31 October 2007
Maputo — Discrimination against and marginalisation of prostitutes limits their access to good quality health services, particularly for the detection and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, warned Ndolamb Ngokwey, the coordinator of the United Nations System in Mozambique, on Wednesday.
Ngokwey, who was speaking at the opening of a regional conference on HIV/AIDS and the sex trade, said discrimination drove prostitutes into working clandestinely, and thus without proper access to health care.
Cultural attitudes towards gender, stigma and discrimination, the precarious nature of their work, including the risk of violence, all helped make prostitutes vulnerable to HIV infection, he added.
"Many of us have preconceptions", said Ngokwey. "But to block the spread of HIV/AIDS, the actions of everyone are crucial. We cannot remain silent."
The response of the United Nations to the pandemic, he added, "is guided by the principle of protection and respect for human rights, such as the rights to health, freedom and security, and protection from exploitation and abuse".
"Taking into account that throughout the world in most cases HIV is transmitted sexually, the relation between the sex trade and HIV/AIDS is a fundamental concern in prevention and care efforts", stressed Ngokwey.
For her part, the Mozambican Minister of Women's Affairs and Social Welfare, Virgilia Matabele, said it was fundamental to design concrete policies and strategies to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, in order to reduce the number of HIV infections (it has been shown that people suffering from other STDs are more vulnerable to HIV infection than those who are healthy).
She argued that the approach to prostitution and HIV should involve both prevention and treatment services, and the defence of the human rights of prostitutes. "Reducing the vulnerability of the men and women who prostitute themselves must constitute the greatest challenge for our countries", she said.
Matabele stressed that the pandemic is having devastating effects on women. It is estimated that 60 per cent of the HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa are women. She believed the causes of this situation were related to lack of equality for women, which helped to perpetuate poverty.
The conference, organised by Mozambique's National AIDS Council (CNCS), in partnership with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), has brought together about 150 participants from Mozambique, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
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