SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

of HIV prevention efforts. In the absence of established brothels (which the team only
identified in a few townships, and which are usually very transient), the only way to
support direct sex workers to use condoms on all occasions may be through hotel
and guest house owners/managers and their staff.
The 2010 UNGASS Country Report of the Ministry of Health stated: 495
The Ministry of Health is in full support of prevention programmes for groups with high
risk of HIV transmission. However, the law enforcement agencies in the areas where
the services are provided are not always fully aware of prevention programmes. The
100% Targeted Condom Programme of the National AIDS Programme will continue
to address this through advocacy with local authorities including law enforcement.
6.6.3 Efforts to improve the legal environment
The Myanmar National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS 2011-2015 496 includes a specific
commitment to the “enforcement of policy in which condom possession is not used as
liability of sex work”.
The 100% TCP, UNFPA Myanmar and Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association (MANA) have
conducted police awareness training on HIV issues, including the right of sex workers to
carry condoms.
Population Services International Myanmar Targeted Outreach Program (PSI TOP)
conducts HIV programmes with sex workers in 19 cities. TOP includes interventions led by
sex workers to address stigma and discrimination, community mobilization and the legal
environment e.g., by discouraging police harassment of people who carry condoms and
participating in the 2011 mapping of the legal environment for sex workers in three cities.
TOP also provides clinical services, peer outreach, community building, and peer support
groups. 497
In 2010 a national network of female sex workers called Sex Workers in Myanmar (SWiM)
was established. Nyee Hmya Gyin is a project of SWiM, the Myanmar MSM Network and
the Myanmar National Drug-users Network. The project commenced in 2012 and aims to
facilitate access to justice for these communities by funding peer paralegals to provide
legal advice and health information in Yangon. The project’s lawyer provides supervision
to paralegals. The project also engages in advocacy on justice issues.
495 National AIDS Programme (2010) UNGASS Country Progress Report 2010: Union of Myanmar, Ministry of
Health, Myanmar, p.33.
496 Myanmar National Strategic Plan & Operational Plan on HIV and AIDS 2011-2015, (Concise) p.35.
497 Ditmore M. (2011) Spotlight on Prevention: A Holistic Approach to HIV Prevention Programming for Female
Sex Workers. AIDSTAR-One.
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