paulo longo research initiative

History

We formed our partnership in 2008. The idea for the Paulo Longo Research Initiative (PLRI) arose among activists, policy advocates and academics who were frustrated by the quality of information on sex work available. Although there are many excellent books, essays and studies about sex work – including several by sex workers – a great deal of scholarship on sex work is misguided and stigmatizing. Sex workers frequently complain that much of what is written about them reflects prejudices and myths rather than the reality of their lives. Advocates of rights based policy and programmes also complain frequently about the

Don’t talk to us about sewing machines: Talk to us about worker’s rights

Sex workers ran a number of exciting and challenging sessions during the AWID Forum in Istanbul. In their interactions with delegates they have been stressing the importance of listening to sex workers and acknowledging sex work as work. There has also been a plea for the silent majority of feminists who support sex workers rights to raise their voices to condemn interventions like anti-trafficking raid and rescues which are often carried out in the name of feminism. One well attended break out session that combined presentations with film clips was ‘Don’t talk to us about sewing machines: Talk to us

Tackling Child Commercial Sexual Exploitation

As the UN Advisory Group on Sex Work and HIV turns its attention toward young people and sex work Cheryl Overs reflects on what is known about child commercial sexual exploitation and how sex workers are organising to prevent it. “I was a prostitute before I was even a woman. I began when I was 10-years-old and I have experienced things you cannot imagine. I know I cannot erase my past, but I can help stop other children from going through the same experience,” said Damaris, who came together with four other sex workers, ages 18 to 49, to speak

Tackling Child Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Why Do Women in India Become Sex Workers?

A news story in the Asia Sentinal by Geeta Seshu, 25 May 2011. They can make more money and live better. Poverty and limited education push females into labor markets at an early age, but the sheer desire for a better income and a better life pushes them into sex work, according to a path-breaking, pan-India survey of sex workers. Only about 20 percent of the women surveyed were forced, sold, cheated or otherwise pushed into sex work according to the study, which was conducted in 2009 and only recently released. Nearly 80 percent of the 3,000 females surveyed in

PLRI website launched on International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

Welcome to the website of the Paulo Longo Research Initiative. We are launching the site on December 17, the Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers in support of sex worker organisations in dozens of countries who are demanding action to stop violence. This day is an opportunity to reflect on why quality research, linked to community action, is urgently needed to protect sex workers from violence and exploitation. We are a group of sex workers, academics and human rights advocates committed to producing knowledge that will improve the human rights, health and well being of women, men and transgenders

NEW! PLRI website launched on International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

Improvements in the evidence base but where is the will to end AIDS?

World AIDS Day provides us with an opportunity for reflection – to remember those who we have lost and to look forward, to consider what still needs to be done if we are to tackle HIV. In terms of scientific advances and political commitment this year has been a very mixed bag. Many of us were delighted when the HPTN 052 study found that antiretroviral treatment prevents the sexual transmission of HIV among heterosexual couples in whom one partner is HIV-infected and the other is not. The study showed a 96 per cent reduction in risk of HIV transmission: A

Can rights stop the wrongs? Exploring the connections between framings of sex workers’ rights and sexual and reproductive health

There is growing interest in the ways in which legal and human rights issues related to sex work affect sex workers’ vulnerability to HIV and abuses including human trafficking and sexual exploitation. International agencies, such as UNAIDS, have called for decriminalisation of sex work because the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services is affected by criminalisation and social exclusion as experienced by sex workers. The paper reflects on the connections in various actors’ framings between sex workers sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the ways that international law is interpreted in policing and regulatory practices. Methods The

Choice in the labour market – sex work as “work”

A blog post by Nivedita Menon on Kafila, 6 May 2011. The summary of preliminary findings of the first pan-India survey of sex-workers is now available on-line. 3000 women from 14 states and 1 UT were surveyed, all of them from outside collectivised/organised and therefore politically active spaces, precisely “in order to bring forth the voices of a hitherto silent section of sex workers.” The significant finding is this: About 71 percent of them said they had entered the profession willingly. (The data on male and transgender sex workers has not been processed yet). The study was conducted by Rohini Sahni

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