“Work it! Young Sex Workers Policy Issues,” is a session put on by the Global Network of Sex Work Projects that I attended here at the International AIDS Conference’s Youth Pre-Conference that highlighted some major issues when it comes to how SRH and HIV/AIDS activists and advocates serve and engage with young people who are sex workers. Surely young sex workers fall into what we would call a “high-risk group,” and yet, I was surprised to learn that shockingly little has been said or done in the way of engaging young sex workers in AIDS activism or SRHR efforts. In fact, organizations struggle to provide the types of services young sex workers needs, such as HIV prevention and treatment, affordable and safe housing, food, legal advocacy, and healthcare, to name just a few. So, why is this?

Certainly, we as SRHR and HIV/AIDS activists and advocates shoulder some of the blame for not making it a priority, but perhaps surprisingly, the UN bears much of the responsibility for this sad truth. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document, ratified by almost all member nations, that aims to protect children from exploitation and guarantee rights, such as privacy and education. This is an excellent document, to be sure, and it would be impossible not to support the principles and protections it outlines. However, the session here at the Youth Pre-Conference illuminated one clear flaw as the Convention on the Rights of the Child is related to the young sex workers. The Convention and its Second Optional Protocol stipulate that anyone under the age of 18 who is engaged in sex work is being trafficked. And by and large, that may be true for many, if not most, young people affected by this international law. However, it also means that even those above the age of consent (which is often around the age of 16 in most countries) but under age 18 are considered to be unable to consent to sex work. So why does this matter? Because most nations also have mandatory reporting laws that make it a crime not to inform the police if you know of someone under 18 who is engaged in sex work (and therefore being trafficked). For most children, this is a good rule. People absolutely should report it when they know of a child who is being exploited for sex. However, what about those young people who are voluntarily engaged in sex work? Those who are considered mature enough to consent to non-transactional sex at age 16, but are then deemed to be incapable of also consenting to sex work? Are they, too, victims of trafficking, who need to be reported to the authorities? Or is this ultimately detrimental to their social and economic well being, since they will be taken into custody and send to rehabilitation programs, juvenile detention facilities, job re-training programs (that will still ultimately leave them with less money than sex work), or other state-run programs they may not wish to be a part of?

Not only are the classification of anyone under 18 who is doing sex work as a trafficked child and the accompanying mandatory reporting laws potentially detrimental to the livelihood of young sex workers, but they also make it nearly impossible for SRHR- and HIV/AIDS- related organizations to serve young sex workers. When it comes to working with sex workers, confidentiality and discretion are absolutely key. When trying to provide them with services and get them involved in any kind of advocacy work, it’s essential that they feel safe enough to do so, and that includes knowing that their identities will be protected by the organizations they engage with. However, these mandatory reporting laws make it against the law for individuals and organizations to work with young sex workers who are under 18 and not report their identities to the police. This makes it extraordinarily difficult for any organization wishing to work with young people who are engaged in sex work to actually do so, and leaves an entire group of young people who are in need of SRHR- and HIV/AIDS- related services to fend for themselves.

So what do you think? Are young people over the age of consent, but under 18 able to consent to sex work? Or is it true that anyone under 18 is not able to consent to sex work and is therefore a victim of trafficking? Either way, we cannot deny that young people are engaged of sex work, so how do you think organizations and individuals interested in providing services to these young people can or should reach out to them?

To Read the Text of The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Second Optional Protocol: http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/resins.htm

For Information on the Global Network of Sex Work Projects: http://www.nswp.org