Complex combinations of law, policy, and enforcement practices determine sex workers vulnerability to HIV and rights abuses. We identify “lack of recognition as a person before the law” as an important but undocumented barrier to accessing services and conclude that multi-faceted, setting-specific reform is needed—rather than a singular focus on decriminalization—if the health and human rights of sex workers are to be realized.
This paper attempts to bring clarity to the discussion concerning the regulation of commercial sex, the rights of sex workers, and reducing vulnerability to HIV among adult female sex workers. Varying combinations of law, policy, and enforcement practices are shown to come together along identifiable themes to determine how sex workers live and work.
Adapted from source