Nooraru Saaviraru: stories of women in sex work

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

I'd like to share a publication about our work with women in sex work in

Bangalore city.

Meaning progress, Pragati project is an empowerment

initiative that seeks to build capacities of women in sex work to

respond to challenges that impact their rights, dignity and quality of life. The

project puts women in sex work at the centre of the

development agenda, empowering her identify factors responsible for her current

status and building her capacities to address those factors by enhancing her

control over strategic resources.

Pragati is implemented by Swathi Mahila Sangha (SMS) a sex worker

collective in partnership with Swasti, a health resource centre. The

project is financially supported by Karnataka Health Promotion Trust

through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Pragati started its

operations in April 2005, is implemented in 4 zones of Bangalore city

and has so far reached over 15000 women in sex work.

" Nooraru Saviraru " presents stories around the vulnerabilities of women in sex

work to HIV and AIDS, aggravated further by the obstacles they face in gaining

access to healthcare and rights. The stories recount the lives women lead, their

heart-wrenching struggles and their courage, tenacity and determination. The

intent of this compendium is not to generalize the issues, achievements or

challenges captured in the stories; instead, it is an attempt to put these into

perspective. It does not dwell on the details of processes and struggles related

to each case; instead, it provides a broad view of how a community and a project

can make a difference. You can download the pdf from the following link:

http://www.swasti.org/main/images/publications/nooraru%20saaviraru_english.pdf

Regards,

Shama Karkal

Swasti

http://www.swasti.org

e-mail: <shama@...>