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Cellphone use by prostitutes in
India has freed them from the brothels and the control of madams, but it may
also cost them dearly. Sex workers are using inexpensive mobile phones to lure
customers elsewhere, but this independence makes it difficult for the
government and safe-sex counselors to find them. Formerly government workers
and other safe sex workers could use the brothels as important prevention
points to offer free advice and condoms. Without the advice and free condom
distribution, counselors fear that sex workers and their customers are
returning to dangerous unprotected sex.
Studies show that sex workers who
rely on cellphones are more susceptible to HIV as they are less likely to
require their clients to use condoms, compared to those in the brothels. When
interviewed, sex workers stated that they had given up control in the bedroom
in exchange for more control over their money. India has about 1.5 million AIDS
cases, less than the predicted 25 million. Reasons for the success in
preventing HIV include the fact that women in India have fewer sex partners
than in many other developing countries, as well as the way that the government
targeted red light districts with safe sex messages and free condom
distributions and trained dozens of sex workers to counsel their peers in
safe-sex practices. Also, the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation underwrote an intensive effort to target such high-risk groups as
sex workers, gay men, and intravenous drug users.
When the sex workers move from
brothels, the targeted interventions are threatened. Also, because of the use
of cellphones, more women are drawn to becoming sex workers, and more men who
may not have gone to a brothel are using cellphone-accessible sex workers
because of the convenience and privacy that this affords. Ashok Alexander,
former director in India of the Gates Foundation, noted that the mobility of
sex workers is huge and contacting them is very difficult. He noted that it is
a totally different challenge, and the strategies will have to change The Gates
Foundation is lending its oversight and support for AIDS prevention in India.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
