Intervention program impacting Indian sex-workers facing socio-economic disparities

Abstract

Purpose – Since the first case of AIDS was reported in 1986, several HIV/AIDS intervention program operates at the national and regional level in India, to control the spread of this epidemic. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate one intervention program in a major city of India – Kolkata that targets specifically the commercial sex-workers challenged with socio-economic-health disparities. This intervention program called the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) is located in the Sonagachi area and nicknamed as the “Sonagachi Project.” Design/methodology/approach – The behavioral change of about 500 sex-workers participating in the survey was studied in 2005. The data were collected from the focus groups of the sex-workers; official records and DMSC officials were also interviewed to collect data. The “short-term” outcome and the “long-term” impact of the program were compared with a baseline survey conducted in 1992 by another study. Findings – Participants experienced increased awareness of the disease, increased literacy rate and increased social and economical empowerment. The incidence of HIV/AIDS has gone down significantly among this high-risk group due to safe-sex practice. Social implications – This community-based organization adopts a unique method of engaging the sex-workers as peer educators to train other sex-workers about safe-sex practices and has become the role model for sex-workers in other parts of the world to fight socio-economic-health disparities. Originality/value – This research was conducted by directly contacting the program directors and members of the Sonagachi project and in that sense is first hand information. It gives valuable insights into the struggles these sex-workers had to go through to gain social and economic empowerment.