Sex Workers and HIV Prevention in Fiji - after the Fiji Crimes Decree ...

Sex worker communityThe targeting and mistreatment of sex workers by armypersonnel in particular has created a dispersing effectwithin the sex worker community because of the fears ofbeing identified. This dispersal not only makes serviceproviders’ access to sex workers more difficult, but it alsodecreases access of sex worker peers and advocates totheir constituents.HIV prevention activities are being adversely affectedby the reduced cooperation between sex workers. Sexworker groups do still exist, but with little support anddwindling resources they struggle to organise. Formalregistration is a hurdle for sex worker organisations.Consequently, the one organisation that seeks to bea nationally representative body operates under theumbrella of a larger, separate, organisation whichseverely limits its autonomy and self-determination.Furthermore, at least one other emerging sex workerorganisation has decided not to engage in advocacyactivities at this time, citing a new and heightened senseof vulnerability because of changes to the law, and theevidence of an altered legal environment that they seearound them.The sex worker community organisations have beenmore hampered in their advocacy work since the Decree.One group commented, ‘When we go to meetings or doadvocacy work, we are very careful on the words we use.Depending on who is the audience, we make sure thatwe use the words ‘’sex work/sex worker’’ with caution’.Sex workers themselves noted new limits on their abilityto associate and speak freely:When these grassroots community organisations areembattled and undermined, valuable and hard-earnedcommunity capital is lost. In the past, cooperationbetween sex workers has been a major resource forHIV prevention among sex workers in Fiji, facilitatingthe transfer of knowledge, fostering a culture of safesex attitudes, providing information about access toresources, and enabling effective condom distribution.With no new input from outside the local sex workcommunity to provide resources and information on theirprograms, the effort is totally reliant on the resources thatlocal sex workers themselves are able to provide oneanother. This crucial resource is rapidly being eroded.Sex workers fighting for their rightsIt must be stated that sex workers are not simply victimsof punitive law, bad enforcement practices, or militarycrackdowns. In the interviews they asserted their agencyin a number of ways, such as finding new ways to carryout sex work, or by moving to less-known spots. Mostof the sex workers interviewed had no intention of givingup sex work as it remained the most viable way ofsupporting themselves and their families. They were alsostaunch in their belief that the treatment of sex workersis unjust and that both the law and discriminatory orstigmatising practices are worth contesting:Before our discussion ends I just want to say this tomy friends, we fight on our rights. I want to tell myfriends that if you have been arrested by the policefight for your rights don’t give up, fight for it becauseif you’ll give up they’ll put you down. (Charlotte)I believe the Crimes Decree that came into effect hasalso affected the running of the network. When wewant to have a meeting the police would come andthey would want to know about the things we talkedabout during the meeting. They would want to knowthe reason for the workshop or the training we aredoing. (Mary-Alice)One group contended that while it was imperativeunder the new conditions that there are organisationsto look after and support sex workers, the organisationsthemselves must always ensure that sex workers’identities are safeguarded: ‘We put the safety of our SWmembers first above everything else’. This means thatthey are very careful when they conduct workshops thatthere are no words like ‘sex work’ on PowerPoint slides,notes or posters because they are ‘worried that ourworkshops could be raided by the Police and the identityof our members known’.This Decree has made the [sex worker] networkstronger in the way it’s moving now. Now it’s trying tolook for options to better the life of sex workers in Fiji.(Bree)I hope the next election will change everything inthis country because I know most of us SW havecontributed to the economy and I wish in future thatsome NGOs and other sex workers would fight fortheir rights and seek help from people out there in thecommunity and that’s all, thank you. (Carrie)Sex WoRKeRS and HIV PreveNTIon in Fiji - After The Fiji Crimes Decree 200923