SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

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The purpose of this Act is to decriminalize prostitution (while not endorsing or morally sanctioning prostitution or its use) and to create a framework that— a. safeguards the human rights of sex workers and protects them from exploitation; b. promotes the welfare and occupational health and safety of sex workers; c. is conducive to public health; d. prohibits the use in prostitution of persons under 18 years of age… Sex work is recognized as legitimate work by government. Workplace health and safety standards for sex work have been developed in consultation with the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective and brothel operators. 680 Employment disputes can be referred to the Government’s Labour Inspectorate and Mediation Service. Sex workers are able to access tribunals to resolve work related disputes and employment discrimination complaints may be made by sex workers to the Human Rights Commission. 681 There is an obligation on operators of sex work businesses to adopt and promote safer sex practices, 682 and sex workers and clients must adopt safer sex practices. 683 The Ministry of Health is in charge of inspection and enforcement of workplace standards, rather than the police. It is an offence to coerce a person to provide sexual services, or to engage in sex work while on a temporary visa. “RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT, FOLLOWING DECRIMINALIZATION, SEX WORKERS FOUND IT EASIER TO REFUSE CLIENTS WHEN THEY DID NOT WANT THEM.” The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 allows sex workers to apply for previous convictions to be removed from the record. It is now easier for sex workers to find other jobs if they choose to change occupation because they are less likely to have a criminal record. The national government provides a centralized framework and acts as a support to local administrative bodies. Local governments have the power to issue by-laws for zoning and advertising relating to sex work. In Auckland, laws have been proposed to exclude sex workers from specific localities. 684 With knowledge of their employment rights, brothel workers are better able to assert these rights with brothel operators and clients. The relationship between sex workers and police also improves in decriminalized settings. 685 A review of the operation of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 was undertaken by a parliamentary committee (the Prostitution Law Review Committee) five years after the 680 Department of Labour (NZ) (2004) A Guide to Occupational Health and Safety in the New Zealand Sex Industry Occupational Safety and Health Service, Department of Labour, available at http://www.osh.govt.nz/ order/catalogue/pdf/sexindustry.pdf 681 Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit (2010) Sex Work Legislation: Solution or Problem? Report of the Satellite Session at the XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, p.5. 682 Section 8. 683 Section 9. 684 The Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill 2010 if enacted would have effect across the Auckland Region and enable Auckland Council to regulate street prostitution in specified places. 685 Abel G., Fitzgerald L., Healy C., Taylor A. (eds) (2010), Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers' fight for decriminalization, Bristol: Policy Press. 194
legislation had commenced. The Committee found that decriminalization had not led to an increase in the number of street-based sex workers. The Committee reviewed research into the health impacts of the Act and found that there were numerous examples of sex workers being able to negotiate safer sex by stating that it is against the law for them not to practice it. The Committee noted that there were reports of increased confidence, wellbeing and a sense of validation amongst sex workers, as a direct result of the new law. The Committee stated that such confidence would have a ‘positive spin-off’ in many areas, such as the improvement of employment conditions, and the ability to ensure that safer sex practices remain standard throughout the industry. 686 The Committee concluded that sex industry had not increased in size since the law had been enacted, and the vast majority of people involved in the sex industry were better off under the new law than they had been previously. 687 Australia Research has shown that, following decriminalization, sex workers found it easier to refuse clients when they did not want them. Around two thirds of sex workers surveyed in 2006 who had been working prior to decriminalization reported that it was easier to refuse to have sex with a client since the law had changed. 688 Condom use is reported to be high 689 and HIV prevalence among sex workers is very low. A study found no HIV infections among the 298 female, 32 male and 13 transgender sex workers who attended sexual health clinics in 2006. 690 7.9 Australia Legal SEX WORK IN PRIVATE Illegal SOLICITING Not Illegal BROTHELS Australia’s response to HIV prevention in the sex industry is considered to be one of the most successful in the world. No cases of HIV transmission from sex worker to client have been reported in Australia, and sex workers have consistently low rates of STIs. 691 STI rates are much lower among sex workers than in the general population. In 2010, the chlamydia positivity rate was much higher among young heterosexual men and women attending sexual health clinics (16.3 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively), than female sex workers (5.6 percent). 692 686 Government of New Zealand, (2008) Report of the Prostitution Law Review Committee on the Operation of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, Wellington, Government of New Zealand, at Chapter 4.1.1. 687 Ibid., at Chapter 14. 688 Abel G., Fitzgerald L., Brunton C., (2007). The Impact of the Prostitution Reform Act on the Health and Safety Practices of Sex Workers. Christchurch School of Medicine. pp.116-117. 689 Ibid., p.135. 690 McAllister S., Dickson N., Sharples K., et al., (2008) Unlinked anonymous HIV prevalence among New Zealand sexual health clinic attenders: 2005–2006, International Journal of STD & AIDS, Vol.19. 691 Australian Government, National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Revitalising Australia’s response 2005-2008, Australian Government, Canberra, 2005, p.19. 692 Kirby Institute (2011) HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in Australia 2011, Sydney: UNSW, p.7. 195
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SEX WORK AND THE LAW IN ASIA AND TH
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SEX WORK AND THE LAW IN ASIA AND TH
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Table of contents 7. PACIFIC Overvi
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ACRONYMS AND KEY TERMS Term Definit
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PLHIV People Living with HIV PLRI P
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Legal terms Law: Laws are rules pre
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xii AN INDIAN HEALTH WORKER EXPLAIN
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India, Nepal and the Philippines).
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Laws, policies and practices that a
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opened a bar in Chiang Mai that pro
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8 SUSPECTED SEX WORKERS HIDE THEIR
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ii. iii. consultations with sex wor
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1.2 International legal and policy
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iii. the report of the Independent
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into commercial sex and by whom, an
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UN Trafficking Convention The UN Co
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20 SEX WORKERS WAIT FOR CLIENTS ON
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to police for fear of further abuse
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social security laws that do not re
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example. However, as these programm
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Jagriti Mahila Maha Sangh (Federati
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organize within their communities a
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32 KUAN HSIU-CHIN, ONE OF TAIWAN’
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Where governments have recognized t
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1.2 Laws that criminalize sex work
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4.2 Donors should support NGOs and
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40 NEARLY 2,000 SEX WORKERS SHOUT S
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e.g., devadasis, jogins, bhavins. T
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TABLE 1: LEGALITY OF ADULT SEX WORK
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The Local Government (Zila Parishad
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Despite the Court’s ruling, a stu
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order to ensure smooth operation of
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4.3 Bhutan Illegal SEX WORK IN PRIV
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State laws relating to public order
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The Act provides institutional reha
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Convention for Suppression of Traff
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4.4.2 Law enforcement practices Pol
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A study of 673 female sex workers i
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Kotiswaran has conducted a detailed
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involving power analysis, implement
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HIV/AIDS coordination committees we
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…The community mobilization effor
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The DMSC approach has reduced the n
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4.5 Maldives Illegal SEX WORK IN PR
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4.6.1 Laws The Trafficking and Tran
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false arrest for carrying condoms,
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2. The government, donors and UN ag
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Section 371A and Section 371B of th
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Sex workers are routinely harassed
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fine. 261 An ‘incorrigible rogue
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The UN Committee on the Elimination
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90 Caption for photo here SEX WORKE
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TABLE 2: LEGALITY OF ADULT SEX WORK
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or accommodates a woman for sex wor
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there are many illegal practices pe
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of police misconduct reported by se
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All pilot projects recognized that
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5.3 Hong Kong Special Administrativ
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5.4.1 Laws Sex work in private is l
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In 2011, the Legislature amended th
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y a television crew, which then bro
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others, inducing a person to be a s
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STI examinations show a rapid decre
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A SEX WORKER STANDS IN A DOORWAY AT
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deportation, with limited access to
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6.2 Cambodia 371 Legal SEX WORK IN
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Prior to 2008, research documented
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5. Targeting of sex workers reduced
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involved in drug use, special inter
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educate about the situation of sex
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such as streets and parks are a bar
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of Rp 5000 before leaving.…Securi
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100% CUP 100% CUP approaches have b
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young, poorly educated Khmou women
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6.4.3 Efforts to improve the legal
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There are periodic police crackdown
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Several workers in all groups raise
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The government issued an Administra
Page 158 and 159: Sex workers in many countries have
Page 160 and 161: of HIV prevention efforts. In the a
Page 162 and 163: There are also protective laws such
Page 164 and 165: Other examples of local ordinances
Page 166 and 167: Sex workers working independently a
Page 168 and 169: standard operating procedures of la
Page 170 and 171: If sex work is conducted in a ‘pr
Page 172 and 173: Suppression of Human Trafficking Ac
Page 174 and 175: According to the Empower Foundation
Page 176 and 177: and STD awareness, limited access t
Page 178 and 179: including sex workers, on a volunta
Page 180 and 181: 2010. 584 A raid in 2011 by police
Page 182 and 183: The National Programme aims to free
Page 184 and 185: 6.11.3 Efforts to improve the legal
Page 186 and 187: TRANSGENDER SEX WORKER, SHEENA, HAS
Page 188 and 189: antibodies. Certification may engen
Page 190 and 191: continued Sub-region / country / te
Page 192 and 193: continued Sub-region / country / te
Page 194 and 195: 7.3 Kiribati Legal SEX WORK IN PRIV
Page 196 and 197: The HIV/AIDS Decree 2011 provides t
Page 198 and 199: in building community and liaise wi
Page 200 and 201: provide a place to work or to prote
Page 202 and 203: of discrimination and police brutal
Page 204 and 205: Another man described a raid on the
Page 206 and 207: and key populations, including sex
Page 210 and 211: Laws State / Territory Legislation
Page 212 and 213: programmes. 696 New South Wales dec
Page 214 and 215: testing increased, with the regular
Page 216 and 217: ANNEX I: SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Abel G
Page 218 and 219: National Network of Sex Workers and
Page 220 and 221: Violence from police (e.g., Republi
Page 222 and 223: Theme: Economic Rights/Right to Liv
Page 224: ANNEX III: LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS PA
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