健康英语新闻:Chinese AIDS prevention practitioners struggle to reach sex workers

DEBATE ON DECRIMINALIZATION

Nowadays, many AIDS prevention practitioners regard the crackdown, which is in compliance with Chinese laws, as a major cause of the inaccessibility of sex workers. To avoid being detained and fined as stipulated by the country's Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security, sex workers and their customers play hide-and-seek with police and stay vigilant, even to AIDS prevention practitioners.

China, in fact, is not the only country facing such a dilemma. There have long been debates across the world on whether sex work should be decriminalized.

Some sociologists and law researchers suggested decriminalizing commercial sex, in order to reduce spread of disease and better protect sex workers' dignity and legitimate rights.

UNAIDS, the United Nations HIV/AIDS Program, has also repeatedly urged more countries to decriminalize sex workers in order to better respond to the AIDS pandemic and protect their rights. However, the proposal incurred fierce opposition from the public as it challenges moral norms.

"We are caught in the middle," Ma said. In her opinion, the crackdown on prostitution is necessary, as it can deter those who intend to enter the sex industry. However, the crackdown hampers AIDS prevention practitioners' efforts to establish in-depth relationship with sex workers and to eventually help them leave the circle, according to Ma.

Jia Manhong, director of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment center of Yunnan CDC, said under the current legal framework, more community-based organizations should be mobilized to participate in the prevention efforts targeting the increasingly inaccessible sex workers.

In addition, more efforts are needed to coordinate local police with health departments to work toward HIV prevention, according to Jia.

By December 2011, China had 346,000 registered HIV carriers and AIDS patients, although the actual number is predicted to hit 780,000, according to the figure released by an expert panel consisting of members of China's Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS.