SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

A major aim of all ordinances is to contain the spread of STIs without explicitly
acknowledging that sex work occurs in the entertainment venues...The passage of R.A.
8504, otherwise known as the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, led
to the crafting of new ordinances in many cities with an entertainment industry, partly
as a response to the perceived threat of this new STI to the industry and to the local
community. These city ordinances typically call for the creation of Local AIDS Councils
to serve as a “central planning and policy making body for the comprehensive and
integrated HIV/AIDS prevention and control program” in the city (City Ordinance No.
2003-004, City of San Fernando). They all reiterate the requirement of a regular STI
screening for workers in the establishment, i.e. “entertainers, masseurs and others
with similar occupation” (IRR strengthening the Quezon City STD/AIDS Council, n.d.).
As a new feature, they adopt some or all of the following provisions, requiring that the
entertainment establishment shall:
The Philippines
1. make available and affordable prophylaxis (e.g., condoms) within the
establishment and provide the proper guidelines on its correct and consistent
use;
2. have information materials on STI/HIV/AIDS prevention and control available in
the establishment and provide such information materials when requested by
customers, especially on guidance on the correct and consistent use of condoms;
3. make IEC posters visible within their premises particularly in comfort rooms 506
and dressing rooms;
4. have at least one trained peer educator.
Cebu City goes a step further by including a provision on “The required use of condom
of (sic) in compliance with the 100 percent condom use program, which has been
successfully implemented in Thailand. It shall then be required of all establishments,
hotels, motels, lodging houses and sauna to make condom use available, [and] to
provide guidance on the correct and consistent use of the same” (City Ordinance
#1952 Cebu City Multi-Sectoral STD/AIDS Council). 507
The National AIDS Council has issued a template city ordinance that requires managers and
operators of entertainment establishments to attend HIV and STI education seminars. 508
A Compulsory STD/HIV/AIDS Education Ordinance of Iloilo City requires managers, owners,
dancers, masseuses and entertainers at entertainment establishments to undergo HIV
and STI education seminars. The enforcement of this ordinance in Iloilo City is reported to
have resulted in a rapid decline in STI diagnoses in 2002. 509
506 i.e., toilets.
507 Natividad J., Trinidad A., Billedo C., Templonuevo J., (2011) Sex Work in the time of HIV: Risks and
Vulnerabilities in the Philippine Setting, Quezon City: Social Sciences and Philosophy Research Foundation, Inc,
pp.9-10.
508 Philippine National AIDS Council Secretariat (2010) Template: Ordinance on local STI, HIV and AIDS Council.
509 Cataluna D., Gumayan M., Bambao A., Sale M. Impact of city ordinance 00-045 compulsory STD/HIV/AIDS
education ordinance of Iloilo City, Philippines. Int Conf AIDS. 2002 Jul 7-12; 14: abstract no. MoPeD3583.
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