| Sex no longer a dirty three-letter word | |||
|
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| More
and more Keralites are getting hooked to the pleasures of sex," said SK
Hari, team leader of the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion
Trust that supports the State AIDS Control Society. |
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| In
recent years the trust's office here has seen an increase in telephone
calls from various sections of society, especially the middle and upper
middle classes, on safe sex. |
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| "Most
callers, who do not identify themselves, ask about precautions to be
adopted when indulging in multi-partner sex. We do our job and give
them the required advice," Mr Hari told IANS. |
|||
| "On
the whole this change is not at all alarming because if one looks at
any developed society these things do happen," said Hari. |
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| The
change in sexual culture in the state has also been noticed by Nalini
Jameela, 53, who has been a commercial sex worker since 1978. |
|||
| "I
get calls from young husbands asking for a session. Once we meet they
tell me their woes. I comfort them and get immense satisfaction when
they call me back and say the session with me worked," she said. |
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| Jameela,
based at Kozhikode, has been coordinator of the Kerala Sex Workers
Forum since 2001 and also is linked with Firm, an apex body for five
NGOs. |
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| Mr
Hari said various surveys and studies by his trust over the past seven
years had shown that sex helps provide relief and satisfaction because
it had been proved that stress levels have been on the increase in
Kerala. |
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| "Kerala
currently ranks among the top states in India in alcohol consumption,
suicide rate, divorce rate and even emotional disorders. This is one
indicator that non-regular partners in sex in Kerala is on the
increase," he said. |
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| The
Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust has been undertaking 53
projects at various places in the state since 1997 and is also working
among commercial sex workers and homosexuals. |
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| Studies
by the trust indicate that the number of commercial sex workers has
touched 18,292 as on June 30 this year, compared to 12,561 in March
2003. |
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| Mr Hari said this figure represented around 30 per cent of the total number of sex workers, with the majority being invisible. |
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| This
30 per cent pertains to just the marginalized section of society that
indulges in commercial sex work to eke out a living. |
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--
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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