New legal study of sex worker rights in Madagascar
28 April 2005
The Alliance in Madagascar has used a study it commissioned on the rights and legal provisions for sex workers to bring key groups together and plan steps to change national and local policies and attitudes towards them.
In 2004, participatory assessments carried out by sex workers with Alliance support - part of the Frontiers Prevention Project - highlighted a lack of understanding of rights among sex workers. The assessments also showed a lack of clarity of what constitutes illegal behaviour, and complaints of abuse, violence and theft.
To clarify these issues, the Alliance commissioned a study on legal provisions and rights. Shortly after it was finalised, the Alliance held a meeting of representatives of sex worker associations in Madagascar to discuss how the findings could be used.
Representatives’ recommendations included educating sex workers on issues of rights and civic responsibilities. They also recommended addressing the problems of access to services, poor sanitation in places of work, and behaviour of local authorities and law enforcement officers. It was suggested that some improvements could be achieved through national-level advocacy with institutions involved in HIV/AIDS programming and decision-making. Support for legal recourse in cases of abuse was also recommended.
On 4 March 2005, the Alliance brought together stakeholders from the ministry of health, police, the donor and non-governmental organisation community, and the sex worker associations. The meeting, which presented the key points of the legal study and the recommendations put forward by the sex worker associations will come up with specific recommendations for next steps at local and national level. Immediate next steps include advocacy work to change health and police policy on sex work.
At a local level, the study will form the basis of training tools to be used with authorities, police officers, service providers and sex workers.
