TY - JOUR
T1 - Human rights violations against sex workers
T2 - Burden and effect on HIV
AU - Decker, Michele R.
AU - Crago, Anna Louise
AU - Chu, Sandra K.H.
AU - Sherman, Susan G.
AU - Seshu, Meena S.
AU - Buthelezi, Kholi
AU - Dhaliwal, Mandeep
AU - Beyrer, Chris
N1 - Funding Information:
This Review and The Lancet Series on HIV and sex work were supported by grants to the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , The UN Population Fund , and the Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research , a programme funded by the National Institute of Health ( 1P30AI094189 ) supported by the following NIH co-funding and participating institutes and centres: National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) , National Cancer Institute (NCI) , National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) , National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) , National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) , National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) , National Institute on Aging (NIA) , Fogarty International Center (FIC) , and Office of AIDS Research (OAR) . The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. We thank Swathi Manchikanti and Jennifer Parsons for their assistance in the literature review and abstraction, and Claire Twose for advising on our literature search strategy.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/1/10
Y1 - 2015/1/10
N2 - We reviewed evidence from more than 800 studies and reports on the burden and HIV implications of human rights violations against sex workers. Published research documents widespread abuses of human rights perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. Such violations directly and indirectly increase HIV susceptibility, and undermine effective HIV-prevention and intervention efforts. Violations include homicide; physical and sexual violence, from law enforcement, clients, and intimate partners; unlawful arrest and detention; discrimination in accessing health services; and forced HIV testing. Abuses occur across all policy regimes, although most profoundly where sex work is criminalised through punitive law. Protection of sex workers is essential to respect, protect, and meet their human rights, and to improve their health and wellbeing. Research findings affirm the value of rights-based HIV responses for sex workers, and underscore the obligation of states to uphold the rights of this marginalised population.
AB - We reviewed evidence from more than 800 studies and reports on the burden and HIV implications of human rights violations against sex workers. Published research documents widespread abuses of human rights perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. Such violations directly and indirectly increase HIV susceptibility, and undermine effective HIV-prevention and intervention efforts. Violations include homicide; physical and sexual violence, from law enforcement, clients, and intimate partners; unlawful arrest and detention; discrimination in accessing health services; and forced HIV testing. Abuses occur across all policy regimes, although most profoundly where sex work is criminalised through punitive law. Protection of sex workers is essential to respect, protect, and meet their human rights, and to improve their health and wellbeing. Research findings affirm the value of rights-based HIV responses for sex workers, and underscore the obligation of states to uphold the rights of this marginalised population.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60800-X
DO - 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60800-X
M3 - Review article
C2 - 25059943
AN - SCOPUS:84920655823
SN - 0140-6736
VL - 385
SP - 186
EP - 199
JO - The Lancet
JF - The Lancet
IS - 9963
ER -