But PrEP is not provided free of charge by the health system, and it is too expensive for many sex workers. Moreover, PrEP requires a series of tests and clinic visits every 3 months, and sex workers who get PrEP have to pay out of pocket for these services as well. That is why we continue to advocate that it is necessary to make PrEP and its associated services available free of charge to protect sex workers and others from HIV.

We continue to be held back by barriers to our inclusion in decisions that affect us. Although it is a major step forward that decision-makers now talk to us, they tend to engage us only in relation to HIV services. But like other people, sex workers have a range of health needs, and no one issue can be solved in isolation. For example, we need to improve access to and help design mental health services. We need to be protected from hunger and homelessness. These are all connected. The national movement that we are part of helped in the legal process that led to the Supreme Court of India’s judgment in 2022 that sex workers have the same right to human dignity and access to social protection schemes as all other people. This judgment has already led to positive changes on the ground, but we still have a long struggle ahead for our humanity to be fully recognized. We must reach the last woman in the line.