Karnataka health and police officials are fueling the spread of HIV-AIDS

[Guest guest]

Karnataka Sex Workers Union Strongly condemning the actions of Karnataka State

health and police officials, that are fuelling the spread of HIV-AIDS

Bangalore, Dec 1, 2008*

Health Department in Ramnagara District spreads misinformation against

homosexuals making them further vulnerable to HIV infection:

District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit, Ramanagara District and District

Health and Family Welfare Officer, Ramanagara District have conducted the World

AIDS Day program today in Ramanagra town and have spread the misinformation

against homosexuals through public distribution of leaflets.

Excerpts from the leaflet include '*salingakama: HIV, AIDSge rahadhaari'*

(meaning – *Homosexuality: Highway to HIV, AIDS*), '*salingakaamigalinda

dhooraviri'* (meaning – *Stay

away from Homosexuals*) and warns people to stay away from homosexuals as a way

to prevent AIDS.

This messages spread prejudice, stigma and discrimination against homosexuals

and make them further vulnerable to HIV infection. This is completely opposite

to the strategy of National AIDS Control Program, which seeks to fight stigma

and discrimination against

homosexuals and support their human rights as a strategy to reduce their

vulnerability to HIV infection.

It is shocking that local health authorities are doing harm to HIV-AIDS program

in Karnataka whereas Ms. K. Sujatha Rao (Director General of National AIDS

Control Program) and Mr. Anbumani Ramodass (Union health minister) are in the

forefront vocally demanding the

decimalization of homosexual sex between consenting adults. To prevent AIDS, we

need to reach out to homosexuals and support efforts for their health and human

rights.

Background: *Karnataka is one of the high prevalence states for HIV in

India. There is a need for serious and committed efforts to combat AIDS to

prevent new infections and to prevent collapse of the public health system,

which is already in a bad shape. There is also a strong need to reach out to the

people most vulnerable to HIV infection i.e. sexual minorities, sexworkers and

Intravenous Drug Users etc. and support them in accessing various social

entitlements. It is internationally proved that the best way

to prevent HIV is to support the human rights of marginalized people

including sexual minorities.

Ineffective functioning and corruption in Karnataka State AIDS Prevention

Society:* Karnataka State AIDS Control Society, the main body to coordinate the

governmental efforts against AIDS has come under severe criticism in the past

few years for its ineffective functioning (not utilizing allocated funds

properly and sending back most of the funds, frequent change of its directors,

not involving people infected/most-affected by HIV in a meaningful way, not

involving organizations working on HIV-AIDS issues in a

meaningful way etc.) and financial corruption.

Police are purging hijras out of Bengaluru City, making them vulnerable to HIV

infection: *police have declared an illegal war on hijras (working class

male-to-female transgenders) in the past 2 months. On 20th October 2008, when

HIV-AIDS program staff (crisis team members of Sangama, an organization

implementing the activities of National AIDS Control Program among hijras and

homosexual/bisexual males in the city) enquired about the detention of 5 hijras

by police, Police belonging to Banashakari Police Station stripped,

verbally-physically-sexually assaulted and booked the HIV-AIDS workers on false

charges.

When human rights activists from various dalit-trade union-women's-sexual

minority-sexworker organizations questioned the illegal police actions,

Banashankari Police verbally-physically-sexually assaulted them and booked them

on false charges. Sangama's crisis intervention is recognized as a best practice

model to be emulated by other NGOs by the Indian Government in its National AIDS

Control Plan – III

(Strategy and Implementation Plan, NACP 3).

In 2nd week of November, Police from Sampigehalli and Amruthahalli police

stations started spreading false rumors about already marginalized hijras

including 'hijras are kidnapping male children, making them transgenders by

injecting with hormones, castrating them by force and forcing them into

sexwork/begging'.

Police tried to push hijras out of Dasarahalli area (where many hijras are

living for many years) in Amruthalli police station limits

through issuing written notices and pressurizing the house owners to throw their

hijras tents out.

This led to the large scale evictions of hijras out of this area and hijras are

scattered and are living under the constant fear

of police attacks. HIV-AIDS prevention efforts among hijras in Bengaluru is

severely affected, as it is becoming impossible to reach out to hijras.

These actions of Karnataka health and police officials are putting the

Karnataka HIV-AIDS prevention work at risk. There actions are fuelling

prejudice and misinformation against homosexuals and hijras, one of the most

marginalized populations of our society. These actions are fueling the spread of

HIV-AIDS in the state.

We strongly condemn these actions of health and police officials and demand that

the state and union governments take immediate corrective measures. *

Yours faithfully

Geetha, General Secretary, *Karnataka Sex Workers Union

Umesh, General Secretary, *Karnataka Sexual Minorities Forum

No. 9, ABABIL, Patel Cheluvappa Street, JC Nagar [MR Palya], Bangalore – 560006

Phone: 9731018694, Email: sexworkersunion@..., *Web*:

http://kswu.blogspot.com/

Manohar Elavarthi

e-mail: <manoharban@...>