Publications on Male Sex Workers (MSW)

The HIV and Sex Work Collection provides eleven detailed case studies on HIV and sex work programmes and advocacy from seven countries in the Asia Pacific region: Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand.

Empower is a Thai sex worker organization started by Ms. Chantawipa Apisuk, a group of sex workers and activists in Patpong, Bangkok’s in 1984. In 2010 Empower decided to undertake a nation-wide community research project to identify and document the impact of the current Thai anti-trafficking law, policy and practice, on sex workers in Thailand, and to develop relevant and achievable solutions.

This important qualitative study was conducted in four urban cities as a follow up to the 2010 Survey among Most at Risk Young People to provide insights into the life experiences and risks young women, men and transgendered persons are exposed to. While this is not a nationally representative study, it provides informative data and rich insides into young people’s experiences. 

The report is intended to improve the legal and policy enabling environment for HIV responses.

This Guidance Note has been developed to provide the UNAIDS Cosponsors and Secretariat with a coordinated human-rights-based approach to promoting universal access2 to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the context of adult sex work. In a world where the overwhelming majority of HIV infections are sexually transmitted, sex workers and their clients are at heightened risk of HIV, in large measure as a result of a larger number of sex partners. Vulnerability to HIV as a result of sex work extends to women, men, and transgender people.

The first case of HIV in Bangladesh was detected in 1989. since then, the number of HIV cases has grown and by December 2009 and estimated 6,300 [5,200-8,300] adults and children were living with HIV.

This Regional Consultation, which was the result of an extensive and participatory process spanning over a year, brought together some 140 participants from eight countries in the region as well as selected national, regional and global resource persons that have experience or influence in the area of HIV and sex work.

From June 2009 to February 2010, Vietnam’s second round of integrated HIV/STI biological and behavioral surveillance (IBBS) was conducted among select population groups.

Bhutan is considered a low HIV prevalence country, with an estimated prevalence of 0.2% among adults aged 15-49 as of 2009; there are an estimated fewer than 1,000 [<1,000-1,500] adults and children currently living with HIV in the country.

This report presents the data and key findings emerging through the mapping and size estimation exercise of the male sex worker, transgender and their clients (MTCs).