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See . . . what human rights did was it gave us language.
That was the biggest advantage we had,
we did not have language [about] how to explain.
When you are especially working with sex workers,
when you are working with men who have sex with men,
when you are working with (?),
it is an impossible situation.
What human rights language did was,
it helped us present our case to the state,
and then it helps the state also, to
to negotiate with us because of that language,
because we were losing the language of rights.
We are saying that, "People who are born in this country
have the right to demand, irrespective of what they do and how they do it."
This kind of language was not available earlier,
you know, so that type of language was never used with these marginalized communities.
So there in the human rights world,
and the human rights analysis and the human rights base,
we were able to say, "Human beings have human rights,
since sex workers are human beings,
sex workers have human rights."
To be able to make that case, of having rights,
of being people who should be respected,
people who have dignity, irrespective of what they do,
that, in itself, has been the great help of the human rights paradigm.
For further information on human rights, ***/AIDS,
and to endorse, "Now More Than Ever: the joint statement,"
visit www.HIVhumanRIGHTSnow.org
Transcribed and Subtitled by Hunter Holliman