2 Addressing Violence against Sex Workers
• working with journalists and other members of the media to promote positive stories and language use about sex work
• building partnerships and networks with organizations that work on human rights and HIV, for joint advocacy efforts( see Box 2.4)
• supporting collective action by sex workers to demand redress for violence faced by their community members
• building programme managers’ understanding of laws affecting sex workers’ rights.
Box 2.4
Case example: Building partnerships for advocacy in Karnataka, India
Addressing violence against sex workers is complex and requires partnership with like-minded organizations. The Karnataka Health Promotion Trust( KHPT) has been working on HIV prevention among sex workers in Karnataka, India for the last 10 years. Preventing and responding to violence emerged as a strong“ felt need” among sex workers.
KHPT sensitized and advocated with law enforcement( police) and judiciary not to perpetrate or condone violence against sex workers. In partnership with KHPT:
• The state’ s Women and Child Welfare Department made services for violence against women available to sex workers as well.
• Community-based organizations worked with sex workers in 30 districts to sensitize them about their rights.
• The Alternate Law Forum and the National Law School of India developed and conducted legal literacy training for sex workers.
• The Centre for Advocacy and Research, an NGO, did media advocacy and trained sex workers as media spokespersons to talk about the violence they face, their resilience and actions to prevent and respond to violence.
2.2.4 Fostering police accountability
Working with the police has been a key element of efforts to reduce violence against sex workers. Activities may include:
• Sensitization workshops with the police that raise their awareness of laws related to sex work and sex workers’ rights. These workshops also build relationships between sex workers and police in order to minimize police harassment and violence. In some settings such workshops have been led by sex workers( see Box 2.5); in other places they have involved lawyers( e. g. India); and in some settings sex workers, police and NGOs have jointly conducted trainings( e. g. Keeping Alive Societies’ Hope [ KASH ] in Kenya, and Tais Plus in Kyrgyzstan). Training topics that are covered in various manuals( see Section 2.4) may include: basic introduction to HIV and HIV programming; laws and law enforcement practices that affect sex worker rights, including those related to violence; role of the police in HIV prevention; and human rights of sex workers.
• Advocacy( e. g. regular meetings with police as well as with high-level government officials responsible for law enforcement) to reduce police harassment of sex workers and community outreach workers( e. g. getting letters of support from the police that are carried by the outreach workers), and to ensure the commitment of frontline officers to the trainings.
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