We’re hiring! Asia Catalyst is seeking excellent applicants for three positions with our Asia team. Current openings are for a Contract Trainer, an M&E Consultant and a Research Assistant. Check out our careers page for full details. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until October 10th 2016. https://asiacatalyst.org/who-we-are-2/careers/
China: Police practices undermining HIV response
Read the full report here.
Press Release available here.
In China, law enforcement practices are hindering sex workers’ ability to access and carry condoms and negatively impacting HIV prevention efforts, Asia Catalyst said in a new report published today. The National Health and Family Planning Commission’s efforts to distribute condoms are being further weakened by lack of coordination with public security officials and contradictory legal and policy frameworks.
The Asia Catalyst report, The Condom Quandary: A Survey of the Impact of Law Enforcement Practices on Effective HIV Prevention among Male, Female, and Transgender Sex Workers in China, documents how relevant laws and law enforcement practices in China are affecting the ability of sex workers to access and carry condoms, as well as access to HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health services. The research, conducted among 517 male, female, and transgender sex workers in three major Chinese cities, provides unprecedented statistical data and testimonies for this long-discussed issue in China.
The research found that coming into contact with the police is a common occurrence for male, female and transgender sex workers in China. Condoms, a tool that can protect sex workers from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV, are categorized and targeted as a “tool of offense” in police operations against sex workers. Law enforcement officers search and confiscate condoms, and use the possession of condoms to pressure individuals to make a confession. The police are treating the possession of condoms as a determinant factor in whether or not to arrest sex workers or hand down penalties. (more…)
中国：执法行为阻碍艾滋病预防工作的开展
亚洲促进会今天发布的一份报告称，在中国，执法行为阻碍了性工作者获得和携带安全套的能力，对艾滋病预防工作的开展产生了负面的影响。卫生部门与公安之间缺乏协调和沟通，以及背道而驰的法律和政策框架，导致国家卫生和计划生育委员会发放安全套的努力进一步被削弱。
亚洲促进会的报告《安全套之困：执法行为对中国男性、女性、和跨性别性工作者艾滋病预防工作影响的调查》，记录了有关法律和执法行为是如何影响性工作者的安全套行为，以及对获得艾滋病和生殖健康服务的影响。这研究在中国三个主要城市开展、对517名女性、男性和跨性别性工作者进行调查，为我们了解针对性工作者的执法行为及其影响提供了前所未有的定量和定性数据和信息。
这项研究发现，和警察的打交道是中国女性、男性和跨性别性工作者生活钟不可避免的一部分。作为能够保护性工作者免于性病和艾滋病威胁的健康工具，安全套在执法行动中被认为是“作案工具”。执法人员搜查和没收安全套，并通过安全套施加压力而获得当事人的供认。此外，执法人员是否搜到安全套，是决定性工作者会不会被带去派出所进行调查和处罚的重要因素。 (more…)
Quarterly Newsletter May-July 2016
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Letter from the Executive Director
These first three months as Executive Director of Asia Catalyst have been extremely exciting for me. I thank all of you, and our wonderful staff and Board, for the outpouring of support and inspiration during this initial, challenging period! It is especially meaningful to join the team as Asia Catalyst celebrates ten years of supporting community-based advocacy on the right to health.
Our program staff continue to work tirelessly, crisscrossing the region to train and coach grassroots project partners to strengthen their organizations, bolster advocacy efforts, and provide opportunities to build stronger advocacy coalitions and strengthen human rights knowledge and skills.
Program Highlights:
In China, we’ve provided intensive on-site training with several of our partners. We conducted advocacy coaching to the Youth LGBT Network and management coaching to the Xishuangbanna Red Ribbon Center. We also held a strategic planning workshop for 15 members of community-based organizations (CBOs) representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, people living with HIV (PLHIV), hemophiliacs and people with disabilities.
Partner Spotlight: Community Activist Takes on Chinese Airlines
Since November 2015, Duan Hongbo has been collaborating with other associations working with people with disabilities in Gansu Province and Beijing, China to spark concrete changes to benefit all people living with disabilities.
Duan Hongbo was on his way home from Bangkok when he stopped for a connecting flight in Chengdu, China. His first leg, three hours on China Eastern Airlines, had been pleasant enough. After three days at Asia Catalyst’s CBO Catalyst workshop, he was ready to return to the northwestern city of Baiyin, China. His journey was cut short, however, when China Eastern Airlines refused to admit Duan, who has a visual impairment, for being “unaccompanied.”
This is discriminatory and violates Duan Hongbo’s protected rights. Armed with skills and knowledge learned in the CBO Catalyst program, Duan immediately began conducting advocacy for his rights.
Marooned in a new city, Asia Catalyst helped Duan contact a 2013 CBO Catalyst graduate who lived in Chengdu. Together, the activists alerted local media using Cheng’s existing contacts and began to raise public awareness on the incident. (more…)
