"A young woman sits on a plastic chair in a concrete courtyard, flanked by faded blue wooden doors. It's late afternoon, and most of the narrow doors of two dark, stucco buildings are closed. Until rush hour and the night. Pressing bright pink fingernails together, the sex worker at this brothel talks about her fear of contracting HIV now that U.S. government funds for preventive medications have been slashed and condoms are scarce."
"She is one of many Ugandan women increasingly without such protection, including young girls from rural areas trafficked into prostitution as well as women who face gender violence or are unsure of their partners' fidelity. "Nowadays, we see women, they're facing a problem, a challenge of: 'Do you just go without any protection?' I'm seeing that many, many people will get infected,""
A sex worker in Uganda fears HIV infection as preventive medications and condoms become scarce. She works seven days a week, sometimes with ten clients a day, sends money home for her son's school fees, and dreams of starting a hair salon or raising chickens. An estimated 130,000 sex workers in Uganda face increased vulnerability, including trafficked young girls and women experiencing gender violence or uncertain partner fidelity. St. Francis Health Care Services previously offered HIV testing and prevention to many brothels, but U.S. policy changes now restrict PrEP to pregnant and breastfeeding women, reducing access for others.
Read at www.npr.org
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