by Aziza Ahmed

Sex workers represent a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures practice sex work in a range of environments.  Despite this diversity, many sex workers experience similar forms of violence. Sex workers may face violence and exploitation from clients, partners, state agents, and structural violence from the state. Drawing from country research, the World Health Organization has articulated that sex workers report being beaten, threatened with a weapon, slashed, chocked, raped, and coerced into sex.  Sex workers are also less likely to get protection from the police, given that aspects of the sex industry are often illegal and police may also perpetuate violence against sex workers. The violence faced by sex workers is often a product of the stigma and discrimination experienced by sex workers.

Violence against sex workers can have grave impact on their health.  Amongst the injuries from violence and emotional outcomes, the experience of violence makes sex workers vulnerable to contracting HIV.  HIV positive sex workers face multiple layers of discrimination as both the stigma of being a sex worker and the stigma of being positive means that sex workers do not get the care they need.  This layered stigma and discrimination also makes sex workers vulnerable to rights violations in the context of health services. The illegality that often surrounds various parts of the sex industry prevents sex workers from reporting any rights violations out of fear of being arrested. Sex workers organizations have time and again called for the decriminalization of sex work as one step in an effective strategy to improve the health and well being of sex workers.

Violence against sex workers violates a host of rights including but not limited to the right to live a life free of violence, physical integrity, liberty, and right to live free of torture. The 16 days of activism against gender violence campaign is part of a larger movement to stop violence against women, including sex workers.  Following shortly behind is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers on December 16 – a day created to draw attention to the hate crimes committed against sex workers around the world.  Together, these days of activism allow us to recognize and act to end the persistent violence faced by sex workers around the world.

Aziza Ahmed is a Project Manager/Research Associate at the Harvard School of Public Health.  The Harvard School of Public Health is a member of the international alliance for the Women WON'T wait. End HIV and Violence Against Women. NOW. Campaign. 

Citations
Sex Workers Outreach Project, International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers, available at http://www.swopusa.org/dec17/

SANGRAM and VAMP, Rights and Issues of People Involved in Prostitution and Sex Work in India, available at http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session1/IN/SANGRAM_IND_UPR_S1_2008_SampadaGraminMahilaSanstha_uprsubmission_JOINT.pdf

World Health Organization, Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS: Critical Intersections, available at apps.who.int/entity/gender/documents/sexworkers.pdf

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Watch out for our daily blogs during the 16 days of Activism:

25 Nov - Intensify efforts in ending all forms of violence against women and girls (Shamillah Wilson, South Africa)
26 - Are All Defenders Equal? (Cynthia Rothschild, New York, USA)
27 - Give me back my movement! (Everjoice J. Win, Zimbabwe)
28 - An essential package of services to deal with two interlinked human rights and rights crises. (Neelanjana Mukhia, India)
29th - Questions of accountability and violence against women and girl and HIV&AIDS. (Shamillah Wilson, South Africa)
30th - Female Condoms: Now More Than Ever. (Kimberley Whipkey, USA)
1st Dec - Violence of Judgementalism (Meena Saraswathi Seshu, India)
2nd - Violence Against Women, Disasters and Climate Change (Jacqui Patterson, USA)
3rd - Silenced Links: Violence and HIV in Women. A current look at Latin America and the Caribbean. (Mabel Bianco, Argentina)
4th - Sexist Violence. Some Data to take into consideration. (Nirvana Gonzalez Rosa, Puerto Rico/Chile)
5th - Sex Workers. Sex Worker Rights. (Aziza Ahmed, USA)
Rights Not Rescue. Experiences of Sex Workers in Southern Africa. (Vicci Tallis, South Africa)
6th - Criminalisation of HIV and concerns for violence against women. (Norah Matovu Winyi, Kenya)
7th - Issues of violence against lesbian women and lesbian, bi- and transsexual women. (Vicci Tallis, South Africa)
8th - Violence against women in conflict situations. (Mary Wandia - Kenya and Neelanjana Mukhia - India)
9th - Today the enemy is homosexual. Tomorrow it could be you. (Christine Butegwa, Uganda)
10th - Our work isnt done - response to VAW as a consequence of HIV (Neelanjana Mukhia, India)
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The Women WON'T wait. End HIV and Violence Against Women. NOW. Campaign is an international coalition of organizations and networks working to promote women's health and human rights in the struggle to address HIV and AIDS and end all forms of violence against women and girls.

Members of the campaign are: Action Aid; African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET);
Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID); Akina Mama wa Afrika; Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL); Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE); Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer (FEIM); GESTOS-Soropositividade, Comunicação & Gênero; International Community of Women Living with HIV&AIDS Southern Africa (ICW-Southern Africa); International Women’s AIDS Caucus; International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC);
Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network; Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA); Program on International Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health; SANGRAM; VAMP; and Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA).

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