Carol Jenkins ~ We miss you!!!

It’s 4 years ago this week that Carol Jenkins, one of the strongest supporters of sex workers rights and HIV programs in this region died. Carol was a close friend to many in the APNSW extended family. Her research skills are sorely missed, but more than this we miss the way her house in Bangkok was a place that brought so many different people together- from members of community organizations up to the heads of major international aid agencies. Now we only get to see most of those people in formal meetings, which is a shame. The debates and discussions over Carol’s dinner table led to some amazing collaborations and many honest discussions. The loss of this informal space, which we called “Salon Jenkins” where we met people as equals has, we believe been a huge loss to the HIV response in this region. We miss you Mildred!

Killing The Global Fund = KILLING US WIPE OUT AIDS NOT PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV.

At its 25th Board Meeting in Ghana, 20-22 November, the Global Fund Board decided to cancel Round 11, its funding opportunity for countries to put forward ambitious proposals for scale-up of HIV/AIDS, TB and/or malaria programs, National Strategies and health systems strengthening. The reason for this is lack of money and unwillingness by the donors to invest more in AIDS, TB and malaria through the Global Fund. The immediate consequence is that countries will only be able to apply for funding for continuation of essential prevention, treatment and/or care programs currently financed by the Global Fund that will otherwise face disruption between January 2012 and 31 March 2014. Funding for new programs and scale-up would only come available again as of 2014. This happens at a time when the Global Fund Board also approved a new Strategy 2012-2016 with ambitious targets – that could fundamentally change the course of the epidemics.

APNSW PRESENT GIFT TO THE BOARD OF THE GLOBAL FUND

Last month APNSW members decided to paint a mural to represent the problems sex workers have with GFATM programmes but also to give ideas for how they can be fixed so that GFATM money is used responsibly and ethically on programmes addressing sex work and HIV.

Left side of the banner is the way programmes run now.
The sex worker (organisation) is a puppet. It shows her collecting all the paper work for GF programmes as her main activity. she is also treated as a target and carries an STI Test book, which records the results of the compulsory STI and HIV tests funded by the Global Fund.

Further to the left, is the Evil Elf, which represents the INGOs and UN organizations who are involved in all of this programming but just end up stealing sex workers power and (mis)appropriating the money for sex worker HIV Programmes

Behind the Elf is a road delivering GF money, but bags of it are falling off to all the wrong places.
There is an intersection with a sign post, but the remaining money goes to token pecs and compulsory testing and no money gets to the projects run by sex workers.

On right hand side is how things can be if sex workers are allowed to run our own programmes rather than being passive recipients and targets.

If GF will,allow us to,cut the puppet strings then the puppet turns into a multi armed angel,winged goddess who can deliver Value For Money- something we as sex workers know about and deliver to our clients daily!

So if,community is empowered and directly funded we can deliver for the people.
Small amounts of money used to nurture the grass roots lead,to huge outcomes growing.
If we work on principles based on the right to health then we can work,together instead of having to fight with all,the agencies and organizations who should be working with us.

In about 10 different languages a few key messages are written by sex workers from those countries.

Sex work is work
My body is mine, not the governments
My body is my business
No compulsory testing
Sex workers have human rights.

Korean Sex Workers Day of ACTION!!!

Korean Sex Workers are standing up for their RIGHTS!!!

There are approximately 1,000 sex workers gathering from several location of Korea.

They are claiming “Sex work is work!!!

Abolish anti-prostitution law!!!

Decriminalise Sex Work!!!”

 

They are working in brothels. Korean government has forced to remove brothel areas since 2004 made new anti-prostitution law. The situation is getting worse that sex workers are threaten by costumers according to the law and police not only can’t help sex workers in dangerous situation but even they often use violence sex workers.

Click below for PDF version

Korean Sex Workers Protesting in Seoul on 22 Sept. 2011

Transgender Health Handbook

This is another source of advice for transgender women on living a healthy life.

“Many people think that we are just gay men in dresses…

But we know we are not, we are transgender women.

We have identities and lives very different than gay men.

We are special. No one can take away our dignity.”

As transgender women, we come in all ages and shapes, all personalities and types: just like everyone else. But for many of us, every day, we face stigma and discrimination for our gender presentation or sexuality. Sometimes we are rejected by our own families or face violence in public. This reduces our life opportunities, for example, our chances to receive an education or find gainful employment. Sex work often becomes our only real option to make a living. Sometimes we turn to alcohol or drug use as a means to cope with shame and social isolation. Many of us become infected with HIV and have to deal with the rejection that often follows.

This booklet provides information about things we care about as transgender women: our health (including hormones, HIV, and STDs), our human rights, and our social well-being.

Click the Link below for PDF version

TGhandbook

Together we can do it!!

Recently, APNSW conducted a training workshop for delegates from the four countries that have most recently joined joined our network. Sex workers came from East Timor, Laos, Nepal & Pakistan came to the four day workshop, which was supported by a grant from AJWS. The workshop titled “Together we can do it!” was an Intoductory Workshop on Sex Worker HIV Programming & Human Rights.

The workshop opened with a video about the history of APNSW followed by the Understanding Sex Work, HIV & the UN module. Rights based HIV Programming was covered next and the first day finished with an Art Activity whereby participants were each asked to illustrate the Key issues for their country.

Day Two involved several sessions including a briefer on Feedback & Film making and country groups were then asked to prioritise shared issues in country and to prepare a presentation for the Workshop outlining those issues. A discussion about how sex worker groups & projects address these issues completed the agenda for the day.

Together We Can Do it!!!

On Day Three a module was presented on HIV & Rights Based Programmes. Various elements of programming were examined as well as how they can be done in a way that is consistent with a rights based approach to health service delivery. After lunch we took an excursion to Pat Pong Road so that participants could view the Red Light District to get a feel of the way the industry operates in Bangkok. This led into a trip to the Empower office located there. As always, Empower staff were very generous with their time and knowledge of HIV programming, and many of our delegates were fascinated by some of the initiatives that Empower routinely runs for sex workers – classes, workshops, gatherings. After the field trip, there was much enthusiasm amongst group members with some delegates keep to implement some ideas they had learned at Empower into their own national programmes, in particular those with a social aspect which run alongside clinical services.

By day Four we were all starting to feel like old friends, which is just as well, because that is the day we covered The Global Fund and its complicated funding processes. Andrew then focused on a regional Global Fund proposal for sex work and what that means for sex workers groups in the region. We finished up with a discussion about being part of APNSW and how we can be more involved and work together. The feedback about the workshop from participants was overwhelmingly positive. Since then, two countries have had advocacy pieces printed in newspapers and all are busily networking in their communities to expand networks in order to reach (and teach) as many sex workers as possible.

South Korean HIV+ Lawyer arrested by the Police in South Korea.

#SouthKorean Activist Arrested at #ICAAP10 from rishita nandagiri on Vimeo.

Taking the example of Korean sex workers, community protesters got up on stage today in the plenary with facemasks symbolising the silencing of the voices of the communities, and read a list of demands to the organisers and UNAIDS

ICAAP 10

STATEMENT OF DEMANDS BY ICAAP COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES AND ACTIVISTS ON UNACCEPTABLE POLICE VIOLENCE AT ICAAP 29 AUGUST 2011

We are appalled at the failure of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific, the Local Organising Committee and the UN in predicting, preventing and effectively intervening in the violence that took place on the 27^th of August 2011. We note that the UN has yet to make any public statement about the police violence on the first day of ICAAP.

While there have been apologies and assurances regarding the safety and security of South Korean participants of ICAAP, reports continue to circulate of potential civil and criminal action including charges for alleged damages to the Bexco and PCO. In the case of at least one person, the criminal case seems to still be pending and there is no assurance by the police to this person that the case will be dropped. The fact that meetings with the Busan police and Bexco security were held without us, despite the commitment to do so has made us question the commitment and sincerity of the Conference organizers in responding to the police violence.

Given these actions, we cannot help but view the assurances given so far as a stalling tactic and that Korean activists may face harassment and police action once international delegates have left ICAAP.

We have here five demands for the organisers to address the grievous consequences of their failure to predict, prevent and intervene effectively in the violence.

1. Assurance that the security, the police, Bexco and ICAAP organisers will be made to destroy all the photos and footage including CCTV footage and identifying personal information like social security numbers and addresses that they have collected and a direction to them to maintain confidentiality under all circumstances.

2. A direction shall be given to the police to cease and desist from all threats of civil and criminal actions against individual activists and using the said threat as an excuse, knowingly or unknowingly, to disclose the marginalized status of individuals.

3. In the absence of any anti-discrimination law, an assurance that none of the participants of ICAAP will be discriminated against or harassed by the police or Bexco or any other authority.

4. An independent investigation such as by the National Human Rights Commission into the persons within Bexco security and the police who are responsible for the incidents of violence and human rights violations and under what authority or whose directions the actions were taken.

5. Ensure the safety and personal security of all participants of ICAAP during and after ICAAP.

We call on Myung-Hwan Cho, Chair ICAAP10 LOC, Zahid Hussein, President of ASAP and representatives of the UN and Global Fund to come forward right now, in this room and assure us that they will pursue these five specific demands with all their energy and provide their personal guarantees of the personal safety and security of our South Korean friends and colleagues.

Police Violence inside ICAAP 2011 – A Summary of Events

On 27 August 2011, during a peaceful protest against Free Trade Agreements (FTA) inside the ICAAP conference site, Korean and international participants were subject violent abuse at the hands of the South Korean police.

During the FTA protest, some community members noticed plainclothes security inside the venue taking pictures of them. The conference participants challenged one of those security officers and demanded to know what he was doing, and that he erase the photos. An argument ensued, and tempers flared. The officer, who was only later identified as a police officer, refused to tell conference participants why he was taking their pictures without permission, and failed to identify himself as a police officer.

When conference participants tried to protect their fellow community members from being dragged away by the initial small group of police, more security personnel arrived and used increasing levels of force against them. After a violent struggle and the intervention of international conference participants, the plainclothes security retreated outside, but moments later joined uniformed police and tried to violently remove and arrest a number of Korean activists who had participated in the protest. In the chaos, only one person was forced into a police car, a young Korean public interest lawyer, Suh Yeon Chang, who works with the Korean Public Interest Lawyers Group GONG-GAM.

After her release, Chang said the police did not inform her of the reason for the arrest, which is illegal according to the South Korean criminal law. Even after reaching the police station, Chang said, the police refused to inform her of the reason for the arrest.

More than 100 conference participants (including people living with HIV (PLHIV), sex workers, drug users and transgenders) surrounded and lay down in front of the police car to stop the police car. During an hourlong standoff, dozens of conference participants were physically abused by police and security staff. Several women and transgendered women were dragged by police and in by these violent police actions, and their clothes were ripped. Finally, riot police arrived and, using even more violence, dragged and beat conference participants until the police car containing the lawyer could leave.

As a result of the police violence, three people were taken to hospital and at least a dozen more were injured, including many PLHIV. Though the lawyer was later released without being charged, the police also went to the hospital and threatened at least one of those hospitalized with criminal charges. Repeated questions as to why both the lawyer and the activists were being arrested went unanswered, and no charges have been filed.