Sexual health only remains safe if every person takes personal responsibility to ensure safe sex happens every time. This initial approach, with a lot of peer involvement, led to a dramatic increase in condom use in brothels. Female sex workers working privately or in brothels had shown almost universal condom use with clients. This, together with educating the public on safe sex practices, saw a decrease in STIs in sex workers and clients.
The Lash Report noted that female sex workers were on par with the public. There is still no documented case of a female sex worker in Australia acquiring or transmitting HIV infection at work and HIV in female sex workers remains rare in Australia Kirby Institute, The few resident female sex workers identified as HIV-positive have all had IDU injecting drug use as the probable source of infection Harcourt, The Lash Report, p However, this does not mean clients should ask for natural services from sex workers.
Sex workers, Australia or from another country, are never safe when a client requests or pushes for natural services. We all, sex worker or not, are only as safe as our last sexual encounter. Sexual health needs to be continually maintained. Any client who asks or tries for unsafe sex services puts the sex worker at risk. Most who know me, know by now I am a strong advocate, not just for safe sex but for people taking responsibility for their own sexual health.
My wish is to see us working together to seek a holistic, inclusive approach which sees sex workers able to get access to condoms, peer education and sexual health services worldwide without discrimination.
So the rest is just my own passionate ramblings. We need community support to take the time to educate themselves and each other. We need everyone to use condoms if they are going to have sex.
