SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

Where governments have recognized the legality of sex work, health regulations
related to sex work should avoid mandatory medical procedures, respect sex workers’
right to meaningful participation in health services, and give priority to measures that
empower sex workers to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted
diseases.
In its submission to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, the UNAIDS Advisory
Group on HIV and Sex Work made the following additional points:
States must have a legal obligation to protect, respect and fulfil the human rights of
everyone, including female, male and transgender sex workers, regardless of whether
sex work remains criminalized. States must take steps to protect sex workers from
violence and exploitation, prevent illegal police practices against them, provide them
with equality before the law and due process, and implement measures to ensure
that they are able to access health services including HIV prevention and treatment in
a non-discriminatory, confidential and voluntary manner, including protection from
mandatory testing.
In order to effectively address HIV, states must reform the laws governing sex work in
a manner that is cognizant of the variety of forms that commercial sex may take, and
the range of individuals who perform roles associated with the conduct of commercial
sex other than the physical provision of sexual services. These include brothel owners,
managers, and cleaners, drivers, cooks and other support staff.
Another option, chosen by some States, is to move further away from criminalization,
prohibition and penalization, to create regulatory frameworks for commercial sex
that recognize sex work as a legitimate occupation and regulate safety and health
within that occupation. Such regulatory frameworks can:
Enable sex workers to be recognized as persons before the law capable of
holding and exercising all human rights, including the right to mobilize and form
representative bodies to advocate for further social and legal reforms;
Ensure that sex work can take place under healthy and safe conditions;
Guarantee sex workers’ access to health and social services; and
Provide protection from violence, exploitation, coercion, abuse and
discrimination. 51
(ii) Recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2012) 52
Countries must:
1. Repeal laws that prohibit consenting adults to buy or sell sex, as well as laws that
otherwise prohibit commercial sex, such as laws against ‘immoral’ earnings, ‘living off
the earnings’ of prostitution and brothel-keeping. Complementary legal measures
must be taken to ensure safe working conditions to sex workers.
2. Take all measures to stop police harassment and violence against sex workers.
51 UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work, Submission to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law,
August 2011.
52 Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2012) Risks, rights and health, New York: UNDP, p.43. The Global
Commission on HIV and the Law was an independent body, supported by UNDP.
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