ABSTRACT
When HIV was first discovered to be sexually transmitted, prostitution became the focus of media attention. Images of women as dispensers of infection reappeared, reminiscent of Second World War VD campaigns. The public has always demanded scapegoats, and this held true for HIV. As usual, public attention fell on women involved in prostitution, and responsibility for infection became theirs by proxy 'as though they were acting on their own' (Morgan-Thomas, 1991). Untangling truth from untruth, a clear picture emerges of prostitutes themselves as only part of a larger cast of clients, managers, police and pimps. While health promotion and HIV prevention projects are increasingly acknowledging the need to include as many players in the field of prostitution as possible (Kinnell, 1989; Overs, 1991), it is now time to review how prostitutes and prostitution fit into the scenario of HIV/AIDS. Over a decade into the epidemic it is equally important to assess the role that feminism may have to play in the lives of millions of women across the world who are involved in the sex industry.
