Sabira is no more with us

[Guest guest]

Obituary of Sabira

14th October 2004

We take this opportunity to announce the death of Sabira. Sabira, 45, was a sex

worker and worked to promote the health and human rights of sex workers in her

locality, Kozhikode, Kerala.

Sabira is one of the first women in Kerala to declare that " I AM A SEX WORKER "

in a public meeting held in the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.

Unfortunately she died of AIDS related illness at Santhi Nagar Colony,

kozhikode, last week. She has been an active member of the Vanitha Society, a

Sex workers' society in Kozhikode.

Sabira spoke in her own unique style at the SOORYA FESTIVAL 2001 organized by

one of Asia's largest cultural groups SOORYA.

She was beaten and severely tortured by the police while she was working as a

peer educator at CSRD a PSH project in Kozhikode.She underwent such severe pain

and was admitted to the hospital where it was detected that she had a serious

infection at the braest.

She complained to the National Human Rights Commission. The commission ordered

for an enquiry and a member of the commission visited her for fact-finding. That

was the first incident in Kerala that National Human Rights Commission ordering

for an enquiry based on a sex workers' complaint.

Sabira was an active member of Kerala sex worker's Forum also. She had attended

National Sex workers Conference held in Kolkotta organized by DMSC and the

Festival of Pleasure,Thiruvananthapuram organized by SWFK and NNSW.She also

attended a secretariat Dharna organized by Sex Workers Forum Kerala against

police brutality towards Sex workers working in AIDS prevention programs.Sabira

attended other meetings held for peer educators in AIDS Prevention in Pune and

Delhi. Sabira is survived by her two Sons, Calicut, Kerala.

Subhash T.V

SEX WORKER'S FORUM KERALA

FIRM-ANASOOYA

T.C.14/1514,Beatrice Mansion

Thycaud Post, Thiruvananthapuram-695 014, Kerala, India.

Tel: ++91-471-2324060, ++ 91-9447389517

E-mail: <swfk@...>