SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

Those engaged in sex work have no welfare support from the government. They
have no employer, no pension and no banking facility. Because of this, they are often
cheated out of their savings. They also have to deal with the day-to-day responsibility
of running a family and raising children like other women. But when authorities in
school find out about the profession of the child’s mother, the child faces enormous
discrimination. Besides, no landlord is willing to rent homes to sex workers, as the
landlord can be penalized under ITPA. But possibly the harshest consequence of this
law is that if a sex worker’s child, aged above 18 years, lives off the earnings of his/her
mother, s/he is penalized too. 179
India
In 2011, the Indian Network of Sex Workers complained to the National AIDS Control
Organisation (NACO) that government policies requiring collection of data about targeted
interventions had given rise to human rights violations. The practice of ‘line listing’
mandates HIV programmes to maintain records of personal data about sex workers,
which is shared with government agencies. Sex workers raised concerns that this practice
resulted in breaches of rights to privacy and confidentiality. Requirements to track the
number of sex workers tested for HIV also reportedly resulted in incidents of coercive
testing. 180 Cuts to prevention programme budgets occurred as a result of non-compliance
with HIV testing requirements. The system of reporting and recording personal data
reportedly created a sense of fear and apprehension among sex workers. 181
4.4.3 Efforts to improve the legal environment
Government responses
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in 2008:
Strategies for tackling [HIV] require more inclusive and less judgmental social
approaches to questions of public health…We should work to remove legislative
barriers that hinder access of high-risk groups to services…The fact that many of
the vulnerable social groups, be they sex workers or homosexuals or drug users, face
great social prejudice has made the task of identifying AIDS victims and treating them
very difficult. 182
The National AIDS Control Programme III (NACP III) (2007-2012) states:
Effective prevention, care and support for HIV/AIDS is possible in an environment
in which human rights are respected and where those infected with or affected by
HIV live a life of dignity, without stigma or discrimination. This necessitates a review
and reform of structural constraints, legal procedures and policies that impede
interventions aimed at marginalised populations. Affirmative action is needed to
reduce stigma and discrimination associated with the infected and affected persons
and their access to prevention and quality treatment, care, insurance and legal
services. 183
Operational Guidelines for the NACP III provide guidance on creating an enabling
environment for HIV interventions with sex workers through a systematic approach
179 National Network of Sex Workers and Lawyers Collective (2011), op cit., p.8.
180 See: Indian Network of Sex Workers, DG NACO promises review of line listing, 21 February 2011 (AIDS-
India).
181 Dr S. Jana, report of Letter written by NACO Technical Resource Group to Director, NACO, July 2011.
182 Comments at the launch of the Report of the Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia.
183 NACO, National AIDS Control Programme III, p.26.
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