M. DANTE for PROJECT SAFE / SWOP PHILLY 16th Annual Prevention & Outreach Summit

1. Sex Work PERSPECTIVE & HIV/AIDS Destigmatizing Sex Work: Harm Reduction, Prevention and Treatment in the Field of Sex Work M. DANTE for PROJECT SAFE / SWOP PHILLY 16th Annual Prevention & Outreach Summit at the End AIDS 2015 Conference Philadelphia Discussion on the Importance of Maintaining a Voice and Advocacy in Legislative Policy Connecting Essential Services to Sex Workers and Sex Workers to Services.

2. CITY of BROTHERLY LOVE 30,654 HIV/AIDS cases were confirmed by the Philadelphia Department of Health in 2013 The data in this report reflect cases diagnosed through December 2013 and reported through June 2014

3. HUMAN BIOHAZARD As a sex worker, you may believe I am exposed to HIV/AIDS more than any other “at risk” groups in the City of Philadelphia, or even in the world

4. SEX WORK & HIV TRANSMISSION AVERT - an HIVand AIDS charity based in the UK - determined sex workers may be more vulnerable to HIV due to multiple factors: • large numbers of sex partners • unsafe working conditions • barriers to negotiating condom use • social stigma & marginalization • criminalized work environments.  http://www.avert.org/fact-sheet-hiv-sex-work.htm 2014

5. PRACTICING SAFER SEX Actually - I have amazing access to community resources and support PLUS free, confidential testing, and condom packs Each season I get an STI/HIV TEST As an activist for decriminalization I believe sex workers deserve clean, pleasant working environments where they can be safe, bathe, use condoms, and have aftercare

6. EXCEPT • Not everyone in the sex industry is able to practice safe sex • Not everyone in the sex industry is able to access STI/HIV testing.

7. AND • Most sex buyers are not demanding safe sex • Most sex buyers are not regularly – if ever - tested

8. Sex Workers are Responsible Sex workers are responsible for their own medical safety

9. The Global Pledge The AIDS ACT aka U.S. Leadership on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in affiliation with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) REQUIRED A PLEDGE

10. ANTI-PROSTITUTION LOYALTY OATH& THE CONSCIOUS CLAUSE ANTI PROSTITUTION LOYALTY OATH (APLO)- 2003 AIDS ACT Sections • Prohibit the use of funds to promote or advocate the legalization or practice of prostitution or sex trafficking 301(E) • Prohibit funding to organizations that do not have a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking 301(F)

11. ANTI-PROSTITUTION LOYALTY OATH& THE CONSCIOUS CLAUSE ANTI PROSTITUTION LOYALTY OATH (APLO)– TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT of 2003 (TVPA) • Prohibit the use of State Department Anti-Trafficking funds to promote, support, or advocate the legalization or practice of prostitution Section 113 (g)(1) • Prohibit funding to any organization that has not stated, in a grant application or grant agreement that it does not promote or support or advocate the legalization or practice of prostitution Section 113 (g)(2)

12. ANTI-PROSTITUTION LOYALTY OATH& THE CONSCIOUS CLAUSE 2008 PRESIDENT’S EMERGENCY PLAN FOR AIDS RELIEF (PEPFAR) included a “CONSCIENCE CLAUSE”: • Allowing organizations with moral or religious objectives to opt out of providing services to patients with sexual orientation of which they disapprove • Host countries – declared the clause - must support activities promoting: abstinence, delay of sexual debut, monogamy, and fidelity

13. CENTERS for DISEASE CONTROL(CDC) & The Anti Prostitution Loyalty (APLO) • 2005 - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a request for applications (RFA), revising AIDS funding restrictions and requiring all sub-recipient Non-Governmental Agencies (NGOs) of the Global Fund, World Health Organization (WHO), and United Nation (UN) Agencies to have policy opposing both prostitution and sex trafficking • Also in 2005 - Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Randall Tobias rescinds the CDC policy modification after overwhelming backlash regarding the funding restrictions

14. PEPFAR & APLO Necessary bed-fellows? Or detrimental policy conflation? "The anti-prostitution loyalty oath has done nothing to reduce the numbers of women and men who, for economic or other reasons, engage in commercial sex work. It has, however, impeded access to vital HIV prevention services among commercial sex workers and has had a chilling effect on organizations that work with them. In fact, some organizations have foregone PEPFAR grant monies rather than sign the oath. Sexual activities remain the main route of HIV transmission, and commercial sex workers and their clients continue to be at increased risk for contracting HIV.” 2010 PLRI.org (Paulo Longo Research Initiative)

15. IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL In 2013 The U.S. Supreme Court declared the “Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath” UNCONSTITUTIONAL & ILLEGAL “At issue, the Loyalty Oath required all organizations receiving U.S. funds designated for International HIV/AIDS work to denounce prostitution in order to be eligible to receive earmarked funds. The policy prohibits organizations from engaging in activities inconsistent with the U.S. Government views on prostitution, even if financed by private funds.” Engender Health 2013 The ruling does not extend to organizations outside of the United States who receive funds

16. EXPORTING REPRESSIVE IDEOLOGIES re: sexuality & reproduction Despite the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision APLO continued to endanger the lives of sex workers - until - 2015 Judge Victor Marrero confirmed that the First Amendment prohibits the U.S. Government from imposing APLO on U.S. organizations, and affiliates regardless of where affiliates are located

17. THEN CAME: THE SWIT In 2013, The WHO together with UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNDP the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) and the World Bank published the SWIT: Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programs with Sex Workers: Practical Approaches from Collaborative Interventions The SWIT reaffirms that the health of sex workers doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and that countries should work towards the decriminalization of sex work, and the empowerment and self-determination of sex working communities, as a fundamental part of the fight against HIV

18. BACK in the PHILLY As a sex worker in Philadelphia I have amazing access tocommunity resources PLUS free, confidential testing, and condom packs Regardless of global policies or legislative trends each season I go for STI/HIV TEST + an annual gynecologic exam + a general physical

19. IT’S UP TO US TO KEEP IT CLEAN Safe Sex Saves Lives: START THE CONVERSATION!

20. BUT REMEMBER: The system fights DIRTY! In some U.S. cities you may actually be arrested for carrying single condoms GOOGLE: “CONDOMS AS EVIDENCE” So not only is it is up to us to keep it clean, but also to fight the good fight, for rational laws that work with – and for – the safety and health of sex workers!!

21. SWOP KEEPS PHILLY SAFE Thank you for supporting: PROJECT SAFE/SWOP PHILLY copy update 7/31/2015 M. DANTE

22. NEW articles since May 2015 PPP • Should sex workers be involved in HIV policy? http://www.thebody.com/content/76254/thanks-for-the-mention-sex-work-and-the-national-h.html