Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programmes with Sex Workers Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programmes with | Page 46

2 Addressing Violence against Sex Workers

2.1.1 Contexts of violence
There are several contexts, dynamics and factors that put sex workers at risk for violence.
Understanding them is key to designing appropriate programmatic responses.
• Workplace violence: This may include violence from managers, support staff, clients or co-workers
in establishments where sex work takes place (e.g. brothels, bars, hotels).
• Violence from intimate partners and family members: Stigmatization of sex work may lead
partners or family members to think it acceptable to use violence to “punish” a woman who has
sex with other men. It may be difficult for sex workers to leave an abusive relationship, particularly
when perpetrators threaten them, or have control due to ownership of a home, or the power to
harm or refuse access to their children.
• Violence by perpetrators at large or in public spaces: In most contexts, the antagonistic
relationship with police creates a climate of impunity for crimes against sex workers that may
lead them to be the targets of violence or of other crimes that may turn violent, such as theft.
Some perpetrators specifically target sex workers to “punish” them in the name of upholding
social morals, or to scapegoat them for societal problems, including HIV. Sex workers may also
face violence from individuals in a position of power, e.g. nongovernmental organization (NGO)
employers, health-care providers, bankers or landlords.
• Organized non-state violence: Sex workers may face violence from extortion groups, militias,
religious extremists or “rescue” groups.
• State violence: Sex workers may face violence from military personnel, border guards and
prison guards, and most commonly from the police. Criminalization or punitive laws against sex
work may provide cover for violence. Violence by representatives of the state compromises sex
workers’ access to justice and police protection, and sends a message that such violence is not
only acceptable but socially desirable.
Laws and policies, including ones that criminalize sex work, may increase sex workers’ vulnerability
to violence. For example, forced rescue and rehabilitation raids by the police in the context of antitrafficking laws may result in sex workers being evicted from their residences onto the streets,
where they may be more exposed to violence. Fear of arrest or harassment by the police may force
street-based sex workers to move to locations that are less visible or secure, or pressure them into
hurried negotiations with clients that may compromise their ability to assess risks to their own safety.
Violence against sex workers is not always defined or perceived as a criminal act. For example, laws
may not recognize rape against transgender individuals as a crime, or police may refuse to register
a report of sexual violence made by a sex worker. Sex workers are often reluctant to report violent
incidents to the police for fear of police retribution or of being prosecuted for engaging in sex work.
Laws and policies that discriminate against transgender individuals and men who have sex with men
increase the vulnerability of male and transgender sex workers to abuse. Laws criminalizing HIV
exposure may prevent HIV-positive sex workers from seeking support in cases of sexual violence, for
fear of being prosecuted. Even where sex work is not criminalized, the application of administrative
law, religious law or executive orders may be used by police officers to stop, search and detain sex
workers. This creates conditions in which sex workers face an increased likelihood of violence.
Sex workers may also be made more vulnerable to violence through their working conditions or
by compromised access to services. Some may have little control over the conditions of sexual
transactions (e.g. fees, clients, types of sexual services) if these are determined by a manager.

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