Sex workers living with HIV

Sex workers living with HIV often find it especially difficult to leave sex work.
Comprehensive assistance should be readily available for HIV-positive sex workers,
including skills training, alternative livelihoods, and microfinance. There are many successful
examples of microcredit and microfinance programmes providing economic opportunities
for people living with HIV or to alleviate poverty among girls and women. Such
programmes use economic empowerment as a means to reduce stigma and discrimination
and expand life choices73. To date, however, only a few have specifically focused on meeting
the needs of sex workers74. Partnerships between local authorities and communities should
be strengthened to ensure sex workers living with HIV have equal access to HIV treatment,
care and support, as well as to available employment programmes. Every effort should be
made by governments, donors, civil society, sex worker organizations and the UN system to
ensure sex workers’ meaningful access to such programmes and services. Laws, policies, and
practices that diminish sex workers’ potential for their economic independence and social
inclusion must be reviewed and revised.
All adult sex workers have the right to determine whether to remain in or leave sex work.
Policies and programmes should support sex workers to acquire the life, education and
vocational skills and training70 they need to make informed decisions and have meaningful
choices about their lives71. Such programmes should address the inequalities and barriers
sex workers face and take account of the fact that many young people become involved in
sex work in order to contribute to family income, sometimes as the sole providers.
Sex workers should have access to a meaningful and comprehensive set of alternatives to
sex work that respond to workers’ individual circumstances. In devising meaningful alternatives
to sex work, programmes should address drug dependency, family rejection, mental
health and legal problems—including for those whose children have been taken into the
care of, and/or management by, the State.
A comprehensive package of services to facilitate expanding choices should include:

• meaningful alternative employment and livelihood opportunities—jobs, cash grants,
• microcredit and microfinance, banking services and repayment of debts;
• assistance in obtaining secure housing;
• education for life, including literacy classes and vocational and skills training;
• control of family assets; and,
• support to return home for documented and undocumented migrant sex workers,
• whose circumstances often restrict their ability to leave sex work.