Legalizing Prostitution in Botswana to Combat AIDS

As many of you are well aware of, today is World AIDS day. I read an interesting story about the fight against AIDS in Botswana, which has been applauded for their stringent and bold efforts to combat the virus. It's government has reported that 97% of babies born in Botswana from HIV positive mothers are HIV free. However, AIDS is still an issue amongst truck drivers and prostitutes along the truck routes.

Botswana, one of Africa's most stable nations and economies, is now considering legalizing prostitution as a way to control the spread of the virus. For example, even though condoms are free at any health facility in the country, sex workers have reported that police men confiscate their condoms because the police say what they are doing is illegal. With measures in place, police men would not have an excuse to take condoms away from sex workers.

Of course, I believe that it takes two for prostitution to exist and if you really want to stop prostitution, you would need to have strict laws and consequences for the johns. But in this case, since it doesn't sound like that is being done, maybe implementing laws that protect the sex worker in order to keep the virus at bay may not be a bad idea. Read the story and let me know what you think.