SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

There are also protective laws such as the Anti-Rape Law. 503 However, sex workers believe
that being a sex worker decreases the likelihood that a person can successfully bring a
charge of rape against an offender. 504
6.7.2 Law enforcement practices
The approach to regulation of sex work in entertainment establishments is described in
the AIDS Medium Term Plan as follows:
Sex work is illegal under the Revised Penal Code but, in actual practice, there is an
unstated recognition that it exists and can pose a threat to public health. From the
Spanish to the American period, the policy on sex workers has been to treat those
among them who are infected with sexually transmitted disease in government
facilities, giving it the character of a public health measure, even as the work itself
is not officially sanctioned. The policy continues to the present with Social Hygiene
Clinics [SHC] which are set up in cities and municipalities where entertainment
places abound and sex work is likely to occur…Establishment-based sex workers
are required under the local ordinances in the areas where they work to undergo
regular testing for STIs,…HIV testing is supposed to be part of the regular package
of tests but only those who give their consent are tested for HIV due to the law that
prohibits mandatory HIV testing. The penalty for non-compliance with regular testing
is the withholding of the Social Hygiene Clinic issued health card that gives them the
license to work in the entertainment venue. Bar owners and managers are partners
of the SHC in monitoring compliance because non-compliant establishments run
the risk of having their license to operate revoked. Testing for STIs is conducted in
the SHC as part of the mandate of local governments to provide health services. It is
not openly acknowledged that the workers are offering sexual services; rather, it is
presumed that sex work may occur outside of the entertainment venues.
Freelance sex workers, on the other hand, are not affiliated with licensed
establishments and thus are technically breaking the law. They are not easy to
reach for health interventions because they are not based in places that are under
the regulation of local governments. While SHCs may try to reach out to them by
offering the same services as those given to establishment-based workers, there is
no compelling reason for the SHCs to do so because freelance sex work is illegal to
begin with. 505
The operation of local ordinances has been described as follows:
Typically a local ordinance defines an entertainment establishment as referring to
“night clubs, sauna, massage clinics, discotheques, videoke/karaoke bars, cocktail
lounges, beer gardens, pub houses and other establishments wherein the services
of hired entertainers are employed and patrons are entertained” (Ordinance no. 09,
Series 2000, General Santos City). These establishments are required to secure from
the city a permit to operate. Among the requisite provisions for the issuance/renewal
of a permit is the regular health checkup of workers in the establishment in the City
SHC...
503 Republic Act 8353 of 1997.
504 Information provided at country consultation workshop, 6 October 2011.
505 Philippine National AIDS Council (2011) 5th AIDS Medium Term Plan (2011- 2016) The Philippine Strategic
Plan on HIV and AIDS, pp.77-78.
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