Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programmes with Sex Workers Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programmes with | Page 49

2 Addressing Violence against Sex Workers

Box 2.2

Case example: Human Rights Defenders programme, South Africa
The Human Rights Defenders programme has been implemented by the Sisonke sex workers movement
and the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force (SWEAT) in South Africa since 2008. It trains sex
workers as paralegals in basic rights and how to defend them.
Paralegals document cases of human-rights abuses through a toll-free helpline, outreach and weekly
community meetings with sex workers. They also offer counselling support to those who report incidents
of abuse.
Community meetings with sex workers are used to raise awareness of their rights and how to access justice.
Sex workers who need legal services are referred to lawyers accessed through the Women’s Legal Centre
and weekly legal clinics. They are also offered court support.
SWEAT also undertakes strategic litigation to address root causes of violence against sex workers.

Documenting violence faced by sex workers and defending their human rights
Activities could include:
• gathering data or information on different forms of violence faced by sex workers
• documenting abuses and incidents of violence faced by sex workers
• facilitating their access to justice through legal services.
In some settings, careful and systematic documentation of violence against sex workers has been
used to develop resources for sex workers to promote their safety. For example, in 2002 the Italian
sex worker-led NGO Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute documented violence against sex
workers and used this information to produce a magazine for sex workers to encourage them to
report violence and seek support and services.
Data on violence faced by sex workers have also been used to advocate with police, local authorities,
media and national policy-makers about the extent of the problem and the need to change the
application of laws, policies and police practices to reduce violence faced by sex workers (see Section
2.2.3). Note that there are ethical and safety concerns around collecting research data on violence
against sex workers that should be carefully considered; see Section 2.3 for further information.

2.2.3 Advocating for reforms
Advocacy for legal and policy reforms can contribute to preventing or reducing violence against sex
workers by:
• aiming to change laws and policies that criminalize sex work and administrative laws that are used
to harass and abuse sex workers
• aiming to change law-enforcement practices that harass or abuse sex workers and deny them
their human rights
• building institutional accountability for existing laws and policies upholding the human rights of
sex workers
• countering stigma and discrimination against sex workers and promoting sex work as work (see
Box 2.3).

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