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.
