Tell the Department of Health and Human Services How the Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath Harms Sex Workers

We need your help by Tuesday, December 22

Note: This is very time sensitive! Please take the simple action of reading and signing a letter (can be done electronically by individuals and organizations, within the US and internationally) by Tuesday, December 22nd.

As many of you know, the anti-prostitution loyalty oath (APLO) is a regulation that has been part of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003 (aka “Leadership Act”) which requires non-governmental organizations and health service-providers receiving that receive funding through the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to sign an oath opposing prostitution and sex-trafficking. “Opposing prostitution” manifests in a peculiar way that essentially blocks life-saving services that sex workers once received through US funded organizations around the world.

The APLO is being reviewed by the Department of Health and Human Services, and we have the opportunity to sign on to a really great letter and submit comments on the harm that the APLO does. The letter, which you can read here, was drafted based on comments from the Brennan Law Center and the Open Society Institute, as well as several other groups that support and advocate for the human rights of sex workers.

You can sign on as individuals through the Change.org petition I created here.

The turn around on this is tight – if you want to sign on to the letter, send your name and organizational affiliation (if any) by TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22. The comments will then go to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at the Office of Global Affairs.

Thank you!

-Dacia