UN Report Says Law Marginalizes Sex Workers
Police targeting of sex workers for arrest has made them vulnerable to contracting or spreading HIV, according to a U.N. report released yesterday. The U.N. report, Sex Work and Law in Asia and the Pacific-Laws, HIV and human rights in the context of sex work, states that the criminalization of sex work does little to stem the spread of HIV, and notes several examples regarding the situation of sex workers in Cambodia. … While it is legal to be a sex worker in private in Cambodia, it is against the law to solicit sex or work in a brothel. … A Ministry of Interior initiative launched last year- the Sangkat Commune Safety Policy, which prohibits prostitution at the commune level- also “complicated the situation of the HIV response,” according to the report. …
