142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Criminalization of Sex Work in South Africa: A Modern Day Violation of Human Rights and a Threat to the Efforts to Reduce HIV/AIDS Infections

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP , Turnipseed Law, LLC, Silver Spring, MD
  
Through extensive research into various human rights treaties, and South African statutory analysis and case law, I examined South Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic, the effect the disease has on women in that country, and in particular, female sex workers (commonly referred to as prostitutes in the United States).  The legal options for the sex work system, such as decriminalization, regulation and criminalization, are discussed with an eye on possible effects on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  The abstract will feature general strategies for reforming laws for sex worker populations and use South Africa as an example of considerations for health outcomes, legal changes, and culture.  This discussion is timely as we address human rights issues, laws and the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the globe.

Learning Areas:

Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines

Learning Objectives:
List and describe the human rights treaties governing public health and human rights. Compare the human rights treaties and the laws of South Africa related to sex workers. Formulate the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa with particular focus on how it related to African women. Analyze the South African laws and how it impacts the criminalization of women who perform sex work and the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Discuss how to impact change on the issue.

Keyword(s): Human Rights, Law

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I wrote on this topic in law school and received an A on my paper for an International Health and Human Rights Course. I worked for 3 months in Geneva, Switzerland at UNAIDS on human rights and law issues. I have worked on HIV/AIDS issues and have kept up on the topic.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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