UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work and Annexes 2012

Source
UNAIDS
Year
2012

Note: This report has been updated, following agreement with UNAIDS in January 2012 to revisions in the document.  

This resource was officially launched in December 2011 as a separate report from the Advisory Group at the UNAIDS Secretariat in Geneva, during the 29th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board and has now been integrated into the UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work as annexes and published by UNAIDS. 

This important resource was developed by the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work, which was constituted in 2009 by the Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé, to provide advice and guidance to UNAIDS on matters related to HIV and sex work.  The group includes representatives of UNAIDS Co-Sponsors and the Secretariat, representatives of organisations affiliated with the Global Network of Sex Work Projects, and independent experts from academia and civil society organisations. 

The Annexes (which begin on page 28) make a number of recommendations for action which will help shape programmes and policies on HIV and sex work that are human rights-based, in the following areas:

  • The legal and policy environment and the rights of sex workers

This section outlines the laws, law enforcement, policies and practices that impede effective HIV responses for sex workers, and the measures required to create enabling legal environments.     

  • Shifting the strategic focus from reduction of demand for sex work to reduction of demand for unprotected paid sex

This section outlines policy and programme approaches to reduce the HIV risk and vulnerability of sex workers and their clients through reducing the demand for unprotected paid sex.

  • Differentiating sex work and trafficking

This section clearly articulates the difference between sex work and human trafficking, and considers the potential implication of anti-trafficking interventions for sex workers’ HIV vulnerability.

  • Economic empowerment of sex workers

This section explores the components of economic empowerment and financial security as an essential part of the response to reduce sex workers’ HIV vulnerability. 

You can download this 56 page PDF document above. 

This resource is in English.  Translations will be published in due course.