Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programmes with Sex Workers Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programmes with | Page 31

1 Community Empowerment

Box 1.2

Sex worker-led outreach programmes
Sex worker-led outreach programmes focus on:
• the needs and experiences of sex workers themselves, not what programmers think sex workers need
• the sex worker-led outreach process itself, with an emphasis on ways of protecting sex workers, rather
than an emphasis on process indicators (for example, counting the number of condoms distributed is
part of a programme, but should not be seen as an end in itself)
• stimulating community empowerment and creating a collective identity among sex workers.

In order to ensure the trust and confidence of sex workers, it is important to employ educators and
outreach workers who are themselves sex workers. This is because sex workers:
• share a common experience that may decrease internalized stigma and increase self-worth and
collective solidarity
• are likely to be more comfortable discussing intimate details associated with sex work with
someone who is experienced and knowledgeable
• are more likely to follow up on referrals to services, adhere to treatments and engage in healthseeking and health-protective behaviours if they trust the person providing the advice
• have knowledge of the sex work industry that can inform outreach activities to clients, managers,
law enforcement and health-care providers.
However, sex workers should not be limited to these roles in community-led programmes. Rather,
they should be given the opportunity to participate in all other levels of the programme, including
decision-making on programme implementation, management and governance. Capacity-building
and mentoring should be a priority to enable sex workers to take up these positions.

1.2.3 Developing sex worker collectives
Forming any type of sex worker group or organization will only be successful if the process is initiated
and led by the community. A common first step in developing community cohesion is providing a
safe space (drop-in centre) where sex workers can come together to socialize and discuss issues.
This can be an empowering exercise in and of itself (see Box 1.3) and helps sex workers identify
common issues and a sense of purpose and connectedness. However, safe spaces are only one way
to initiate group processes. Sex workers may also come together over key issues that affect them
individually but that require a group response, such as addressing violence, bribes and harassment;
or they may identify common needs such as child care; or seek information as new (and frequently
undocumented) migrants.
The recommended kind of sex worker organization is a collective. This means that sex workers
organize themselves together as a group. They jointly (collectively) decide on priorities for the whole
group, agree on a group process for making decisions, and on a common set of rules for being
together as a group. Ultimately a collective (i.e. a sex worker-led organization or network) acts in the
interest of the whole group rather than for individual benefit. It is up to sex workers to decide when
a collective should be formed, and there is no standard timeframe for doing so.

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