The presence of laws criminalising sex work is associated with a sevenfold increase in the odds of HIV infection among female sex workers in sub-Saharan Africa, according to research presented to the recent 10th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) in Mexico City. In settings where sex work is criminalised, female sex workers are also more likely to experience violence and stigma in social and healthcare settings.
The research was conducted in 10 countries with different approaches to the criminalisation of sex work, and the investigators conclude that criminalisation and stigma are helping to drive the HIV epidemic among sex workers.
HIV incidence has slowed globally, thanks to expanded access to antiretroviral therapy and new prevention technologies, especially pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
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However, the rate of new infections among sex workers in most settings across sub-Saharan Africa has at the very least remained stable and in some cases increased.
The legal environment is a key structural factor in HIV risk for sex workers. Carrie Lyons of Johns Hopkins University and her colleagues wished to determine the relationship between laws criminalising sex work, sex work-associated stigma and individual HIV risk.
They therefore analysed data from cross-sectional surveys of approximately 7000 female sex workers in 10 countries in Western Africa (Burkino Faso, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia), Central Africa (Cameroon) and Southern Africa (Lesotho, eSwatini, South Africa).
These countries have differing laws on sex work: criminalised, partially legalised, or no specific mention of sex work in legal codes.
The study had two aims: to assess the relationship between sex work-related stigma and the prevalence of HIV infection among female sex workers according to the background legal context; and, to determine the association between sex work laws and HIV prevalence among female sex workers.
The researchers considered written laws, but not how they are enforced. All the participants were aged 18 years and older, were cisgender and derived at least half their income from sex work. Participants were tested for HIV. Demographic information and experiences of stigma were obtained using a questionnaire.
There were four measures of stigma related to sex work: social stigma (exclusion, gossip and rejection); healthcare stigma (fear of seeking services, avoiding seeking care, mistreatment, gossip, denial of services); community stigma (refusal by the police to provide protection, fear of being in public places, verbal harassment, blackmail); violence (physical and/or sexual).
Data were collected between 2011 and 2018.
Almost a third (29 per cent) of participants were HIV positive. Just under half were in West Africa, 31 per cent were in Central Africa and 20 per cent in Southern Africa. Over half (56 per cent) were living in settings where sex work is criminalised, 26 per cent in settings with partial decriminalisation and 17 per cent where the legality of sex work is not specified in legal codes.