CALCUTTA, Aug 11 (AFP) - Sex workers in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal are picking up tricks from the Kamasutra, the ancient Hindu treatise on sex, to try to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The Institute of International Social Development (IISD), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), last week began a six-month long workshop in the state capital Calcutta to teach sex workers how to minimise sexual contact with customers.
"The workshop teaches sex workers erotic postures, the art of having sex without intercourse. We are calling it safe sex," said Rajyashree Chaudhuri, who heads the IISD.
"We have started the programme as sex workers were complaining of losing customers after they were forced to use condoms," said Chaudhuri, who promotes condom usage in the city's red light districts.
"The erotica, mainly derived from the ancient Hindu book the Kamasutra, describes sexual union through 64 postures which offer ultimate sexual pleasure without intercourse," she said.
The workshop was being conducted as an "experiment" to change the behavioural patterns of sex workers as well as their customers.
"We will assess the progress of the programme after six months," Chaudhuri said.
Calcutta has 20,000 of the estimated 70,000 sex workers in West Bengal.
Last month, India announced a sharp rise in its number of HIV/AIDS cases from the 3.97 million in 2001 to some 4.58 million at the end of 2002.
Sachichidananda Sarkar, assistant director of the state-run West Bengal AIDS Control Society (WBACS), said HIV cases were on the rise in the state.
"Last year, more then 600 HIV cases were detected adding to the total of 1,140 cases across the state," he said.
The Calcutta workshop, supported by the WBACS, is proving popular with sex workers who attend the sessions for three hours during the day when business is slow.
"We have targetted the new entrants into this profession whose ages range between 20 and 30," Chaudhuri said.
"So far, more than 15 sex workers in two batches have got training and they are communicating our message of safe sex."
Sarkar said the workshop was useful as even when condoms were used in brothels they were often cheap and of low quality and ineffective in checking sexually transmitted diseases.
"We have experienced that the mere use of condoms cannot check sexually transmitted diseases," he said, adding that a recent survey of Calcutta's red light districts revealed that sex workers could satisfy most customers using erotic postures.
"It is safe to have sexual pleasure with the least chances of being infected by crippling diseases," he said.
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