In November, my colleagues from the Jiaozhou Health and Counseling Center and I were invited to attend a conference titled “Women and HIV in the Context of Commercial Sex.” The China Red Ribbon Forum–a platform for government and civil society organizations to discuss HIV and rights issues–and several UN agencies hosted the conference. There, we met officers from UNAIDS, the United Nations Population Fund, the China AIDS Association, sex worker delegations from New Zealand and Vietnam, and staff from domestic organizations that focus on preventing HIV/AIDS for sex workers.
The first thing I learned from this seminar was the “Chatham House Principle ” which ensures that participants of the seminar were able to speak freely under guaranteed confidentiality. Under this relaxed and harmonious atmosphere, all participants, including us sex workers, could fully express themselves.
