Fact Check: Did Liberia’s Ministry of Gender Report 1,822 Sex Workers, and Are the HIV/Ghana Data Accurate?
CLAIMS: Three distinct assertions are being checked:
- The Ministry of Gender's own sources put known sex workers in Liberia at 1,822.
- HIV infections in Liberia climbed from 34,000 in 2024 to 36,000 in 2025, with women accounting for nearly 24,000 of those cases—two-thirds of the total.
- In Ghana, 76 percent of surveyed prostitutes were HIV-seropositive, with infection often occurring in the first year.
VERDICTS: Partly True
- Claim 1 — 1,822 sex workers on record: MOSTLY TRUE, BUT MISLEADING
- Claim 2 — HIV rising from 34,000 to 36,000, women two-thirds: TRUE
- Claim 3—Ghana's 76 percent HIV ser-opositive figure: PARTIALLY TRUE, the figure exists but is decades old, context-stripped, and misrepresents current data
FULL TEXT: A Facebook post by Philibert Brown, circulating widely online, made a series of claims linking Liberia's registered sex worker population, the country's rising HIV burden, and a Ghana-based statistic on HIV rates among prostitutes, apparently as part of an argument for or against a particular sex work policy position. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection subsequently issued a public response to Philibert Brown's post. The Stage Media examined each of the three central claims against publicly available institutional data and peer-reviewed research.
VERIFICATION: The stage media-Liberia examining Claims on Liberia's Sex Worker Population, Rising HIV Infections, and a Ghana HIV Comparison Used to Argue for Policy Change
Claim 1: The Ministry of Gender's own sources put known sex workers at 1,822
This figure has circulated in Liberian public discourse for several years. A 2021 opinion piece published by The New Dawn Liberia cited sources from the Gender Ministry placing the recorded population of prostitutes at approximately 1,822, but the same source noted that actual statistics are estimated to be three times higher than what is recorded, with research sources estimating approximately 8,000 active prostitutes operating across 176 notable locations around Liberia, including sites in Monrovia, Kakata, Bong Mines, Firestone, Buchanan, and Ganta in Nimba County.
Reference works on prostitution in Africa have also cited the 1,822 figure, noting that prostitution is illegal but widespread in Liberia.
Presenting 1,822 as a full count without that important qualification is therefore misleading. The figure only reflects those formally on record, not the true scale of sex work in the country.
Claim 2: HIV infections climbed from 34,000 in 2024 to 36,000 in 2025, with women accounting for nearly 24,000, two-thirds of cases
This claim is accurate and is supported by official data from the National AIDS Commission (NAC) of Liberia. According to a Liberian Observer report, Liberia's HIV-positive population grew from 34,000 in 2024 to 36,000 in 2025, and approximately 24,000 of those 36,000 people living with HIV are women.
NAC Chairperson Dr. Cecelia Nuta confirmed this during a press briefing, calling women "by far the most affected group" and urging urgent gender-focused interventions.
UNAIDS data supports these figures: among adults aged 15–49, HIV prevalence among women stands at 1.2 percent, double the 0.6 percent prevalence recorded among men. This upward trend is also consistent with peer-reviewed literature, which notes that Liberia reflects a low-level generalized epidemic with urban settings, particularly greater Monrovia, carrying nearly three times the burden of rural areas. Additional context on Liberia's HIV response and its ongoing challenges can be found in a PMC study on HIV service delivery in Liberia and the EUAA country of origin report on Liberia's HIV landscape.
Claim 3: In Ghana, 76 percent of surveyed prostitutes were HIV-seropositive, with infection often occurring in the first year
This claim is partially true but requires significant context. The 76percent figure does appear in the scientific literature: one survey of 368 prostitutes in the Greater Accra area found that 297, or 76 percent, were HIV-seropositive, with older age, length of time in sex work, and prior STDs positively associated with infection.
However, this data is from a 1990s-era study and does not represent contemporary Ghana. More recent and comprehensive research tells a different story. A 2011 IOM study of 559 female sex workers along Ghana's Tema-Paga transport corridor estimated overall HIV prevalence among sex workers in Ghana at 11.1 percent, with 6.6 percent among mobile sex workers and 21.4 percent among those working from fixed locations. A separate study of 1,013 sex workers in Accra found an overall HIV prevalence of nearly 50 percent, ranging from 26 percent among mobile sex workers to 74 percent among home-based workers.
A 2024 Frontiers in Public Health biobehavioral survey further found that about 74 percent of female sex workers in Ghana had ever tested for HIV, reflecting substantial evolution in both the epidemic and health-seeking behavior since the 1990s data was collected.
Citing the decades-old 76 percent figure without disclosing its age or limitations misleads the public into believing it reflects current conditions in Ghana or an applicable risk model for Liberia today.
The broader debate over sex work policy in Liberia has a significant legislative history. Representative Moima Briggs Mensah of Bong County District 6 has repeatedly proposed regulating sex work, arguing that standardizing sex work could prevent the exploitation of young women and girls and that those over 18 who choose to engage in sex work should be required to obtain a license.
The debate dates to 2019, when Rep. Briggs-Mensah first submitted a decriminalization proposal to the 54th Legislature.
On the child protection front, a 2022 joint survey by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and UNICEF found 366,584 Liberian children living in street situations, with ministry officials conceding numbers have likely increased since then. The US Department of State's 2023 Human Rights Report on Liberia also documented extensive gender-based violence and noted that many HIV-positive individuals are discouraged from testing due to stigma and discrimination, complicating the national response.
Liberia's National AIDS and STI Control Program (NACP) within the Ministry of Health remains the lead institution coordinating HIV services nationwide, in partnership with PEPFAR, UNAIDS, and county health teams across all 15 counties.
CONCLUSION: Of the three claims examined, one is accurate (the HIV infection figures, supported by NAC and UNAIDS); one is mostly true but presented in a misleading way (the 1,822 sex worker figure omits the far larger estimated real population); and one is partially true but dangerously out of context (the Ghana 76% HIV figure, which derives from a decades-old, geographically limited study and does not reflect current data from Ghana or Liberia).
Public policy debates touching on public health, gender, and law demand precision. Selectively deploying outdated or partial statistics, even in service of legitimate advocacy, risks misinforming policymakers and the fragile populations whose welfare is at stake.
The Ministry of Gender, the National AIDS Commission, and Liberia's public health partners must remain the primary and transparent sources for data cited in policy arguments of this nature.
