Resources

This is the Report of the Committee on HIV/AIDS which documents the discussions leading up to the drafting process of ILO Recommendation No. 200 on HIV/AIDS and the world of work (you can download this document as a separate source by following this link).  

The first international labour standard on HIV and AIDS in the world of work was adopted by governments, employers’ and workers’ representatives from ILO member States at the International Labour Conference in June 2010.

This report was commissioned and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and implemented by the Sex Work Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). The report found that during the 2010 World Cup period, there was a small increase in the number of female sex workers who advertised online and in newspapers and sex workers did not typically see more clients during the World Cup period. The report also found that sex workers' demographics did not change significantly during the World Cup. The date does not support fears about an increase of children or foreign migrant sex workers into the sex industry during the World Cup.

Short report in English of the work of the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work during 2010.

This is the Plain English version of the Note for Record of the June 2010 UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work.

This is the English version of the Note for Record of the June 2010 UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work.

These terms of reference, developed jointly by representatives of the Global Working Group on HIV and Sex Work Policy and United Nations system, seek to enhance consultation on HIV and sex work between UNAIDS and sex workers.

Sex workers are frequently omitted from discussions about the links between criminalisation, marginalisation, and increased HIV transmission. At the IAS 2010 conference in Vienna, substantial attention was focused on the negative impacts that criminalisation has on men who have sex with men, injection drug users, and people living with HIV—but very little on its effects on sex workers. Few outside of the Global Village explicitly called for decriminalisation of sex work or mentioned that laws criminalizing HIV transmission and exposure exacerbate the damage already being done to sex workers' health and rights. This article explores this omission, how other hard-hit constituencies have struggled for their place on the HIV/AIDS advocacy agenda, and why the HIV/AIDS field should be actively collaborating with sex workers' rights organisations, particularly on anti-criminalisation work.

This paper is the product of discussions of the Thematic Task Team on Creating an Enabling Legal and Policy Environment in preparation for the 1st Asia and the Pacific Regional Consultation on HIV and Sex Work, 12 – 15 October 2010 in Pattaya, Thailand.

The meeting was organised by Different Avenues, Women of Colour United and Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), and was held at OSI in Washington, D.C. OSI commissioned the analysis of U.S. immigration law and review of the grounds for inadmissibility to inform conversations about a waiver process for sex workers, people who use drugs and those with criminal convictions to attend the 2012 AIDS conference that is planned to be held in the U.S..

In July 2010, sex workers and allies from nearly 40 countries, gathered at the 18th International AIDS Conference. "We carried red umbrellas everywhere we went, and demanded that funders, policy makers, researchers, and other organisations recognise and support the human rights of sex workers." This report gives an overview of the sex work-related activities during the conference.

The Global Network of Sex Work Projects raises the voices of sex workers of all genders on issues that affect us. What these voices say about HIV is: SEX WORK IS WORK: Only rights can stop the wrongs. Unfavourable laws, stigma, violence, and discrimination cause sex workers’ vulnerability to ill health, social exclusion and human rights violations. Sex workers face these to varying degrees in all cultures from Switzerland to Swaziland, Canada to Cambodia. In this pamphlet, we define an understanding of HIV and sex work and outline our global agenda for change. We hope you will join and support us.