Re: Male Sex workers in India

[Guest guest]

Dear Rod Daldry,

Of course there are many male sex workers in India. The concept of MSM (men

having sex with men or men seeking men) developed by AIDS projects cover

them along with gay, higra and other male sexuality minority communities

with local specialities. As you say, there really is a silence about male

sex workers also.

The point I am trying to make is that they are addressed through the MSM

concept in the prevention of HIV transmission. But as sexuality a taboo

subject, the male sex workers are the most 'unpleasant' of the lot. When we

helped the sex workers of Kerala to organise themselves we did include male sex

workers also. So is the case of many sex workers organisations of India.

But the AIDS Control Societies of States and NACO do hide behind the concept of

MSM which is convenient for them to ignore the ostracization and the harassment

they undergo. Again if they accept male sex work a reality then they couldn't

sing about ' rehabilitation of sex workers, those poor downtrodden women, no

sex work only exploitation, poverty=sex work ' saga.

Suddenly ' male exploitation of women ' frame work has to be dropped and the

concept of ' sex work a reality ' has to be accepted. This will lead to

difficulties, which they do not want to address for political and social

reasons.

Again there are many sexuality minority communities with different names in

different states also. Some of the members of these communities now live

as sex workers, so there is a confusion also in categorising male sex

workers. But after considering all factors and organising them we think we

need the category of male sex workers. Because many MSMs are not sex

workers and they don't want to identify themselves as sex workers. So to

keep them together as a community and doing the AIDS prevention projects is

not possible. But then writing reports in AIDS prevention projects is a

fantasy, so no problem there.

Anyway thank you for raising this unpleasant subject. By the by please

don't use ' commercial ' in front of sex work, as any other profession is

commercial we don't have to specify it. Or if you want it badly then please

add, commercial doctors, commercial lawyers, commercial poets, commercial

social workers and commercial politicians. They also get paid for their

services also.

Love

Maitreya

E-mail: <maitreya@...>

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