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Prevention of HIV among bonded sex workers through establishing human

rights

 

Joyeeta Saha Piwoo

Abu Yusuf Choudhury

Country: Bangladesh

21 July, 2014 

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Map of Bangladesh indicating the area of Daulatdia

Daulatdia is situated in the district of Rajbari under Dhaka Division of Bangladesh and it’s geographical coordinates are 23° 44' 0" North, 89° 48' 0" East

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BACKGROUND

• PIACT Bangladesh has been implementing a program since 2001 in Daulatdia brothel

 • Many young women and adolescent girls are

trafficked into brothels for sex work in Bangladesh

• The land ladies in the brothel pay the traffickers and make the girls bonded for long period of time without any accountability

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BACKGROUND

• The land ladies pressurize the bonded SWs for having sex with clients without condom to earn more money

• In our program we covered 2750 SWs of which over 50% were bonded adolescent girls

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ACTIVITIES

• The victim sex workers were given legal support for their protection through our program

• The SHG and a local committee were actively involved to protect the adolescent girls from sex business

• The bonded SWs were empowered with knowledge of human rights

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ACTIVITIES

• The program specially focused on accountability for the money spent by the land ladies for the bonded SWs

• Regular supply of condom was ensured

• Consistent use of condom was promoted and evaluated

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KEY FINDINGS

• More than 70% of the bonded SWs developed capacity to negotiate with the brothel land ladies, clients and others

• The SWs have been enjoying more freedom for safe sex and around 80% of the SWs were using condom regularly

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KEY FINDINGS

• It was possible to motivate the land ladies to deal rationally with bonded sex workers in financial matters and protect them from HIV infection by consistent condom use

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Important Implications of Work

• Empirical evidences showed that no SW in Daulatdia brothel had HIV infection

• Right-based approaches were found effective to protect the bonded SWs from HIV infection

• This experience may be replicated in other brothels in Bangladesh

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THANK YOU