They made the plea at the workshop held at the Anglican Church in Gaborone, where they were taught about different types of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). They were also encouraged to seek medical attention if they develop signs of sexually transmitted diseases as some STIs could lead to incurable ailments. When commenting, foreigner sex workers complained that they are refused medical assistance in local clinics. They said that nurses tell them to go to their countries for medical treatment. One of them said, "It is not wise for authorities to deny us medical attention. We are willing to pay for medical services. If we don't get the medical attention we need, we are likely to infect many Batswana as we are not going anywhere; we are here to stay."
Everyone in the tense room concurred that "she is right" (on free distribution of ARVs) in a country with one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world. Other foreigner sex workers complained that Block 9 clinic is the worst as the nurses there tell patients that they do not want to attend to Zimbabweans. Sex workers explained that they are very vulnerable and at a high risk of being infected and transmit the STIs to their "customers" who are mostly ordinary people with families. As a result, they want the government to recognise them and legalise their profession so that they can be protected. The women complained that they are very vulnerable and are being abused and discriminated against yet the law does not protect them. They added that they are vulnerable to human traffickers who promise them jobs only to later find out that they have been sold as sex objects.
