HIV/AIDS

Cambodia - addressing HIV vulnerabilities of indirect sex workers during the financial crisis: Situation analysis, strategies and entry points for HIV/AIDS workplace education

This document is the first step towards developing a tailor-made, focused intervention on HIV/AIDS for indirect sex workers in Phnom Penh, using the structure of their formal entertainment sector workplaces. The narratives contained within reveal the human face of these women workers and an understanding of their vulnerabilities, so that we can offer them practical responses.

In Cambodia today, the flow of workers between garment, entertainment and sex work has been well documented and although ccelerated by the financial crisis, this flow pre-dates the 2009 economic downturn. Garment factory workers are mostly young women and, after leaving or being laid off from factory work, an option for many is to stay in the city and take jobs in the entertainment sector which both increases women’s opportunity to earn additional income by selling sex and in turn, exposes them to a number of new occupational risks. Cambodia - Addressing HIV Vulnerabilities of Indirect Sex Workers during the Financial Crisis: Situation Analysis, Strategies and Entry Points for HIV/AIDS Workplace Education is the first step towards developing a tailor-made, focused intervention on HIV/AIDS for indirect sex workers in Phnom Penh, using the structure of their formal entertainment sector workplaces. The narratives contained within reveal the human face of these women workers and an understanding of their vulnerabilities, so that we can offer them practical responses.