Durban - A “Good practice guide” for sex workers is a fundamental tool in educating those in the industry about their rights and vulnerabilities and ensuring sex workers are tested and treated for HIV.
Speaking on the last day of the Aids conference in Durban on Friday, Mashudu Madadzhe of the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force (SWEAT), said that feedback though various channels indicated that sex workers wanted to be educated and mentored in a holistic way, instead of “only being seen in a biomedical way”.
“Sex workers do not want to be seen as just the HIV positive,” she said.
“The Best Practice Guide to Integrated Sex Worker Programming was the outcome of a workshop held with several SWEAT working partners, including the Red Umbrella Campaign,” she said.
The Red Umbrella Campaign focuses on peer education and is funded by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, through the Networking HIV/AIDS Community of South Africa (Nacosa).
A symposium to present innovative ideas in the sex worker industry had been “mind blowing” she said, and it was out of this that that the guide was born. It took two years to implement and included input from 19 organisations.
But the guide would only be successful if sex workers took the initiative in guiding and leading their peers in Human Rights education and the benefits of HIV testing and treatment, she said.
“We must not forget that sex workers are mothers, fathers and church-goers. Positive change in the industry can be sustained through communities.”
The guide, which was funded by the United Nations Population Fund, was a tool, she said, and did not take a one-size-fits all approach to sex workers. Nothing within it was cast in stone. “It is based on the experiences of sex workers across the country,” she said.
“Sex workers are on the forefront of the struggle and are often the first to fall when they face social injustices. They are subjected to Human Rights violations, police violation and gender based violence,” she said.
Out of the guide had grown “Sex work ambassadors”, she said, who were themselves sex workers and were trained in assisting their peers in health and Rights issues.
The ambassador programme was active in the Western cape. Ambassador met once a week and supported their colleagues by visiting them at their homes, at hospitals or in shelters.
They also taught other sex workers the importance of adhering to HIV medication, getting tested for HIV, using protection during sex, and educated them on their Human Rights.
Sex workers would generally approach their peer ambassadors first, she said, who would listen to them and help them, and then direct them to HIV peer educators.
Included in the guide were principles for implementing sex work programmes that treat sex workers as “the whole person” who should have access to knowledge and skills development, emotional and psychological support, health and HIV support and empowerment and Human Rights knowledge.
Sex workers are regarded as a Key Population group in South Africa. Key Populations are those that are most at risk of HIV infection. Testing and treating of sex workers has become a priority for the government and NPOs.
The HIV prevalence rate amongst sex workers in South Africa is estimated to be between 59 and 71 per cent, one of the highest in the world.
A study conducted by SWEAT and Impact Consulting in 2012/2013 found that “most” sex workers supported the idea of safe sex but there were often obstacles in the environments in which they operated.
The same study found that clients were willing to pay more for unprotected sex and would often threaten and intimate the sex workers into unprotected sex.
“Imagine it is late at night. It is raining. You are standing on the street waiting for clients. Your kids are at home alone. You need money to feed them and send them to school. A client comes along, and is prepared to pay you double for ‘skin-to-skin’ sex. That is a very tough decision,” a sex worker told the audience during a workshop on the good practice guide last year.
Sex work in all forms is illegal in South Africa, and according to SWEAT, this “exacerbates the marginalisation and stigma that women and men working in the industry endure”.
African News Agency