sex workers

HIV

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,

wages

A news story in the Asia Sentinal by Geeta Seshu, 25 May 2011. Why do women in India become sex workers? 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.

news article

“The word illegal and legal makes a big difference.” This article describes conditions under ‘decriminalised’ sex work in New Zealand. It illustrates that there are still many constraints on sex workers and that not all sex work is legal. In Tauranga you are allowed to offer commercial sex services from your house, provided you are the only person operating there.There are five registered brothels, compared with four in 2003. It is illegal to solicit sex on the street. Brothels must only open in areas permitted under council by law and a certificate of compliance and an operator certificate, is needed.

Swedish model

Mary Honeyball, Labour’s Spokesperson on the European Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, has been a vocal supporter of anti-sex work legislation and has written a report to the European Parliament recommending the Swedish Model, which criminalises the purchase of sex. In a blog leading up to the discussion Alex Bryce and other prominent service providers in the UK condemn the move and encourage the Parliament to listen to sex workers.

blog

Drop-in centers are often the only places where sex workers can access health care, legal counseling, and other direct services. They also provide a safe space for sex workers to congregate, document abuses, and mobilize for advocacy. The role of drop-in centers is critical given the extreme and rampant violations of sex workers’ human rights in most places around the world. Common violations include physical and sexual violence, unsafe and unjust working conditions, extortion, and lack of access to justice, health care, social welfare, and other services.

HIV/AIDS

HIV

The 18th International AIDS Conference, will take place in Vienna, Austria, from the 18th to the 23rd of July 2010. The International Network of Sex Work Projects has been working hard to ensure that sex workers are a strong presence at the conference as always. Sex workers will have a Networking Zone and several exhibition booths, some dedicated sessions, speakers, a pre-meeting, a rally and, as always, a party.

human rights

A short film produced by the Healthy Options Projects Skopje (HOPS) who partnered with WITNESS as part of a campaign to end violence, marginalisation, and criminalisation of sex workers. This film is hosted on the Hub. In Macedonia, as throughout the world, sex workers are pushed to the margins of society by a combination of prejudice, discrimination, and violence. Yet, the fact that a person sells sexual services cannot be used as justification for the denial of their fundamental rights, to which all human beings are entitled.

presumptive treatment

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 with lower-risk populations. Yet, in much of Africa, there is little evidence that transmission of HIV and other STIs in sex work settings has been controlled.

HIV treatment

This article in the Daily News Analysis on Bangalore explains how sex workers do not get pensions, have no identity or ration cards and have to struggle for housing. Access to health services is also a problem “The first line of treatment is available but the second line is not so. Only a few are able to access this,” said Geetha, secretary of Karnataka Sex Workers’ Union, working in rural Bangalore.

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