In 2009, Ashodaya Samithi formally launched the Ashodaya Academy, a teaching and learning program for sharing experiences of sex worker-led approaches to effective HIV prevention, in Karnataka state, India.
UNAIDS recognises the Ashodaya Academy as a learning site for the Asia Pacific region. Sex workers, NGOs, and government officials from over 15 countries have been trained on sex worker-led interventions and learnt from the Academy’s curriculum.
The Ashodaya approach is based on three pillars of intervention:
- Community mobilisation;
- Access to and utilisation of services;
- And creation of an enabling environment.
Members of the Academy also go out and base themselves with other organisations for short periods of time to assist community organisations in implementing programs and developing advocacy strategies.
By 2015, the Academy was providing onsite support in several countries in Africa and is helping the Sex Workers Academy Africa (SWAA) in training their community resource staff.
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers 