AIDS 2024: Decriminalizing Sex Work is a Human Rights Imperative

Olivia Cordingley

Looking back on the many topics raised at AIDS 2024 last week, one panel which took place in the Sex Worker Networking Zone of the Global Village stands out. The discussion, which included Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, alongside representatives from WHO, UNAIDS, the Global Network on Sex Work Projects, and the University of Southern California, focused on the importance of decriminalizing sex work for improved sexual and reproductive health and effective HIV response.

Moderated by Pooja Badarinath from the Sexual Rights Initiative, the panel critiqued the May 2024 report by UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, which advocated for the criminalization of sex work. The report says that “Prostitution reduces women and girls to mere commodities and perpetuates a system of discrimination and violence that hinders their ability to achieve true equality”, arguing that sex work normalizes the violence inherent in prostitution.

The UN staff and others on the panel contested this claim, pointing to the many ways in which criminalization increases violence against sex workers, from police as well as from clients. Panel members said the report contradicted recommendations from UN agencies, from other UN Special Rapporteurs, and from the UN Secretary General, which have recognized that decriminalizing sex work is an important precondition for the full realization of human rights, including protection from violence, from HIV, and in support of sexual and reproductive rights. They criticized the report as poorly advised and lacking a human rights framework.

Other panelists argued that criminalizing sex work rejects individuals’ rights to agency and self-determination, pushes the decriminalization movement backward, and hampers advocacy efforts. There is more than ample evidence, panelists argued, that the criminalization of sex work can drive sex workers underground and increase stigma and discrimination, creating obstacles to accessing services.

Dr. Mofokeng described how criminalization negatively impacts access to education and justice, particularly for Black, indigenous, and LGBTQ+ sex workers and argued that decriminalization can protect human rights and reduce violence.  She pointed out how governments often fail to adopt legislation that prevents violence against sex workers from both state and individual actors. Decriminalization laws can protect human rights for sex workers by removing structural barriers that perpetuate violence.

Panelists spoke about the many ways decriminalization can improve HIV outcomes for sex workers. It gives sex workers better access to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services without fear of arrest or discrimination. This leads to earlier diagnosis, more effective treatment, and overall better health outcomes for sex workers, contributing to global efforts to end the HIV epidemic.

The session underscored the necessity of decriminalizing sex work to ensure safe working conditions, social protection, and access to justice, recognizing sex workers’ agency and their right to self-determination. Decriminalizing sex work will contribute to safer, healthier, and more just societies globally. The discussion concluded with practical steps and policy recommendations, advocating for decriminalization of sex work as not just a policy choice but a human rights imperative.

Olivia Cordingley is a doctoral student in the department of community health and prevention at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia, USA.