For more information on this session, including access to speaker presentations, please see the conference Programme-at-a-Glance.

In 2011, sex workers participated in a global review of HIV policy through the UN sponsored Global Commission on HIV and the Law. Regional dialogues took place around the world, and sex workers rights groups advocated for reform of polices to improve HIV prevention and treatment for sex workers. In sex workers’ statements from around the world, similar concerns were echoed, including funding restrictions that impede prevention for sex workers; the criminalization of sex work and the dangerous public health situations it creates, such as reduced use of condoms and increased violence; the use of other discriminatory laws to repress and punish sex workers; the exclusion of migrant sex workers; and the increased targeting of clients of sex workers. This Symposium will include panelists from the international sex workers rights movement, presenting policy reform recommendations to improve HIV prevention and treatment for sex workers.

Sex Work and HIV in the Africa Region

• Kholi Buthelezi, South Africa
• Sian Maseko, Zimbabwe

Sex Work and HIV in the High Income Countries Region

• Pye Jacobson, Sweden
• Melissa Ditmore, United States
• Deon Haywood, United States

Sex Work and HIV in the Latin America Region

• Elena Reynaga, Argentina

Sex Work and HIV in the Carribean Region

• Miriam Edwards, Guyana

Event Date

Jul 22, 2012