AEGiS-15IAC: Doors of risk at Duars: An ethnographic investigation of a rural red-light area in India.

15th International AIDS Conference

Bangkok, Thailand - July 11-16, 2004

Doors of risk at Duars: An ethnographic investigation of a rural red-light area in India.

Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. WePeC6229)

Das AK, chakraborty S, Mondal S, Singh SK
MPS Student, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India

BACKGROUND: Duars-the mountain pass of Eastern Himalaya is also known as chicken's neck for its most strategic position as it shares border with four countries and connects the whole of Northeast with the mainland of India. This part of India is abuzz with tourists, truckers, and mobile businessmen along with defense personnel and home to hordes of plantation labourers. These characteristics of this place have naturally given rise to brothels and highway based sex trade even in the rural areas. In India, study on rural brothels is conspicuous by its absence. In this backdrop, this paper makes an attempt to ethnographic study one village brothel (Changrabandha) in Duars focusing mainly on the strength of network for spreading HIV/AIDS epidemic and assessing the knowledge gap of these CSWs with that of their urban counterparts. Methodology: Qualitative ethnographic tools have been extensively used over a period of six months to collect data. Beside observation and KI interviews, a series of In-depth interviews with CSWs (N=20) were carried out.

RESULTS: Age of these CSWs vary between 12 to 30 years. They are mostly Hindu-Bengali/Rajbanshi. They stay and work in a very unhygienic condition under the strong control of their husbands/ agents far from the reach of any NGO intervention. Their low knowledge about HIV/AIDS is reflected in the fact that majority of them are aware of only one modes of transmission coupled dismal treatment seeking behaviour although prevalence of STI/RTI mainly gonorrhea and syphilis is common. Use of condom is highly compromised especially during lean season of their business. Conclusion In view of these factors, it seems that due to its strategic location, the brothels of this area if remained outside the clutch of steady intervention, it will fetch havoc fuelling the epidemic to a greater geographical area.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Condoms, Prevalence, HIV Seropositivity, India, Disease Outbreaks, Rural Population, Interviews, Demography, transmission

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