Resources

This briefing paper explores sex workers' experiences of HIV and STI testing and treatment programmes from a global perspective. Sex workers are rarely included in the development and implementation of programming. Programming that does exist often violates the rights of sex workers. Through case studies and interviews, this briefing paper demonstrates there is a need for greater investment in appropriate, high-quality, rights-based services, and research led by sex workers in order to meet the specific needs of this population.

Theme: Health

This is a Community Guide to the Stigma and Discrimination Experienced by Sex Workers Living with HIV briefing paper. It looks at the different types of stigma and discrimination experienced by sex workers living with HIV globally. This community guide provides recommendations for policies and practices which respect their  human rights. It uses case studies that highlight the experiences of sex  workers living with HIV and the efforts required to meet their needs, and advocate for their rights.

This briefing paper looks at the different types of stigma and discrimination experienced by sex workers living with HIV globally. Sex workers living with HIV are at increased risk of violence, criminalisation and vulnerability to other infections. This briefing paper provides recommendations for policies and practices which respect their  human rights. It uses case studies that highlight the experiences of sex workers living with HIV and the efforts required to meet their needs, and advocate for their rights. A Community Guide is also available.

This is a Community Guide to the Advocacy Toolkit: The Real Impact of the Swedish Model on Sex Workers, a collection of papers on the harmful Swedish model. It can be used to challenge the widespread promotion of this detrimental legal and political approach to the regulation of sex work.

This is a summary of the findings of the Economic Empowerment: Does Rehabilitation Have a Role? briefing paper and the Overcoming Practices that Limit Sex Worker Agency in the Asia Pacific Region briefing paper. In this summary, NSWP reflects on the impact of economic empowerment programmes for sex workers.

This Community Guide summarises the Sex Workers Who Use Drugs: Ensuring a Joint Approach briefing paper. The community guide highlights the specific needs and rights of sex workers who use drugs.

This joint briefing paper by NSWP and INPUD highlights the specific needs and rights of sex workers who use drugs, as a community that spans two key populations. This document provides an overview of some of the most endemic and substantive ways in which sex workers who use drugs face double criminalisation and associated police harassment, intersectional stigma, compounded marginalisation and social exclusion, heightened interference and harassment from healthcare and other service providers, infantilisation, pathologisation, and an associated undermining of agency, choice, and self-determination. A Community Guide is also available.

This briefing paper discusses case studies on economic empowerment programmes for sex workers with rehabilitation elements, documented across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda. The case studies highlight factors that negatively affect sex workers’ participation in economic empowerment programmes and looks at some of the key lessons that have been learnt when implementing economic empowerment programmes for sex workers. A summary is also available.