Sex workers meet in Mumbai to discuss AIDS

January 10, 2007

IANS. Tuesday, January 09, 2007 15:34 IST

MUMBAI: Giving a fillip to the fight against AIDS, about 10,000

commercial sex workers from Mumbai and Pune will meet on Wednesday to

relate their experiences and highlight their contribution to

spreading awareness about the disease.

The gathering at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in suburban Mumbai,

expected to be attended by Hollywood star Gere, is not a

political rally but a new development in the fight against AIDS.

For once, these sex workers, normally pushed to the shadows while

clandestinely plying their trade, will talk openly about their work

in the backdrop of AIDS.

The meet, jointly organised by a host of NGOs including the Bill

Gates Foundation, Family Health International and Mumbai District

AIDS Control Society, will give the women the chance to talk about

their participation in AIDS awareness projects across the city and

Maharashtra.

" The meet will not only recognise but also highlight the work done by

commercial sex workers to prevent AIDS and other sexually transmitted

diseases, " said Rajeev Jerajani of Constella Future, an advocacy

consultancy taking part in the meeting.

" Groups of sex workers will be formally recognised for their help to

AIDS prevention groups in creating awareness about the disease, " he

added.

According to health workers, growing awareness about AIDS and other

sexually transmitted diseases among sex workers has led to a marked

decline in new infection rates in the city.

" Not only has the infection rate dropped, but the number of

prostitutes in the city too has fallen, a consequence of the AIDS

toll, " said IS Gilada of Peoples' Health Organisation (PHO).

" The infection rate - 1.3 percent - is now the same as it was in

1993. It is indeed a big decline, " added Gilada.

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