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Sexually transmitted diseases/ infections — also known as
STDs/STIs and once called venereal diseases — are infectious diseases that
spread from person to person through intimate/ sexual contact. There are
different kinds of STDs, Some kinds of STDs are very dangerous for human health.
It can cause permanent damage, such as infertility (the inability to have a
baby) and even death. HIV/AIDS is one of the STDs/STIs that are on the rise in
sex workers and Injection Drug Users.
Sex work is central to an epidemic that is primarily spread
by unprotected heterosexual intercourse. It is also a feature of all countries
and cultures, encompassing a wide range of people and behaviours. Sex work can
involve men and transgender people, as well as women. People who are engaged in
selling sex obviously have multiple sex partners and are therefore highly
vulnerable to several Sexual Transmission Diseases (STDs/STI) and HIV/AIDS
infection. Because they have many sexual partners, they are also more likely to
transmit the virus to other people unless condoms are always used. As mentioned
by AIDS researcher Mr. Anirudha Alam, “Street Sex Workers contracting HIV/AIDS
through unprotected sex with HIV infected men and sexual abuse has become a
persistent problem, especially in
South Asia”.
Bangladesh is still a low
prevalence country (HIV-infection rate is less than 1%), but there is a
potential for expanding HIV/AIDS epidemic in the future, because the country is
very receptive to HIV infection. Sex work exists at significant levels in
Bangladesh, and condom use is low. In Bangladesh, sex workers in brothels as
well as on the streets reported rather high client turnover, by Asian standards.
Women working in brothels nationwide averaged 19 clients a week, and street
workers reported between 12 and 16 in different cities. Consistent condom use is
among the lowest in the region.
Street Sex Workers (SSWs) in
Bangladesh would play a
critical role of HIV/AIDS infections. Due to the types of their work, the lack
of sexually transmitted infections (STI/STDs) knowledge and low acceptance of
condom use, SSWs represent a highly vulnerable group in Bangladesh. The sharp
rise in others sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Bangladesh contributes
to the spread of HIV and may lead to a extensive epidemic, as the heterosexual
mode of others STI transmission accounts for an increasing percentage of HIV
transmission. Studies of street beggars conducted by Rainbow Nari O Shishu
Kallyan Foundation & L.R.B Foundation in mid-2006s at Kamrangir Char, Lalbagh
and Polashi in Dhaka city in Bangladesh surveyors confirm the 40-45 per cent of
homeless beggars (adult male) indulge in multi-partner sex with less than 10 per
cent of them reporting condom use. Street Sex Workers are the main sexual
partners of them.
Street Sex Workers are closely associated with the tourism
and transport industries where they find a large supply of potential clients.
They get their clients by waiting on the streets. Most of them run on their work
separately, though some rely on brokers for help in getting clients. The favored
method of work is to wait on busy streets, which make available custom as well
as relative confidentiality to the contract, as opposed to the less frequented
localities. Bus stops, railway stations, cinema halls and river-bank are the
usual locations where the contract is negotiated, from where they go to cheap
hotels, under constriction building, darkness park-place and lodges with their
clients.
Day by day, Sex work is increase in Bangladesh. However Ms.
Roushan Ara Rekha, Executive Director of GHARONI, an expert in the field, she
said, ‘On a regional basis, infected men probably outnumber infected women by a
factor of 3 to 1 or more, since commercial sex clients, injecting drug users and
men having sex with men have contributed most strongly to the rapid initial
growth of the epidemic. This male/female ratio is expected to drop as the
epidemic spreads into the general population through spread of HIV from clients
of sex workers to their regular partners and spouses.’
M. C. M. Lokman Hossain, Executive Director of Association
for Social Advancement & Rural Rehabilitation (ASARR) said, if we want to reduce
sex trade we have to clarify our vision on sex work first. Traditional
perspectives on prostitution have been repressive, moralising and controlling,
perceiving sex workers and their customers to be objects rather than active
subjects, excluding them from discussions and decisions around policy and
legislation.
Reference: GHARONI
report, ASARR report, Sex work network
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Mohammad Khairul Alamtag: female,
male, commercial, floating, street, sex workers, aids, hiv, csws, idus, fsws,
girls, women, consensual, premarital, exmarital, sexuality, empowerment,
gender, education, prevention, dhaka, india, pakistan, bangladesh,
adolescent, teen, teenage, truck drivers. trafficking, epidemic, street
girls, knowledge, young people, discrimination, nonconsensual, coerced sex,
sexual partners, safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases, stds, stis, sexual
abuse, forced sex, risky sexual behaviour, business, multi partner sex,
heterosexual, injection, intravenous drugs users,
prostitution,
men who have sex with men, msm, harassment, sugar daddies, relationships,
condom, polygamy, homosexuality, extra marital, relations, truckers, migrant
workers, gay, hijras, hermaphrodites, professional blood donors, heroin
smokers, hotel, brothel, street based commercial sex workers, casual sex
workers, so called sex workers, violence, exploitation, Rainbow Nari O
Shishu Kallyan Foundation, Mohammad Khairul Alam |
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