User:MHlegume/HIV/AIDS in the United States

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How did the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis in the USA shape the relationship between sex workers, the general public, and the political sphere?

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Criminalization of Illness


 * Sex workers infected with AIDS were legally prosecuted (Esparza)
 * Some were not well educated about how AIDS is spread or how to prevent its spread
 * Governments prioritized criminalization over education
 * Most were unable to get a job anywhere outside the sex industry, continuing to work was their only option to survive
 * AIDS was heavily stigmatized to the point where people would avoid sharing a space with an infected individual
 * Sex workers who had AIDS were seen as murderers, threatening the lives of white women and their children (Esparza)

Intersection of Race


 * The majority of high profile cases of sex workers with AIDS were young, black, men (Esparza)
 * Racism and stigmas around sex work lead to contempt rather than sympathy from the public
 * Even though AIDS was far more common in majority black or latino communities than majority white communities, most government resources and educational efforts were dedicated to protecting white communities, in particular, protecting white women (Esparza)

Federal Inaction


 * The Presidential Commission on HIV report emphasizes the need for greater understanding about how AIDS can be spread by female prostitutes (p73)
 * The commission also strongly advised implementing better support systems for homeless youth to remove the need for them to work as prostitutes (p115), and condemns health care workers who refuse to treat sex workers ifnected with AIDS because ‘they got what they deserved’ (p145)
 * The Reagan administration elected to do nothing (mentioned earlier in the wikipedia article)