This call to action published in the Lancet highlights the urgent need for maternal and child health for mothers who are sex workers and those who have been trafficked and their children.

The right of these mothers to quality antenatal care and safe delivery and the right of their children to health, education, housing, and protection from discrimination and stigma, must be ensured.

Globally, the majority of female sex workers are mothers, raising millions of children. Many of these children are at high risk of HIV, congenital syphilis, fetal alcohol syndrome, physical and sexual violence, and tuberculosis.5–8 However, there are few studies on children of female sex workers and none include data on their HIV rates or causes of death.

Download the full Call to action here.

Lancet Glob Health 2016
Published Online
May 12, 2016