Clients Give Lessons on AIDS in India's Brothels

In Kolkata, in eastern India, AIDS activists have enlisted nearly 200 regular clients of brothels in the Sonagachhi red-light district to teach fellow visitors about using condoms and having frequent blood tests. Sonagachhi is home to about 10,000 sex workers who serve more than 25,000 clients every day.

"We spend so much time in Sonagachhi that we thought that it was also our duty to protect these girls from AIDS," said Deepak Bhattacharya, a frequent brothel visitor. "There are also thousands of men who come to Sonagachhi and refuse to wear a condom," Bhattacharya said. "And that is where we step in."

Evenings, Bhattacharya and colleagues talk to brothel customers and sex workers about safe sex and encourage them to get involved in the area's HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. Although some clients are not interested, according to Bhattacharya, others are more open and even take away leaflets.

The project is run by the Darbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), an umbrella organization that represents around 65,000 sex workers. The effort began at the start of 2006. So far, it has counseled some 5,000 clients and sex workers. "About 80 percent of clients and sex workers counseled now use condoms," said Bharati Dey, DSMC's project director and a former sex worker.

Activists say there is still a lot of work to do. They estimate 90 percent of the men who visit Sonagachhi do not know HIV/AIDS can be contracted through sex.

The World Health Organization says infection rates among Sonagachhi sex workers have dropped to 5 percent from 90 percent over the past decade, thanks to community-based HIV/AIDS prevention projects. However, the infection rate could increase if clients do not take precautions.

India has the world's highest national HIV/AIDS caseload, with 5.7 million infections.

Back to other news for November 2, 2006