MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) – Decriminalization of sex work is necessary to promote a safer environment for people of different sexual orientations and to prevent further stigmatization, a group of renowned HIV specialists said at the 20th Annual International AIDS Conference.
“We want people to be able to access services, to openly discuss their behaviors, to carry the tools and treatment they need to protect themselves, and to do so in a safe and dignified environment,” Linda Gail Bekker, an infectious disease researcher at The Desmond Tutu HIV Center in South Africa, was quoted as saying by The Verge.
The issue raised by the scientists is of global scale, as prostitution is illegal in many countries.
“Additional layers of stigma and criminalization that make it such that governments don’t want to engage, and that’s a loss to all of us,” Stefan Baral, a physician epidemiologist at John Hopkins University, said during the conference, according to The Verge.
But decriminalization alone would not solve the problem, as there is another issue to be dealt with. At the moment, sex workers are usually assumed to be women, despite a number of studies presented at the conference pointing out other groups, such as male and transgender sex workers, are also affected by the public’s attitudes toward sexual minorities, Baral said.
Baral believes that recognizing different groups of sex workers could be more effective as a more specific approach could be taken with respect to each group.
Prostitution is prohibited in 116 countries, and in 78 countries having a same-sex relationship is a criminal offense.
