Not just participants: sex workers’ voices Not just participants: recognizing the critical need for sex workers’ voices in microbicide research & development Anna Forbes, Microbicides 2008

Microbicide Research Agenda: Sex Workers Concerns Will researchers meet with sex worker advocates? Is higher risk arising from therapeutic misconception addressed? Does consent form cover “industrial level” use?

Microbicide Introduction: what does it mean for Sex Workers? Condom migration = Disproportionate negative impact on sex workers Could work against their insistance on condoms

“It is as if you are a factory worker who needs steel-toed boots to do your job safely … but the factory owner will only gives you soft slippers!” USA voice

STIGMA !! Painting from Cambodia

Girls’ and Women's Protection Strategies Protection Technology Economic Opportunities Social Power Brady, Martha. Population Council, Conceptual Framework Woman- controlled HIV prevention Interventions that address gender power imbalances between men and women

re: NGOs “When they call meetings with us, they do not talk about our problems. All they talk is AIDS.” Bangladeshi voice

“It is the power structure and not the lack of the right cream that makes sex workers vulnerable.” Australian voice

Critical strategies needed to address Sex Workers unique risks and needs Sex Workers and their advocates have the  expertise  access and  credibility needed. But as paid, respected partners in research --- not just participants.

See: “Questions for Researchers” in “Making Sex Work Safe in Asia and the Pacific” (pages 23-24) -- a publication available on-line at the AsianPacific Network of Sex Workers web site

Thanks to my teachers… Meena Seshu, SANGRAM/VAMP (India) Nandinee Bandyapadhyay, PATH/India Andrew Hunter, APNSW (Thailand) Khartini Slamah, INSWP (Malaysia) Hazera Begum, Durjoy Nari Shangha (Bangladesh) Cheryl Overs, NSWP (Thailand) Melissa Hope Ditmore (US) any many, many others!