Action Research Centre

Website
www.actionresearchcentre.in
Contact email
arcfswphfi@gmail.com
Who do you work with?

We work with more than 1,500 female sex workers who operate out of bars, homes, and streets. We have been providing HIV/AIDS prevention and care services for more than ten years. We also support the children of sex workers in terms of nutrition and life skills education. We have provided relief during Covid period through the distribution of dry ration.

How are sex workers involved in your organisation?

Sex workers are involved as peer educators. 

Which of NSWP priority areas does your organisation work on?
Oppose the criminalisation and other legal oppression of sex work and support its recognition as work
Critique the trafficking paradigm that conflates representations of sex work, migration, and mobility
Advocate for universal access to health services, including primary health care, HIV and sexual and reproductive health services
Speak out about violence against sex workers, including violence from police, institutions, clients, and intimate partners, while challenging the myth that sex work is inherently gender-based violence
Oppose human rights abuses, including coercive programming, mandatory testing, raids and forced rehabilitation
Challenge stigma and discrimination against sex workers, their families and partners, and others involved in sex work
Advocate for the economic empowerment and social inclusion of sex workers as sex workers
What are the two main challenges that the sex workers you work with face

Mobility of sex workers creates problem for tracking and continued provision of services. Inspite of advocacy efforts with police, sex workers are harassed and booked by the police. 

Describe other areas of your work

Cross-border HIV/AIDS prevention and care (Nepal-India-Bangladesh). Alternative livelihood through entrepreneurship development among aging sex workers. Migration and HIV/AIDS prevention. Life skills education among adolescent children of sex workers.

Region
Asia and the Pacific
Country
India