Russia

Seeking to expand its scope, Médecins du Monde has established a new partnership with the Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF), an organisation set up as a self-help group for people who use drugs and people living with HIV.

According to a study published by the ARF in early 2021, 40% of its female beneficiaries (women who use drugs) sometimes or regularly provide sexual services in exchange for drugs or money. In response, in July 2021 Médecins du Monde launched activities aimed at these women who are particularly vulnerable to HIV.

Silver Rose, our partner organisation in Saint Petersburg, is continuing to advocate for better access to rights for sex workers. The aim is that sex workers are actively involved in the project, undertaking advocacy work to protect their health and rights, targeted at policy-makers and other stakeholders.

A good practice guide was distributed to around 20 Russian organisations which work with sex workers. At the same time prevention, testing and treatment services were offered which were tailored to the needs of sex workers.

Médecins du Monde has also been supporting the establishment of Yagodki, a self-help group set up by five sex workers from different backgrounds who want to be better informed and to share information with their networks.

For example, Yagodki has organised a webinar on sexual and reproductive health with a trusted gynaecologist, produced and disseminated at least 9 videos to raise awareness about STIs and even took part in the Young Doctors’ University. This gave them with the opportunity to present the harm reduction and non-judgemental approach to Russian doctors of the future. Médecins du Monde provides Yagodki with technical, methodological and networking support.

Mirroring the work done by Médecins du Monde and our partners in Moscow, Zerkalo, our partner in Perm, uses outreach sessions to meet sex workers and distribute harm reduction supplies (HIV and STI prevention kits). They also offer rapid HIV testing, psychosocial support and referral to trusted gynaecologists.

In 2021, Médecins du Monde and our partners:

• supported 2,680 sex workers in Moscow, making over 4,440 contacts; over 2,400 contacts were recorded in Perm,
• organised 164 outreach sessions in Moscow and 43 in Perm,
• organised 4 educational seminars on rights, health and sexual and reproductive health, plus 1 training session on violence prevention and 2 visits to share best practice between projects; in addition, over 20 sex workers are working regularly on the project as peer educators,
• took part in 3 conferences involving the public authorities and civil society.