HIV and Sex Work in Cambodia

Cambodia is internationally recognized for having successfully reduced its HIV prevalence among the general population from about 3% in 1997 to 0.7% in 2009. Sex work played a significant role in the spread of the HIV epidemic during the nineties. Since 1999, HIV prevalence has declined among direct and indirect sex workers, although levels remain high. The 100% condom use promotion strategy has been credited for having played a major role in the decline of HIV.

However, positive outcomes could easily be reversed with the introduction of the 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, which has resulted in the closure of brothels and a growing number of direct sex workers shifting to entertainment establishments, [in which condoms may be forbidden] making effective prevention interventions targeting sex workers and their clients much more difficult.
 

sex_work_hiv_cambodia[1].pdf