2 Addressing Violence against Sex Workers
Box 2.5
Case example: Training police in Peru
Movimiento de Trabajadores Sexuales del Perú conducts workshops to raise awareness about human rights among regional and municipal officials and civil servants, especially the rights of sex workers. It also conducts trainings with police and security forces, local authorities and health-care workers in order to change discriminatory attitudes and practices towards sex workers and encourage them to defend the rights of sex workers, particularly in relation to gender-based violence.
A curriculum has been developed for online workshops with these groups, to improve their knowledge, skills, attitudes and capacity to respond to cases of gender-based violence against female, transgender and transsexual sex workers. While there has been some backlash against sex workers from some police who continue to oppose their rights, the training has helped open dialogue with senior police officers and other policy-makers.
• Building institutional accountability with police to uphold the rights of sex workers. For example:
››
In India, advocacy with the police resulted in getting police administrators to issue a circular to police stations requiring them to follow the rule of law and ensure due process when arresting sex workers. Civil society groups could then monitor adherence.
››
In Kyrgyzstan, a project by the AIDS Foundation East-West in partnership with Tais Plus( a sex worker-led organization) focused on collaborating with police on trainings, publicizing a ministerial order on police and HIV, establishing a team of“ friendly police” to be liaisons for HIV service providers and developing an incentive system to reinforce police behaviour supportive of HIV programmes. The ministerial order forbade police officers from obstructing HIV prevention programmes and obliged them to inform key populations about the availability of HIV services.
Evaluations of police training efforts to assess whether they have reduced violence against sex workers are ongoing in a few settings( e. g. in Kyrgyzstan by Tais Plus and in Kenya by KASH). Reflections on police training from organizations involved in these efforts suggest that:
• Police training and working with the police may provoke a backlash against sex workers by some officers. Hence, this needs to be monitored.
• It may be important to gain support at senior levels in the police hierarchy in order to get and sustain support from police lower down and hold them accountable for their actions.
• Building relationships with police and educating them about sex worker rights has to be a continual process due to turnover in staff.
2.2.5 Promoting the safety and security of sex workers
Strategies to promote the safety and security of sex workers in their workplaces and communities may be formal or informal. The following should be considered:
• Maintaining and sharing lists or reports of aggressors or incidents of violence against sex workers. In some settings this is called an“ Ugly Mugs programme”. The list includes physical descriptions of perpetrators and vehicles involved. Reporting sheets can be made available online, by fax, e-mail, mail or at safe spaces( drop-in centres). 6 The reports are compiled and distributed to sex workers through monthly bulletins, SMS or e-mails so that they know to avoid potentially dangerous individuals.
6 A safe space or drop-in centre is a place where sex workers may gather to relax, meet other community members and hold social events, meetings or training. See Chapter 3, Section 3.3 for details.
30