Harm reduction for sex and sex work
The use of harm reduction principles can help to safeguard sex workers’ lives in the same way that drug users have benefited from harm reduction strategies related to drug use. Many sex workers are exposed to serious harms: drug use, infections, violence, discrimination, debt, criminalisation, and exploitation( non-voluntary sex work, such as child prostitution, trafficking for sex work, and exploitation of migrants.
Successful and promising harm reduction strategies are available: education, empowerment, prevention, care, occupational health and safety, decriminalisation of sex workers, and human rights-based approaches. Successful interventions include peer education, training in condom-negotiating skills, safety tips for street-based sex workers, male and female condom provision, linkage from HIV prevention to care, occupational health and safety guidelines for brothels, self-help organisations, and community-based child protection networks. Straightforward and achievable steps are available to improve the day-to-day lives of sex workers while they continue to work. Conceptualising and debating harm reduction strategies for sex workers can hasten this process.
Size up the Situation
o Listen to a potential client’ s voice and observe body language. Listen to your instincts: if it doesn’ t feel right, there’ s a good chance it isn’ t. o Make sure the client is alone. Getting into a car with more than one person increases your risks. Check behind the back seat to make sure that no one is hiding. o Always check car door handles before you get in to make sure they work from the inside. Make sure you know how to unlock the door before entering the car. Avoid vans. o Get the money first. o Check the address. If a client says he’ s taking you to one place, but pulls up at another, this may not be all he’ s lying about. Unless he’ s a regular, avoid bridges and tunnels. o USE A BUDDY SYSTEM: Have a friend or co-worker write down the license plate number of the car before you drive off in it. Do the same when someone else goes off with a client. o If no one you know is around, ACT AS IF! Call to the nearest passerby something in the veinof“ Seeyouatsuchandsuch, atsuchandsuchtime”. Anythingto let