the country following human rights events for the International Sex Worker Rights Day on March 3rd. In Johannesburg, Sisonke Sex Worker Movement national co-ordinator Kholi Buthelezi had her hands full with sex workers calling her for help “the day after the march in Johannesburg I went from Germiston back to the city taking statements from sex workers who were harassed or arrested”. 27 Sex workers were arrested and released with a R300 fine in Germiston while in the City sex workers were harassed and one was assaulted. Ms Buthelezi

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