Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - August 12, 2005
Michael M. Phillips, michael.phillips@wsj.com
Washington-based DKT International, a nonprofit group that sold 390 million discount condoms last year in 11 countries to fight AIDS, filed suit in federal court here against the U.S. Agency for International Development and its administrator, Andrew Natsios, for rejecting the group's AIDS grant applications because it refused to sign an antiprostitution pledge.
In its court filing, DKT argued that having to publicly pledge support for the Bush administration's "political viewpoint on prostitution" violates its First Amendment free-speech rights. "The government cannot tell us what policies to have," said the group's founder Philip Harvey.
DKT asked the judge to bar USAID from denying it federal grants pending a ruling in the suit. The group receives about 16% of its $50 million annual operating budget from the U.S. government.
The suit is the latest in a series of disputes over strings the Bush administration and its socially conservative allies in Congress have attached to U.S. foreign aid, particularly in areas related to sexual conduct and intravenous drug use.
Health activists fear that they won't be able to prevent the spread of HIV among prostitutes and their clients if they are forced to condemn the very people whose trust they are trying to win. Brazil recently rejected $40 million in U.S. grants because of the pledge requirement.
Heather Layman, a USAID spokeswoman, said "it's the official policy of the U.S. government to oppose prostitution and sex trafficking as dehumanizing and degrading," but "there is nothing in U.S. law that prohibits the U.S. or any of our partners from providing services to high-risk populations, including women in prostitution."
DKT's case involves projects in Vietnam, where it has helped combat AIDS with support from USAID and other donors for 12 years. The group specializes in using marketing techniques to induce condom use. In June, according to DKT's court filing, the group asked another USAID contractor, Family Health International, for a $60,000 subgrant to market condom lubricants to reduce breakage. FHI initially approved the grant, but withdrew its approval after DKT's representative in Vietnam refused to sign the pledge certifying "that it has a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking," according to the suit.
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Jess Bravin contributed to this article.
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