The overlooked way to decrease the spread of HIV?

Most people realize that phenomenal steps have been taken within the last few decades to treat and prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but despite massive efforts, new diagnosis numbers don’t seem to be falling like they should. According to some experts, there may be an overlooked reason why HIV continues to be a global epidemic.

According to a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet, one potentially effective way of preenting the spread of HIV is to decriminalize the human sex industry. The data from the journal indicates female sex workers are 13 times more likely to have HIV compared to other females in low- to middle-income countries, and due to stigmatization, police brutality, and the cost for protective means like condoms, these workers are less likely to take the steps needed to protect themselves and others.

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“We did a systematic review of the literature of the past five years,” Steffanie Strathdee, director of the University of California at San Diego’s Global Health Initiative and one of the paper’s authors, told VICE News. “Our evidence from the modeling supports full decriminalization. “

“It highlights, for the first time, the intimate connection between a criminalized status and the risks that are associated with it,” added Marine Buissonniere. “In places where sex work is criminalized you tend to find a community that is extremely vulnerable and marginalized, where they are subject to abuse in the healthcare system and more generally don’t enjoy the same set of human rights. When a country criminalizes either sex work or drug use it tends to push people underground and away from services.”

Interestingly enough, in countries where the human sex industry has been legalized fully–meaning without any limitations as far as operating limits, etc.–sex workers often have the lowest rates of HIV infection out of all demographics in the country. Such is the case in New Zealand, where the sex industry has been decriminalized since 2003.

Decriminalization also provides some safety for those who are a part of a human trafficking network. Decriminalization allows for more chances such human abuse rings would be reported. Under may current laws, those who might speak out against human traffickers keep silent for fear they , too, will be subject to the law.

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“Decriminalzation of sex work would have the greatest effect on the course of HIV epidemics across all settings, averting 33—46 percent of HIV infections in the next decade,” wrote researchers. “Multipronged structural and community-led interventions are crucial to increase access to prevention and treatment and to promote human rights for FSWs (female sex workers) worldwide.”