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Stigma Snapshot: Sex Workers 2022

Stigma has a major impact on health outcomes for people living with blood borne viruses (BBVs) and sexually transmissible infections (STIs). The Australian Government Department of Health strategies for BBVs and STIs explicitly aim to “eliminate the negative impact of
stigma, discrimination, and legal and human rights issues on people’s health”. In 2022, a stigma indicator was included in an online survey of sex workers in Australia. This followed on from a previous survey of sex workers conducted by the Centre for Social
Research in Health in 2020.

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Submission / International

Empower Foundation Thailand Submission to the UNHCR Report

The impact that sex workers in Thailand are facing is that they are not recognised as workers. They are criminalised by laws. The laws consider them as criminals. The exploitation and physical violence targeted towards sex workers is a direct result of the criminal status of sex work, including criminalisation of soliciting or being solicited. That means they are not protected as workers in the exploitative working conditions: drinking targets, off-site targets, wage deductions, long working hours, and work safety. Sex workers, as a result of criminalisation, also face mental violence. violence and social isolation.

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