Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 8, 2006
Street-smart: HIV/Aids and human rights activists have called for commercial sex work to be decriminalised as a means of tackling the spread of HIV/Aids.
The call came as International Sex Worker Rights Day was observed for the first time last week in Cape Town.
Nathan Geffen, spokesperson for the Treatment Action Campaign, said the event was necessary to address the emotional and physical abuse encountered by sex workers.
"The criminalisation of commercial sex is not only a breach of rights to dignity and freedom of association, but also places these men and women at increased risk of HIV infection and gender-based violence," he commented.
Geffen expressed concern that failure to recognise the profession as legitimate hampered HIV prevention, as sex workers often had difficulty accessing healthcare services because of the stigma associated with their work.
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