Sex workers proliferates in urban Sikkim
AIDS on the altar of customer satisfaction

Sikkim Express: www. sikkimexpress. com

Sex workers proliferates in urban Sikkim

GANGTOK, December 24: At a time when HIV/AIDS has gripped around 157 persons in Sikkim, the harbinger of this dreaded disease in form of sex workers is also on rise in an expanding prostitution trade here alarming the agencies in the State fighting the global menace.
Spawned by globalization, modernization practices and increased purchasing power, the demand for sexual workers in Sikkim has shot up with conservative data stating a roaring business of such flying sex workers in the urban areas of the State especially in Gangtok and Singtam.
One agency which is providing counseling and medical support to create awareness on HIV/AIDS, Voluntary Health Association of Sikkim (VHAS) is presently providing counseling support to around 400 flying sexual workers. The support is as per the ‘Target Intervention on HIV AIDS Project’ which aims to sensitize the sexual workers on the HIV/AIDS disease, said the project coordinator Nita Silval recently to media.
Almost 90 percent of HIV/AIDS cases of Sikkim have been transmitted through unprotected sex and the VHAS is aiming to create awareness among the most vulnerable group-the sex workers-about this chilling fact as prevention is the only cure from HIV/AIDS.
The task itself is daunting as numbers of sex workers keep on increasing thanks to the demand. It is informed by VHAS that there are sex workers in the age group of 16-39 years plying their trade in Singtam and Gangtok.
Those 400 odd sex workers receiving counseling on protected sex and medical support from VHAS had been identified in 2005 through a survey. The VHAS said that it has been successful in putting in the minds of these sex workers that protected sex is the only shield against HIV/AIDS infection. Till now no sex workers counseled by VHAS have been infected with the disease, it is claimed.
However, VHAS admitted that it has not achieved the desired success rate in encouraging these sex workers to change their profession. The situation could remain the same as most of them have low education and thus cannot get contemporary sources of livelihood.
At the same time, no another survey is on the cards presently after the 2005 survey that had identified 400 sex workers in Gangtok and Singtam Sikkim and provided them counseling and medical support. It is also disturbing to have no concrete data on sex workers plying their trade in other urban areas of Sikkim.
Like most of the organizations working on this sector, VHAS points out that prostitution has proliferated in Sikkim due to economic factor. Most of such sex workers are girls from rural areas and have migrated to Gangtok and other urban areas after marrying.
After being separated from their husbands, these girls with poor education have no other option but to embrace prostitution for survival, it is informed. Some girls from well to do families also involved in this business to sustain their rich lifestyle.
Even some married women are in this business for money, it is further informed.
The works done by VHAS is praiseworthy as it had taken up the task to identify and provide counseling to 400 sex workers in order to keep the menace of HIV/AIDS at bay. It is also active in trying to divert such workers towards other respectable means of livelihood while fighting the HIV/AIDS menace in Sikkim which is growing year after year.
For the record, the toll of HIV/AIDS patients in Sikkim has reached 157.
The year 2009 alone recorded 26 HIV/AIDS cases in Sikkim, which authorities reveal is less than it was recorded last year. The Sikkim State Aids Control Society (SSACS) had recorded the highest number of cases in 2008, which numbered to 46.
The latest SSACS statistics reveals that 102 males and 55 females are infected with HIV.
According to the statistics, East District dominates the numbers with 91 male and 51 female cases while the West District records the least number with 1 male and 1 female case.No female with HIV/AIDS have been detected in North District except for 2 male cases.
The data further reveals that 47 persons aged between 30-39 years are victims of HIV/AIDS, 2 below the age of 10, 1 case between 11-19 years, 31 cases aged between 20-29, 17 cases between 40-49years and 4 above 50 years.
A total of 132 HIV/AIDS patients had been infected through unprotected sexual mode.
Despite the positive works done by various agencies in counseling the sex workers on protected sex, the expanding prostitution trade here in the State has been forced to puts its HIV/AIDS at the altar due to stiff competition and satisfaction demands of the clients.
‘We cannot force our customers to use protective measures as they can easily find other willing women’, this is the common line among the sex workers indicating stiff competition among the sex workers for clients.
Since this line is very competitive and as our numbers are increasing day by day, we prefer to go as per the wishes of our customers instead of losing them by being adamant on protective measures, they say.
Also, it is understood that there is a link between the rising prostitution and a booming tourism industry in the State. As per unofficial records, more than 5000 sex workers are plying their trade in the State mostly concentrating at the capital because of easy access to customers and steady demand.