Understanding and challenging stigma toward sex workers and HIV in Vietnam

Publication year

2011

Publication Author

Dr. Khuat Thu Hong, Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Vu Thi Thanh Nhan (Mit), and Pham Duc Cuong (ISDS); and Ross Kidd, Laura Nyblade, Laura Brady and Anne Stangl (ICRW)

This toolkit is one of the key activities of the project “Understanding and Tackling HIV related Stigma and Discrimination in Vietnam” which is conducted with financial support of The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through USAID/Pact International in Vietnam. It is an adaptation of a toolkit developed in Cambodia by Pact International and ICRW, Understanding and Challenging Stigma toward Entertainment Workers: Toolkit for Action. The new toolkit includes some of the exercises from the Cambodia toolkit adapted to the Vietnamese context, and some additional exercises written exclusively for the Vietnamese context.

Participants shared their stories and analysis of stigma toward sex workers, and these stories were added to the content of the toolkit. Once the toolkit was drafted, it was tested in three workshops conducted in March 2011 with health workers, law enforcement officers, rehabilitation center officers, staff of local and international NGOs, and staff of provincial AIDS Centers in Hanoi, Lao Cai, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Hue, Ho Chi Minh city, Can Tho, and An Giang . The toolkit was revised based on feedback from the workshops.

Click here to view the toolkit.