Johannesburg, 17 July-(ANA)-Southern Africa's sex workers, denied access to HIV prevention and treatment services, are paying a high price to make a living when even government-issued condoms are not always free, according to a new report.
The report, published by the Open Society Institute (OSI), Rights not Rescue, documents the experiences of male, female and transgender sex workers in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
It shows that sex workers have to overcome additional barriers to access HIV prevention and treatment, like stigma, hidden costs and a lack of condoms distributed at their places of work.
In South Africa there are serious gaps in the workplace provision of male and female condoms; sex workers reported that supplies were irregular, rationed or accessed at a cost – including government-issued condoms that should be free of charge.
Lubricants were never provided, so sex workers - especially those engaging in anal sex - resorted to using oil-based lubricants such as Vaseline, which could compromise condom integrity.
In Botswana they have difficulty obtaining condoms from local clinics due to the negative attitudes of health workers, who often limit the availability of condoms and accompany distribution with fatalistic and moralizing lectures on sex work and HIV.
The report found that stigmatizing notions of sex workers as "AIDS carriers" persisted in many communities, and had been fuelled by government officials, the courts and legislation. (ANA)
Amnesty/Report