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Dear Friends,

Around the world, Asia Catalyst and our grassroots partners are adjusting to new political realities and legal challenges, and taking creative steps to ensure that civil society groups are not undermined. As we celebrate Chinese New Year and embark on the Year of the Rooster, we are working around the clock to ensure a seamless flow of support to our partners on the ground.

Below are some of our recent accomplishments.

• In China, we worked closely with local groups to organize “town hall” consultations with diverse transgender groups and individuals from around the country. This process feeds into the development of a unique training curriculum, based on lived experience, to build leadership and increase advocacy capacity on trans rights issues.

• In Bangkok, we brought together 13 graduates of our CBO Catalyst in-depth training cohort to an Action Assembly to promote coalition building and strengthen human rights advocacy capacity. Seventy-seven community advocates participated on our bi-monthly call on sexuality education. See a summary of that webinar, below.

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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…)