SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

1.2 International legal and policy
contexts
Two related areas of international law and policy influence legal environments of sex
workers in Asia and the Pacific:
i. international human rights laws, and policies of international bodies on the protection
of the human rights of key populations affected by HIV;
ii. international laws and regional agreements relating to prevention of human
trafficking.
1.2.1 Human rights-based approach
This report applies a human rights-based approach to the analysis of the effect of laws on
HIV responses and in the items proposed for an agenda for action. 7 The premise of this
study is that sex workers are entitled to legal protections of their human rights, consistent
with international law and human rights norms, and that strengthening these protections
will reduce HIV vulnerability.
In many countries, laws, policies and practices limit the civil, social and economic rights of
sex workers in areas such as their employment conditions and access to education, health
care, housing, banking facilities, inheritance, property and legal services. Sex workers may
also lack evidence of citizenship or legal status, which can lead to travel restrictions and
exclusion from health services and welfare entitlements.
A human rights-based approach asserts that HIV responses are more effective in contexts
where the human rights of people living with HIV and those most-at-risk of HIV (including
sex workers) are protected by laws, policies and law enforcement practices. HIV services can
operate more effectively when sex workers can access services openly and without fear of
adverse legal consequences. Respect for the human rights of sex workers is a precondition
to their involvement in national HIV responses and the reduction of vulnerability, risk
and harm. Supportive laws and law enforcement practices enable sex workers to openly
participate in planning, managing and delivering HIV services, which helps to ensure that
the services are effective, accessible and acceptable to their communities.
At the international level, there has been growing recognition of the centrality of
human rights to HIV responses. The UN system affirms the universality, inalienability
and interdependence of human rights, and promotes and supports their application in
practice, including for sex workers, even in states where sex work is criminalized. 8
States are required to uphold international human rights standards as reflected in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other core human rights instruments. 9 Sex
workers are entitled to recognition of fundamental human rights (regardless of domestic
7 Some sex worker advocates are critical of approaches based on international human rights law, see: Rao
S., Sluggett, C. (2009), Who Stole the Tarts? Sex Work and Human Rights, Center for Advocacy on Stigma and
Marginalisation (CASAM).
8 UNAIDS (2009), Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work Geneva: UNAIDS, p.7.
9 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966);
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women (1979); Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (2006).
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