SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

Although soliciting is illegal, the sex industry is flourishing – in 2009 it was estimated
that there were 35,000-47,000 female sex workers in Sri Lanka.
A shift from brothels, hotels, lodges and restaurants to indirect settings such as
karaoke bars, massage parlors and private houses has been observed. This shift could
be attributed to the increase in police and military vigilance to combat terrorism
during 2008-2009. Due to frequent security checks, street sex workers and institutionbased
sex workers faced difficulties in soliciting sex.
Sri Lanka
A behavioral surveillance survey conducted in 2006-2007 observed that during a
period of 12 months, 33.2 percent were harassed by the police for carrying condoms.
Police probably discover condoms during security checks where all items including
handbags are checked at security check points.
The National STD/AIDS Control Programme with support
from UNFPA conducted programmes to reduce police
harassment. In Colombo, ten police stations were
approached. Lectures, discussions, and small group
discussions were held to educate and change attitudes.
The majority of participants (>90 percent) were reported
to have changed their attitudes towards sex workers.
“SEX WORKERS HAVE
BECOME ENTERPRISING,
THEY SOMETIMES HIDE THE
CONDOMS IN A POCKET
STITCHED TO THEIR
UNDERSKIRTS, WHERE THEY
WILL NOT BE SEARCHED.”
The Community Strength Development Foundation
(CSDF) conducted a mapping of sex work in Colombo
and the suburb Gampaha, which found that 35.5% of sex
workers were street based, 25.5% were operating in shanty dwellings, while only small
numbers were associated with hotels (5.4%), brothel houses (5.3%) and lodges (5.9%).
Another 11% were a mobile group that make contact with clients with the help of
trishaw drivers or taxi drivers. CSDF found that reaching these groups is difficult as
they operate in a clandestine manner – accessing them is difficult due to harassment
of sex workers by the police.
CSDF, which provides a variety of support services to sex workers, has reported that
the police practice of arresting and harassing sex workers has prevented them from
implementing an effective HIV prevention programme. 270 According to CSDF, sex workers
who spend time in prison or police custody return to sex work and try to ‘make up’ the lost
time by engaging additional clients. They also tend to engage in ‘high risk’ sexual activity
to make up for the lost time. The police also frequently raid ‘condom drop off points’.
The CSDF uses these ‘condom drop off points’ to enable sex workers to access condoms.
However, frequent police raids have made this approach difficult to implement.
According to UNFPA:
Sex work is completely underground and there are newer and more innovative ways
of selling sex, for example vehicle-based sex, where movable vehicles are used as
place to solicit as well as engage in sex. This makes sex workers extremely difficult to
reach with health services. In reality, sex workers are arrested every day on the streets,
where often the possession of a condom is seen as an indication of sex work. Sex
workers have become enterprising, they sometimes hide the condoms in a pocket
stitched to their underskirts, where they will not be searched. 271
270 CSDF, submission to Global Commission on HIV and the Law (83), 2011.
271 Revati Chawla, Programme Officer: HIV and youth, UNFPA http://www.hivapcop.org/e-discussion/hivand-law.
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