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| Long Summary | |
| Title | Women's Health and HIV: Experiences from a Sex Workers' Project in Calcutta |
| Author | Bala Nath, Madhu |
| Publication Date | 2000 |
| Publisher | Oxfam (Gender and Development Journal, Vol. 8 No. 1) |
| Long Summary | The current rate of HIV/AIDS infection in India
is very high. For most Indian women it is almost impossible to contemplate
assertiveness in a sexual relationship with a man and negotiate safer
sex. However there is a movement of sex workers in Sonagachi who are
successfully negotiating safer sex relationships with clients as well
as better treatment from society including from the police. In 1992
the STD/HIV Intervention Project (SHIP) set-up a Sexually Transmitted
Diseases (STD) clinic for sex workers to promote disease control and
condom distribution, however their focus soon broadened to address
structural issues of gender, class and sexuality. The sex workers
themselves decide the programme’s strategies. 25 percent of managerial
positions are reserved for sex workers and they hold many key positions.
From early on the sex workers were invited to act as peer educators,
clinic assistants and clinic attendants in the project STD clinics.
SHIP aims to build sex workers’ capacity to question the cultural
stereotypes of their society, and build awareness of power and who
possesses it. A survey with the sex workers was conducted, using a participatory methodology. The survey confirmed that extreme economic poverty and social deprivation were the main reasons women became involved in the sex trade. Once sex workers saw the results of the survey and the survey statistics, they could see their vulnerability to structural problems, and those who had previously seen themselves in a negative way began to change their perspective. The project was built around the following ideas and strategies: - The peer educators were provided with a uniform of green coats, and staff identity cards, which gave them social recognition. A series of training activities were organised, with the aim of promoting self-reliance and confidence among the sex workers, and respect for them in the community rather than perpetuating the attitude that they were ‘fallen’ women. - 65 peer educators went from house to house in the red-light areas , equipped with information on: STD/HIV prevention, AIDS, how to access medical care, and ways of questioning power structures that promoted violence. - A survey was conducted by peer educators with babus (long-term regular clients). Only 51.5 percent of the clients had heard of HIV/AIDS and 72.7 percent had never used a condom. As a result alliances were formed between the sex workers and the clients to promote safer sexual practices including the elimination of sexual violence in the area. - A training session for police personnel was organised, between the project and the Calcutta Police Department by the All India Institute of Health and Hygiene. By the end of April 1996, about 180 police officers had attended these training programmes. - In 1995 the Durbar Mahila Samanvaya Committee (DMSC), a union for sex workers, was formed, promoting and enforcing their rights. The state government formally recognises the regulatory board that DMSC members set up with a couple of state departments to ensure that the mutually agreed code of conduct is adhered to by all stakeholders in the red light area of West Bengal. For example, returning children trafficked to the area, to their homes. Lessons learnt were numerous and included: - Stories from history concerning how sex workers had fought for their rights enabling SHIP to engage people’s emotions and rally them round a common objective. - Responding to the needs of the sex workers as they arise, for example SHIP provided non- formal education when the demand for literacy arose as well as vocational training programmes for sex workers concerned about security in old age. A credit and savings scheme was also established to help sex workers set up self- employment schemes. - Through the Komal Gandhar theatre group set up by sex workers they have been able to communicate publicly methods of negotiating safer sex with clients, pimps , the police and brothel owners in a non- threatening environment. - SHIP have negotiated with groups of (mainly) men, including pimps, brothel owners, clients and the police, to convince them of the importance of their campaign and have even enlisted their support for improved rights for sex workers. This represents a direct challenge to oppressive patriarchal structures. - Successful implementation of the project is not just about changing behaviour but also attitudes. For example, the way that society views sexuality, the lack of social acceptance of sex work and the legal ambiguities relating to it. - The sex workers have met with a range of partners, and have developed
the view that their struggle as sex workers is not very different
from the struggles of poor women in the informal sector. The struggles
are against patriarchy and domination. (Search for: Gender and Development
Journal, Vol. 8 No. 1). |
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