We can't prove it, of course, but it is probable that prostitutes have been more successful in safer sex education than all the television advertisements put together. After all, the best way for someone to learn something is to do it. So it follows, the best way for a man to start to feel OK about condoms is to have someone put one on him, and then proceed to give him a pleasurable experience. In the early days of AIDS it was inevitable that the sex industry would be scrutinized. We have yet to hear about the crazed punter hell-bent on infecting prostitutes.
Some prostitutes do have unsafe sex.
Sometimes they are badgered into having it by an obnoxious or drunken client or they may simply be offered more money to do so. Sometimes the workers are themselves affected by alcohol or drugs. That is the key to stopping sexually-transmitted diseases. And the more control sex workers have over their lives the more likely they are to develop self-esteem. In 1986 there was an international health conference in Ottawa, which produced a charter calling for 'all people to achieve their fullest health potential'.