CACHA Statement during the open day for action organized by Women Network for Unity in close collaboration of Asia Pacific Network of Sex workers

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for your e-mail and I strongly support for a supporting letter sending to Prime Minister but I have some comments to share with you as follows:

• All issues related to the field of HIV/AIDS are under the responsibilities of National AIDS Authority (NAA) and National Center for HIV/AIDS Dermatology and STD (NCHADS).
  
  
• A supporting letter should be sent to relevant governmental institutions such as a National AIDS Authority, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Women?s Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Cabinet of Minister including National Assembly and Senate.
  
  
• A supporting letter should be prepared and made in formal modality, particularly written in Khmer version.
  
  
• A working group from WNU should go more deeply and thoroughly through a new law and start reading one article by one article (I am not quite sure how many articles in this new law) then carefully consider which article that are affecting their livelihoods as sex workers.
  
  
• Afterwards they may know clearly which article in this new law that will impact their lives and may raise these articles to propose to those relevant stakeholders for amendment on these proposed articles not an entire new law.
  
  
• In Cambodia, there are a lot of laws but the execution of laws is still very limited and there are always taking advantages in the implementation of laws or policies that have been created by some of competent authorities.
  
  
• Since a new law has been endorsed and implemented, there are many cases related to raiding, arresting, sexual as well as physical and mental abuses, violence against sex workers happened and other torturing, particularly sufferings during in detention center.
  
  
• Any arrested sex workers who have money to bribe for the police, they will be released and those who have beauty have also been sexually abused by the guards.
  
  
• Furthermore, there are other several cases of the HIV- positive sex workers who have been detained in detention center do not have their ARV drugs to take regularly and some of them were also forced to have sex without using condom (Such practice has been showing that the law on prevention and control of HIV/AIDS epidemic is being violated).
  
  
• In the content of new law, it does not allow these competent authorities to apply their works against sex workers but this is a way called exploitation in the implementation of laws or policies.
  
  
• Any form of human trafficking and forcibly entering into prostitutions must be restricted and legally criminalized, but sex works with consensual should be permitted under the effective management approach.
  
  
• All aspects of raiding, arresting and detaining of sex workers will not be useful and effective in the elimination of HIV/AIDS spreading among those sex workers but on the contrary, it will be more seriously effected with the 100% Condom Use program (100% CUP), which has been introduced by the Royal Government of Cambodia since 1999, furthermore it will be fueled in the speed of the HIV/AIDS transmission throughout the country.
  
  
• Through this supporting letter and on behalf of Cambodian Alliance for Combating HIV/AIDS (CACHA), I would strongly appeal for all relevant stakeholders to take urgent measures in order to stop raiding, arresting, detention and barbaric against sex workers immediately.
  
  

That?s all the information I would like to share with you and please ignore if you may think the above comments are not useful in Supporting Letter to be sent to Prime Minister of Cambodian Government.

Once again, I am expected to work hand in hand together with you all in the fight for our rights and dignity.

In solidarity,

Heng Sambath
CACHA Coordinator