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Economic and Political Weekly December 3, 2005 SEX WORKERS IN SONAGACHI Pioneers of a Revolution HIV/AIDS prevalence among sex workers in the Sonagachi redlight area of Kolkata is significantly lower than that among sex workers in any other Indian city. The unique success of the STD/HIV Intervention Programme (SHIP) in Sonagachi can be attributed mostly to the sex workers' active participation in its structure, decision-making and implementation through their association called Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC, popularly known as Durbar). The valiant struggle for empowerment against the powerful vested in the sex trade by the poor, socially stigmatised and extremely vulnerable Sonagachi sex workers through a collective of their own can herald the beginning of a silent revolution among sex workers in the Indian as well as global arena. by Moni Nag It is a well-established fact that sex workers, as a group, are the most vulnerable victims of HIV/AIDS in India. The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) started STD/HIV intervention programmes among sex workers in the red-light areas of a few Indian cities since the early 1990s. But the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is still increasing at a rapid rate in most of those areas as well as among sex workers throughout India. However, the STD/HIV Intervention Programme (SHIP) among over 4,000 sex workers living in the Sonagachi red-light area of Kolkata has had significantly better success in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS among them. I shall describe below the process by which the Sonagachi project became a catalyst for the formation of an association of sex workers called the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) which, in turn, has become a powerful tool not only for the epidemiological success of the project, but also as a vehicle for the poor and powerless sex workers in West Bengal to gain some control over their own lives and their children. Sonagachi Project The earliest cases of infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, were first detected in India in 1986 among a few sex workers in Chennai. In 1992, the government of India initiated the Sonagachi project with funding and technical assistance from the World Health Organisation. Within a few years, the Sonagachi project achieved a remarkable success in increasing the use of condoms among sex workers, reducing the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS among them. For example, less than 4 per cent of sex workers were using condoms always or regularly in 1992 compared to over 80 per cent in 2001; the prevalence of syphilis decreased from 17 per cent in 1992 to 1 per cent in 2001 [SHDSA 2002]. While the current prevalence of HIV/AIDS among the sex workers of the Kamathipura red-light area of Mumbai is over 60 per cent and over 30 per cent among sex workers in a few other Indian cities, it is only around 10 per cent among sex workers in Sonagachi [UNAIDS 2000:13; Nag 2001]. NACO considers the Sonagachi project as the most successful HIV/AIDS intervention project among sex workers in India [NACO 2001]. One of the key reasons for the unique epidemiological success of the Sonagachi project is that from its inception, some sex workers are being recruited and trained as peer educators for educating their peers about STD/HIV/AIDS as well as motivating them to use condoms for safer sex. The peer educators are selected from the local community on the basis of their interest in the project, capacity for grasping, and leadership quality. They are paid a nominal salary from the project to work for it in the morning hours and are allowed to ply their profession at other times. The six-week training module for peer educators consists of classroom teaching on STD/HIV/AIDS as well as field demonstrations of how to use condoms correctly. The peer educators are required to visit a specific number of sex workers daily, talk with them about STD/HIV/AIDS, inquire about their problems regarding use of condoms, supply condoms as needed, and encourage them to go to the clinics set up by the project, if they feel sick. The blue uniform jacket with a printed red-cross symbol on it, worn by a peer educator, gives her a sense of pride and is a source of prestige in her community. Also, the experience of working together with social workers and physicians involved with the project for the welfare of sex workers gives her self-confidence and a sense of identity other than a sexual commodity. In course of their work, the peer educators soon realised that most clients were reluctant to use condoms because they believed that it reduced the pleasure of sex. If a sex worker turned down a client because he refused to use condom, the client could easily find another sex worker willing to entertain him on his terms, but probably at a higher price. The peer educators discussed the problem with their colleagues and came to the decision that the sex workers should mobilise themselves in the form of an association and collectively demand not only their right to require the use of condoms but also for their basic human and constitutional rights. The result: an initiative to form the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) in 1995. Steps towards Empowerment through the DMSC The DMSC has become a powerful tool not only for the prevention of STD/HIV/AIDS among sex workers, but also help them gain control over their lives, which are usually dominated by various types of exploiters involved in the sex trade. Presently, it has a total membership of over 60,000 sex workers distributed over 60 centres throughout West Bengal. Initially it was an association exclusively for female sex workers, but subsequently it responded favourably to the requests of male and transsexual sex workers to open its membership to them. The multifarious activities of the DMSC and of the other entities spawned by it often make headlines not only in Indian mainstream media but also in internationally distributed magazines like Newsweek and Time. A few of these entities and their activities are outlined below. Cooperative Society Formation of the Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society (UMCSL) by the DMSC in 1995, exclusively for sex workers, was one of its most significant steps taken towards their self-determination and empowerment. The DMSC has had to fight a long battle with government authorities that initially maintained that sex workers could not have a cooperative on moral grounds [Banerjee 2001]. Moreover, there was a strong opposition against it from the moneylenders and brothel keepers of the project area, who derived huge profits by lending money to sex workers with interest rates often as high as 4 per cent per day. The UMCSL relieved many sex workers from such terrible exploitation which previously made some of them victims of perpetual indebtedness and sexual slavery throughout their life. With a current membership of over 6,000 and total annual turnover of nearly Rs 8 crore, the UMCSL is presently the largest cooperative society of sex workers in the world (personal communication). It encourages sex workers to develop the habit of saving regularly by keeping the minimum limit for deposit as low as Rs 5. The total amount of money deposited in its several deposit schemes in 2004-05 was about Rs 3.3 crore and the total amount of loan issued in the year was about Rs 1.2 crore. The UMCSL members have easy access to loans at interest rates lower than those charged by banks. In order to promote safe sex and also to add to its resources, the UMCSL runs a social marketing of condoms programme among sex workers. It selects groups of sex workers in the red-light areas of West Bengal and trains them on effective use of condoms and also on rudimentary strategies of marketing. The group is called "Basanti Sena" (spring brigade). Presently, about 100 Basanti Sena sex workers sell condoms in various districts of West Bengal at rates considerably lower than the market rates. They also function as agents of DMSC for networking among its members and encouraging non- member sex workers to become members. The UMCSL has recently started to enter all its data in computers operated at the DMSC headquarters located in Sonagachi. Forum for Performing Arts In order to carve out a positive identity for its members, the DMSC formed in 1996 a forum called "Komal Gandhar" (a soft note in Indian music) that would serve as a vehicle for expressing themselves through music, dance, and other artistic media [Jana and Banerjee 1999: 24-25]. From its inception, Komal Gandhar has been involved in developing skills of sex workers and their children in these arts. The staff members of the Sonagachi project, endowed with talents in performing arts, contribute significantly to the endeavour. A few reputed Kolkata professionals in drama, including Rudraprasad Sengupta, Usha Ganguly and Badal Sircar, have devoted their time voluntarily for helping sex workers to stage several dramas. Komal Gandhar music and dance-drama teams perform regularly in conferences and seminars organised by the DMSC and on commemorative occasions like World AIDS Day, Women's Day, Labour Day, etc [Jenkins 2000: 69]. Sometimes they perform to raise money for various kinds of charity. These performances have received favourable reviews in the media, not just as sex workers' performance but as quality performance. Komal Gandhar attained an international reputation for its performance of a dance-drama called "Peace" at the 12th World AIDS Conference held in Geneva in 1998 [Nag 2002]. Some famous actors, musicians and dancers during the first half of the 20th century, like Benodini and Angurbala, had their origin in the red-light areas of Kolkata. This is a great source of inspiration for the performers of Komal Gandhar. Also the performances and regular rehearsals necessary for the purpose help sex workers a great deal in neutralising the terrible experiences they go through in their daily life. Since 2001, the activities of Komal Gandhar have been extended to various districts of West Bengal. Educational Programmes The DMSC carries out three types of educational programmes for sex workers and their children: (i) adult literacy programme for sex workers, (ii) educational programme for children of sex workers and (iii) vocational training for the children of sex workers and aged sex workers [Bandyopadhyay 1998]. Sex workers are more or less aware that the local moneylenders, vendors, brothel keepers, clients, policemen, pimps and shop-keepers take unfair advantage of their illiteracy by cheating them financially and exploiting them in various other ways. So they responded favourably when in 1993 the Sonagachi project staff members started an adult literacy programme for them by setting up literacy centres in the red-light areas of Kolkata. By the end of 2004, 20 such centres were opened in Kolkata and a few others in West Bengal districts. Field investigations have shown that, contrary to common perception, almost all contemporary sex workers living in Kolkata and elsewhere in West Bengal aspire to have their children both daughters and sons educated and integrated into mainstream society. However, for various reasons, including the extremely unfavourable environment in which these children grow up and widespread social stigma against sex workers as well as against their children, a high proportion of the children have no school education and many others are school dropouts at an early age. The DMSC started the following three types of educational assistance centres for these children: (i) centres for the school-going children studying in lower classes, (ii) centres for the school-dropout children and (iii) centres for school-going children studying in higher classes. By the end of 2004, 20 educational assistance centres covering about 500 male and 300 female children of sex workers were running in Kolkata and other places in West Bengal. In these centres, classes of about two hours duration are held in the evenings when the sex workers themselves look for or entertain their clients. In order to help these children integrate themselves in mainstream society, they are encouraged to participate in quiz, sit-and-draw, photography and sports competitions. In order to develop capacity of children of sex workers and aged sex workers to earn an income, however small, the DMSC has opened a vocational training centre in its Sonagachi headquarter building under the banner of "Srishti" (creation) HIV/AIDS Counselling Services The first telephone hotline service in Kolkata, along with ancillary services regarding prevention of HIV/AIDS and for promoting care for the people living with HIV/AIDS, was opened by the DMSC in 1998 at the Sonagachi field office of the project. During daytime, it is staffed by sex workers trained under the guidance of a physician. A few of sex workers' children with some school education have been trained and engaged to respond properly to telephone queries in the evenings when their mothers are at work. The wide publicity given to the hotline in the mass media resulted in such a rapid increase in the number of telephone inquiries that another telephone hotline service was opened in 1999 in the Chetla red-light area of Kolkata. These hotline services help many residents of Kolkata and its suburbs to make multitudinous queries anonymously about HIV/AIDS and other STDs. The DMSC opened in 2000 an HIV/AIDS counselling centre, called City Counselling Centre, in a central location of Kolkata. It has another telephone hotline and its staff includes a physician, a social worker and a senior peer educator. The centre helps sex workers and others in getting tested for HIV/AIDS and provides pre-test and post-test counselling through telephone communication or one-to-one meetings. In 2002, the centre took the initiative to form the Kolkata Network of HIV-Positive People with the following objectives: (i) to extend physical, mental, and social assistance to HIV-positive persons, (ii) to help them in procuring anti-retroviral medication and in getting admission to hospitals, when needed and (iii) to mobilse them for protecting their legitimate rights. Three National Conferences In addition to holding many seminars, workshops, rallies and state- level conferences since its inception, the DMSC organised three national conferences of sex workers during 1997-2001. These three-day conferences were widely publicised all over India and had an impact on the public psyche regarding issues related to prostitution and gave a boost to sex workers' morale throughout India. The fact that the Left-Front government of West Bengal allowed all the three national conferences to be held at the government-owned Yuva-Bharati Sports Stadium attests to its general support of sex workers' rights. The first national conference, held in 1997, was attended by over 1,000 sex workers from various states of India and by over 3,000 sex workers from Kolkata and its suburbs. Some sex worker representatives came from Bangladesh and Nepal as well as from the US, the UK and Australia. This was the first time in the history of sex work that so many sex workers, most of whom were poor and illiterate, rallied together in a conference to speak about their rights and inscribe their self-defined identity on the public sphere. The delegates from various Indian states and foreign countries shared their experiences of exploitation, deprivation and social stigma against sex workers. Representatives from the West Bengal government, government of India, WHO, UNAIDS, some trade unions and NGOs as well as some distinguished writers and other intellectuals participated in various panel sessions of the conference. The rallying slogan of the first conference was: "Sex work is legitimate work: we want workers' rights". A high point of the conference was when Indrajit Gupta, then home minister of the government of India and chairman of the Communist Party of India declared in his speech his sympathy with sex workers' demand for their right to form trade unions which, he said, was a reasonable enough demand for serious consideration by the Indian government. The second national conference, held in 1998, as a follow-up of the first, was attended by 2,000 sex workers from various Indian states and some delegates of sex workers' associations in Bangladesh and Nepal. The major themes of the conference included: (i) recognition of sex work as a profession, (ii) formation of self-regulatory boards at various levels for controlling the practice of prostitution (the boards would comprise representatives from sex workers' associations, government departments, NGOs as well as nominated professionals) and (iii) decriminalisation of sex trade. The third national conference, held in 2001, was called "Millennium Milan Mela", because it was intended to have the character of a "mela" (fair) that would inscribe sex workers' identity on the public arena mainly through music, dance, drama, etc. Its inaugural session was presided over by the reputed writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay, the then honorary sheriff of Kolkata. The general mood of the mela was festive with visitors enjoying the multi-ethnic music, dance and drama performances in the evenings, while attending the panel discussions on topics related to prostitution during the daytime. Self-Regulatory Boards According to the DMSC, since the existing legislation regarding prostitution and the relevant law-enforcement agencies have failed miserably to stop or even minimise the forcible entry of women including minors into sex trade, it is necessary to form self- regulatory boards at local levels for the purpose. The major function of the boards would be to see that the rules and regulation of the sex trade were implemented properly at the local levels. At the same time, the DMSC proposes that a centrally constituted board be formed which would ultimately function on the lines of professional bodies like the Indian Medical Association or the Indian Bar Association [Jana and Banerjee 1999: 20, Namaskar 1999]. The DMSC took the initiative to set up in 1999 three local self- regulatory boards in Kolkata. The local members in a few red-light areas of the city set up a system by which they could monitor the arrival of new women and counsel them before they started entertaining clients. Best possible attempts were made to ascertain whether new arrivals were below 18 and whether they came voluntarily or against their will. By the end of 2004, over 250 of them were identified as below 18 years of age. It was found that they were mostly victims of seriously adverse circumstances and ended up in red- light areas through the widespread network of traffickers and brothel keepers. The majority of them, however, refused to return to their parental homes for fear of being tortured by parents/relatives or because of other reasons. So the self-regulatory boards made arrangements with the West Bengal state social welfare department so that they could be sent to the boarding schools sponsored by the department. Publications The Sonagachi Project and the DMSC have to their credit a good amount of published material in the form of newsletters, occasional reports and papers, brochures, booklets, training modules and leaflets. All these publications some of them priced and some not are distributed and exhibited at conferences, seminars and workshops organised by the DMSC or those in which their members participate, as well as at the annual Calcutta book fair. These are also available at the DMSC headquarters at Sonagachi. Contents of many publications, authored by the project staff and DMSC members, relate to activities and achievements of the project and DMSC. Many sex workers have written their own life story in authentic simple language. The most effective and regular publication by the DMSC in both Bengali and English is the newsletter titled `Namaskar'. One or two issues of it published every year since 1996, contain a variety of articles and reports some related to the activities of DMSC/SHIP and others relevant to prostitution or aspects of sex workers' life. Four published books reporting the DMSC/SHIP activities and achievements at the end of three, five, seven and 12 years are well written and informative. The reports published on the occasions of conferences contain interesting articles of varied nature authored by project staff and DMSC members as well as by outsiders. Emergence of a Silent Revolution It is ironic that the fatal disease, AIDS, which poses the greatest threat sex workers have ever faced, is also responsible for an unanticipated opportunity for sex workers covered by the Sonagachi project to initiate a process of their empowerment. Thirteen years of the project since 1992 have also demonstrated that the success of any STD/HIV/AIDS intervention project among a poor, powerless and stigmatised group like sex workers depends heavily on how far its members actively participate in its activities and what roles they play in the project's structure, decision-making and implementation [Nag 2002]. That a sex workers' association could formally be responsible for carrying out the Sonagachi project was at one time a fond and distant dream of a few leading members of the project and DMSC. But, today, it is no longer a dream. A significant step towards its realisation was the transfer of the project's administration in April 1999 from the government of India's All-India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health to the Usha Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society which operates under the supervision and guidance of a high-powered body representing relevant government agencies, DMSC and a few NGOs. Another simultaneous step of important symbolic value was the appointment of a member of the local community of sex workers who had been working as a project staff since its beginning, as the project director. By the end of 2004, majority of the 400 or so paid workers of the project were sex workers. Most of them were peer educators but a few held supervisory positions a significant development in terms of the empowerment of sex workers and also of the sustainability of the project. As expected, the process of shifting the project's approach towards empowering sex workers, widely perceived as "fallen women", has encountered from time to time various obstacles both from the sex trade and, more seriously, from mainstream society. Despite all these obstacles, the DMSC has already accomplished some significant gains in favour of sex workers' rights to self-determination defined by it in a conference of sex workers in West Bengal [DMSC 1996]. When I met Carol Leigh, a leading American sex worker, in San Francisco in 1999, she told me, "Sonagachi represents a model for all sex workers in the world". She attended the first national conference of sex workers held in Kolkata in1997. Attempts to rehabilitate sex workers by government and non-government agencies during the past decades have failed miserably mainly because of the widespread social stigma against them and lack of adequate resources necessary for the purpose. So the most fruitful way to deal with problems related to prostitution is to help sex workers empower themselves so that they can lead their lives with human dignity and to ensure that none of their children or anyone else has to practice prostitution against her will. The leaders of the DMSC are aware that sex workers have a long way to go in their fight against the socially dominant ideology of sexual morality. But the struggle for empowerment by the sex workers of Sonagachi can be seen as heralding a silent revolution in Indian as well as the global social arena. References Bandyopadhyay, Sandip (1998): They Speak Their Word: A Note on the Education Programme for the Calcutta Sex Workers, All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata. Banerjee, Bhaskar (2001): `Usha Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society: The Flag-bearer of Sex Workers' Cooperative Movement' in Ananya Banerjee et al (eds), Millenium Milan Mela, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, Kolkata. DMSC (Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee) (1996): `Sex Workers' Rights to Self-determination' in Proceedings of West Bengal State Conference, April 29-30, DMSC, Kolkata. Jana, Swarajit and Bhaskar Banerjee (eds), (1999): Learning to Change: Seven Years' Stint of Sonagachi, Society for Human Development and Social Action, Kolkata. Jenkins, Carol (2000): Female Sex Workers: HIV Prevention Projects: UNAIDS Case Study, UNAIDS, Geneva. NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) (2001): Status and Trend of HIV/AIDS Epidemic in India up to 1999, http://www.naco/trend.htm, June 14. Nag, Moni (2001): `Prostitution and AIDS in India: Anthropological Perspectives', Economic and Political Weekly, XXXVI (42), October 20- 26, pp 4025-30. (2002): `Empowering Female Sex Workers for AIDS Prevention and Far Beyond: Sonagachi Shows the Way', Indian Journal of Sex Workers, 63 (4), October, pp 473-501. Namaskar (1999): `Self-regulatory Board', Namaskar, 4(1), pp 13-15. SHDSA (Society for Human Development and Social Action) (2002): Report of the Fourth Follow-up Survey, SHDSA, Kolkata, (Manuscript). UNAIDS (2000): Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic, UNAIDS, Geneva. To join the Labour Notes South Asia Mailing List, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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