Miriam Edwards, from Guyana, knows first-hand how sex workers are stigmatized and discriminated against in her country, even more so if they are living with HIV. She decided to do something about it. This is her story...
We advocate for the rights of all sex workers, regardless of gender, race, HIV status or social status.
I am the founder of two organizations that advocate for the rights of sex workers: the Guyana Sex Work Coalition and the Caribbean Sex Work Coalition. With my organizations, we advocate for the rights of all sex workers, regardless of gender, race, HIV status or social status. We carry out sensitization campaigns with healthcare workers and armed forces and also organize capacity-building activities with sex workers and represent them at regional, national and international forums.
I was myself a sex worker on the streets when I was younger. This is what drives me in life – my past. My life is my work and I know the challenges that sex workers face every day. In Guyana, sex workers are highly stigmatized, especially by healthcare workers, police officers and churches.
I was myself a sex worker on the streets when I was younger. This is what drives me in life – my past. My life is my work and I know the challenges that sex workers face every day. In Guyana, sex workers are highly stigmatized, especially by healthcare workers, police officers and churches.
This is what drives me in life – my past. My life is my work and I know the challenges that sex workers face every day. In Guyana, sex workers are highly stigmatized, especially by healthcare workers, police officers and churches. The problem worsens if the sex worker is also living with HIV. I have a personal connection to HIV as I lost my sister to the virus. That motivated me to work in this field, which I knew little about prior to that. I cared for her until she passed away, and after that, I continued going to the hospital to care for people with HIV because the nurses themselves were discriminating against people living with HIV.
In the community, there is still a lot of stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV. This has resulted in many people refusing to get tested or adhere to treatment. Sex workers, in particular, fear accessing health and HIV services. Because of the nature of my work, I often experience stigma and discrimination myself. For example, when my daughter died of an aneurysm, many people were convinced it was HIV and some started spreading false information, and the police had to get involved. I was very distressed and felt helpless.. But despite the stigmatizing nature of my work, I am determined to help sex workers and work with them to come up with solutions that would benefit them.
The best memory I have in relation to my work is when I got my first funding to work with sex workers in Guyana. I was very excited as I was able to open a safe space for sex workers. They felt appreciated and they could access services that benefit them. Sex workers need a single space where they can get tested, seek medical care, get treatment and get psychological support – a safe place where they can just come and be comfortable and not feel alone.
My biggest hopes for the future are that sex work will be decriminalized, that there will be no more new HIV infections and that people know their status and seek treatment without fearing stigma and discrimination. I believe that decriminalization will bring about a decrease in the rate of HIV infections and sex workers will begin seeking health services and treatment more. Most importantly, they will not hide, and they will be drastically less vulnerable to human rights violations.