SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

1970. 234 Police use this Act to raid parks and premises such as hotels and massage parlours
where sex work is suspected. For example:
Kathmandu police report conducting 24 raids in a four-month period in 2010 235
Nepal
Kathmandu police arrested 12 female sex workers and 21 male clients at two hotels in
2009 for participation in ‘indecent and vulgar activities.’ 236
Police reportedly ask for bribes from sex workers and managers at restaurants,
massage parlours, and hotels. 237
According to Purna Shreshta, a Nepalese lawyer, most sex workers want decriminalization
of the sex industry and protection from police abuses:
In two studies conducted by human rights groups in
Kathmandu, the overwhelming majority of [female sex
workers] interviewed wanted sex work to be legalized
or decriminalized, unaware that prostitution is not
illegal in Nepal. However, the reason behind demanding
legalization was not because they saw prostitution as a
desirable and enjoyable profession that a woman decides
upon freely and willingly – rather, legalization was seen as
a means through which sex workers would be provided
with effective legal protection against police harassment,
client abuse and other forms of discrimination. In the first
national gathering of Nepalese sex workers held in 2005,
voices were raised to legalize ‘sex professionals’ on the
assumption that it would protect them against frequent
police mistreatment and abuse. 238
“...IN 2005, VOICES WERE
RAISED TO LEGALIZE “SEX
PROFESSIONALS” ON THE
ASSUMPTION THAT IT
WOULD PROTECT THEM
AGAINST FREQUENT
POLICE MISTREATMENT
AND ABUSE.”
Transgender people (‘metis’) who engage in sex work are highly vulnerable to police
abuses. A study of metis who reported currently being sex workers or having a history of
providing sex for money found that rape and abuse by law enforcement officers leads to
inconsistent condom use due to fear of carrying condoms in public. The study concluded:
Low access and ability to carry condoms paired with high reported numbers of
sexual partners revealed an environment ripe for the spread of HIV among Metis and
their partners…These data suggest the imminent need for interventions to reduce
law enforcement violence towards Metis in order to decrease the risk for HIV among
Metis who are raped and to increase access to and the ability to safely carry condoms.
Sensitivity trainings and strict enforcement of existing legal protections for Metis
should be considered. 239
Rape by police has direct implications for HIV risk. Metis reported being unable to require
condom use by police. Known rape and violence toward metis also created fear of law
enforcement, which had an indirect impact on HIV-related risk behaviours. Metis feared
234 Some Public (Offences and Penalties) Act, 1970, section 2.
235 Raids alone can’t curb flesh trade: police, Kathmandu Post, 12 December 2010.
236 Sex workers, clients arrested from Thamel, Kathmandu Post, 19 December 2009.
237 McNeill L., (2008) Legislating sex work: the case of Nepal. Cornell Institute for Public Affairs.
238 Shreshta P. (2006) op cit.
239 Wilson E., Pant S. Stigma and HIV risk behaviors of transgender women in Nepal: implications for HIV
prevention, Poster: 16 th International Symposium on HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Marseille, 24-26
March 2010 Retrovirology 2010, 7(Suppl 1): P.122.
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