Massawe, Dianne

Richter, Marlise

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

ISSUES Sex workers are recognised as particularly vulnerable to HIV.  But the specicities of their vulnerabilities remain under- researched and under-theorised.Prevalence rates in South Africa were between 45% - 69% in 19981.  At present they are probably much higher2. On-going criminalisation of the sex work industry may well fuel the AIDS epidemic by precluding eective prevention and education strategies, and infringes human rights3.The 19th FIFA World Cup™ was held in South Africa in June – July 2010 and was expected to attract 450 000 visitors. Intense attention is focused on HIV transmission and public health in a country that has the highest number of people with HIV/AIDS in the world4. The soccer bonanza oers a rich opportunity for advocacy and education.  DESCRIPTIONMembers of civil society and the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) have engaged government, FIFA organisers and the media on strategies to ensure the safety and rights of sex workers and international tourists. FIFA organisers and the South African government have implemented none of the strategies recommended.SEX WORKLEGAL REFORMTHE 2010 FOOTBALLWORLD CUP AND20 0CANa soccer bonanzabring relief to South African    sex workers?Strategies forged at a Consultation meeting on “HIV/AIDS, Sex Work and the 2010 Soccer World Cup: Human rights, Public health, Soccer and beyond” (November 2009)• A public health campaigntargeting spaces where soccer-lovers congregate to watch the games and sex worker “hot spots” in host cities; • Calling for a moratorium on sexwork-related arrests;• Monitoring sex worker harassmentand recourse;• Enhancing the media skills of sex workers;• Create a sex worker helpline; and • Generating research on thedemand/supply of paid sex during international sporting events.5LESSONS LEARNED • Sex workers have generally beenoverlooked in South Africa and research and advocacy on HIV/AIDS and sex work is severely limited.6   • The publicity and excitementgenerated by the World Cup have been harnessed strategically to focus on the vulnerable position of sex workers in South African society and to highlight the negative consequences of outdated criminal laws on public health and human rights.  • Regrettably the World Cup hype hasalso lead to unnecessary fear-mon-gering over the prevalence of sex tracking; and the dangerous con-ation of tracking and sex work.7NEXT STEPSStrategies on sex work, HIV and the World Cup have directed attention on the untoward delay of the South African Law Reform Commission in recommending modernisation of South Africa’s criminal laws on sex work. This momentum will be utilised to advocate for the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa and to implement long-term health and social programmes that are sex work-specic and properly tailored.1Rees, H., Beksinska, M.E., Dickson-Tetteh, K., Ballard, R.C. & Htun, Y.E. (2000) Commercial sex workers in Johannesburg: risk behaviour and HIV status. South African Journal of Science 96, pp. 283–284.2Richter, M. (2008). “Sex work, reform initiatives and HIV/AIDS in inner-city Johannesburg” African Journal of AIDS Research  7(3): 323-3333Richter, M;  Matthew F Chersich, Fiona Scorgie, Stanley Luchters, Marleen Temmerman & Richard Steen (2010). “Sex work and the 2010 FIFA World Cup: time for public health imperatives to prevail.” Globalization and Health 6(1).4UNAIDS (2008) Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic 2008. Geneva, UNAIDS.5Richter M, Massawe D.  (2009) A report on the consultation on HIV/AIDS, sex work and the 2010 Soccer World Cup – human rights, public health, soccer and beyond. South African National AIDS Council and Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce. Eastern Boulevard Garden Court hotel, Cape Town, 26 - 27 November 2009. http://www.sweat.org.za/images/docs/consult%20meet%20report%20web%20singles2.pdf (accessed 10 March 2010). The conference was funded by UNFPA and SANAC 6Richter M, Massawe D. (2010). “Serious soccer, sex (work) and HIV – will South Africa be too hot to handle during the 2010 World Cup?” South African Medical Journal 100(4): 222-223.7Chandre Gould & Marlise Richter  (2010). “The Need for Evidence to Assess Concerns About Human Traﬃcking During the 2010 World Cup.” ISS today 23 March. Available from: http://www.iss.co.za/iss_today.php?ID=917 and  Forced Migration Studies Programme (2010) “Human Traﬃcking and Migration” Issue Brief 4,  June, Available from: http://www.migration.org.za/report/migration-issue-brief-4-human-traﬃcking-migrationSEX WORKER EDUCATION & ADVOCACY TASKFORCEMARLISE RICHTER International Centre for Reproductive Health, Depart. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ghent University, Belgium; and Forced Migration Studies Programme, University of the Witwatersrand, South AfricaDIANNE MASSAWE Sex Worker Education & Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), South AfricaJULY 2010 • XVIII AIDS CONFERENCE: VIENNA

Can a soccer bonanza bring relief to South African sex workers?: the 2010 Football World Cup and sex work legal reform

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Can a soccer bonanza bring relief to South African sex workers?: the 2010 Football World Cup and sex work legal reform

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography