Bangladeshi Prostitutes Take Up Condom Campaign in Fight Against AIDS

Despite its porous border with India, Bangladesh has been relatively spared from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. A January 2002 UNAIDS study found Bangladesh had 13,000 people living with HIV; the country's population is 130 million.

Some Bangladeshi sex workers have become AIDS activists, distributing condoms and leaflets in a campaign to encourage safe sex. "I have to sell my body to feed my stomach and I also want to remain healthy," said Jharna, a prostitute who works in Savar, a small town of factories and a major military barracks. The town has recently seen a growth in the number of prostitutes and, with them, fear of AIDS. Sex worker activists said they were responding to increased business by distributing literature and condoms in areas with high concentrations of prostitutes, such as bus stations and truck stops.

Nongovernmental organizations were the first to launch condom distribution, but for the past few years, the government has funded the condom drive, and prostitutes -- both male and female -- have actively engaged in the campaign. Authorities in the predominantly Muslim country have begun, in recent years, to allow broadcast of AIDS awareness messages.

One nongovernmental group, the Organization of Development Program for the Underprivileged, runs two centers in Savar where sex workers and/or their clients can receive advice and treatment. Mohammad Nasiruddin, who works for the group, supports prostitutes' involvement in the fight against AIDS. "It's better to increase awareness right within the target group," he said. "It will pay off better than anything provided by outsiders."

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