A place in the sun
MADHU GURUNG
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India's AIDS crisis is growing in magnitude. A look at some initiatives by sex workers in Rajahmundry to tackle the menace.
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SHOW OF SOLIDARITY: Sex workers get together in Rajahmundry to voice their demands.
BY the swirling waters of the Godavari, an ancient Telugu saying is being redefined. In the villages and towns of this Andhra region it used to be said that, "Mullu aritaku meeda padda, aritaku mullu meeda padda, aritaku ke nashtam" (A woman is like a tender banana leaf — whether the leaf falls on a thorn or a thorn pricks the leaf, it is the leaf that gets destroyed). Over 600 sex workers came together recently in Rajahmundry to defy such notions of womanhood and femininity.
The women who gathered here came from the East Godavari district but a few had come in solidarity from distant States.
As they shared the stories of their lives, speaking of their health concerns and fears and their right to dignity, livelihood and a place in society, one thing became evident. None of them believes that they are the tender banana leaves.
Out of a novel
Thirty-one-year-old P. Mala's story seems right out of a novel. Five years ago, harassed by goons for the repayment of a loan taken by her alcoholic husband, Mala sold herself to get food for her two hungry children. Today she is an outreach worker at Srikalahasthi in Chittoor district for an NGO called Women's Initiatives, besides continuing with sex work. "My salary of Rs. 1750 repays the loan and the money I make from my clients is how we eat every day. Even if I stop sex work, I cannot wipe away the mark I now wear; it is lifelong. But I want to be a part of a movement that will get us sex workers our rights and dignity in society."
"Hello, I am Tukai. I am a male sex worker," he smiles but the smile fails to light up his watchful brown eyes. Slim, with feathered long hair overlapping his collars, shaped eyebrows and perfectly manicured hands, life for 26-year-old Tukai has been an endless roller coaster. Raped when he was nine by a neighbour, he was blackmailed to comply with the whims of the neighbour and his friends. He left home when he was 20 and met up with other male sex workers who told him he was stupid not to take money.
In 2004, after years of unprotected sex with as many as 10 men a day, Tukai heard of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee run in Sonagachi. This area is known as the biggest brothel in Asia with over 7,000 sex workers. Tukai joined the Durbar Komal Gandhar dance troupe. Today Tukai carries condoms and insists his clients use them to protect him as well as themselves. He works as a peer educator and says, "There is only one life and it should be without illness."
A crisis looms
Three years ago, looking at the enormity of India's HIV/ AIDS epidemic, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $200 million to fight the epidemic. But the major stumbling block is acceptance by the government and society that in India sexuality is both diverse and vibrant. Since it is also the main cause of the spread of HIV/ AIDS and sex workers are the most vulnerable group, they are the key population that government and NGOs must work with.
The three-day event at Rajahmundry, funded by the Gates Foundation, was hosted by Nari Saksham, a confederation of 10 communities working in East Godavari district under the supervision of Care India.
The work in Rajahmundry is based on the model that was conceived in Sonagachi by Dr. Samarjit Jana, then Director of the All India Institute of Hygiene, Kolkata. Funded by the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), Dr Jana and his team began working in Sonagachi in 1992. Their aim was to change the behaviour of sex workers so as to stem the incidence of HIV infection.
After long meetings and interactions with the sex workers, Dr Jana and his team were to challenge existing beliefs and strategies to control HIV/ AIDS worldwide. "We found that we could not impose globally accepted programmes as HIV here was not a behavioural issue, but a livelihood issue that prevented sex workers from forcing their clients to use condoms. We also understood that it stemmed from inequality between clients and sex workers. The existing laws criminalised sex workers, so they hid from the police, and from the administration, and society saw them as fallen women. We realised that power equations determine the outcome of any negotiations," recounts Dr. Jana.
Power of the collective
The team saw that empowering individual sex workers did not give them power and authority. Collective strength was needed. This was to become the turning point. In 1997 the sex workers came up with their own organisation, calling it "Durbar" which means "Unstoppable" in Bengali. They started advocacy and negotiations with the police and judiciary, so as to create an enabling environment. In 1998, the central government took up this approach for their national intervention, and a year later, Dr. Jana handed over charge of Durbar to the community.
Today, Sonagachi has expanded from a single project to include 51 diverse areas and 40,000 sex workers from West Bengal under its umbrella. It has moved on to cooperatives with an annual turnover of Rs. 7.5 crores, has several non-formal education progammes for adults and children, and a cultural wing called Komal Gandhar with troupes for dance, mime and band. It runs two boarding schools.
Fourteen years later, in recognition of the success of this community-based approach, NACO has adopted the strategy to be duplicated throughout the country and the Gates Foundation and UNAIDS endorse it.
Repeating the success
It is this approach that is followed at Rajahmundry's Tumalawa drop-in centre. Sujatha and K. Seetha run the centre. They are striking looking women, part of Rajamundry's tradition of exceptionally beautiful and intelligent women becoming Kalavanthalu or highly respected dancing prostitutes. The tradition continues but respect and wealth are a thing of the past. Sujatha and K. Seetha work as social change agents, bringing sex workers to the drop-in centre. The centre is a club with a difference. It provides a recreational space for sex workers, and the attached clinic enables women to get tested for sexually transmitted infections without any prejudice.
Like tiny ripples that rustle stagnant waters, from within the community have emerged many women determined to make a better life. Radha Rani, who was driven into prostitution by her alcoholic husband, now lives with some hope. There are many like her, guided by lessons life taught them, each one a change maker. But it's a title they dismiss. "My life has been constant submission, humiliation and silent acceptance. This platform is a new life. I want to dedicate myself to the service of my community," says Radha Rani.
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