SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

South East Asia
6
SOUTH EAST ASIA
6.1 Overview
Sex work is illegal in Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. Sharia
law, which is applied to Muslim citizens in Brunei, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia, also
criminalizes sex work. In other jurisdictions of South East Asia, although there is no specific
prohibition on the act of sex work, sex workers may be arrested for other offences relating
to soliciting or public disorder.
Examples of attempts to regulate the sex industry in South East Asia include:
1. Regulation of brothel complexes (lokalisasi) under district and municipal laws in
Indonesia;
2. Legal requirements for HIV prevention education and STI health checks for
entertainment workers in the Philippines;
3. Police requirements for sex workers operating in brothels in Singapore’s Designated
Red-light Areas to attend regular medical examinations and to carry health cards.
100% CUPs have been implemented in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Implementation approaches vary in each country.
100% CUPs sometimes involve registration of sex workers and compulsory health checks.
The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Work Projects reports that these programmes may require
compulsory registration of sex workers with authorities, mandatory health examinations,
including HIV tests, and greater police power over sex workers. 369
Cambodia, Lao PDR, the Philippines and Viet Nam have introduced national HIV laws
that include prohibitions on compulsory testing, confidentiality protections and antidiscrimination
provisions. However, the continued enforcement of criminal laws against
sex workers and difficulties in accessing the justice system to enforce these rights means
that (as yet) these general HIV laws have offered limited protections to sex workers.
In Malaysia and Singapore, thousands of foreign sex workers are detained and deported
every year. In Malaysia and Thailand, foreign sex workers who are identified as victims
of trafficking may be held in state detention facilities for extended periods prior to
369 Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (2007) op cit, p.12.
115