India

Ishdeep Kohli blogs on Meena Seshu's plenary presentation at the International AIDS Conference in 2010. The original blog is available on the HealthDev.net site.

An interview with PLRI member Meena Seshu on the PANOS website by Sandhya Srinivasan.

PLRI partner Meena Seshu gave the prestigious Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture at the 2010 International AIDS Conference.

Meena reflects on the approach that her organisation SANGRAM has used to support the work of VAMP the collective of women in sex work.

She introduces SANGRAM’s Bill of Rights which sets out guidelines for programming interventions around HIV and AIDS:

This research  evaluated changes in HIV risk taking as a result of sex workers sewing hessian bags in India. "Intervention participants reported a significantly lower number of sex partners and significant increases in income at the 6-month follow-up compared to control participants. In a multivariate model, intervention participants had a significantly lower number of paying clients per month at follow-up compared to control participants.

Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM) is an HIV/AIDS organization that works primarily with sex workers. SANGRAM is based in the Sangli district in Maharashtra state. 

An article by Malini Sur of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Amsterdam published in the IIAS Newsletter.

A news story by Team Mangalorean Bangalore featured on mangalorean.com on the 18 February 2010. The story outlines how sex workers have utilised a World Bank grant to start their own restaurant in Mysore. The purpose of the restaurant is to challenge stigma and discrimination against sex workers it has also provided income generation opportunities for older sex workers. Profits from the Ashodaya restaurant fund a hospice for those terminally ill with AIDS. And, when unclaimed bodies are found in the city, it is this group that pays for the last rites - work that few others would be willing to do. 

A news story by Manipadma Jena featured on newsroomjersey.com on the 17 February 2010. The story explains the difficulties that the children of sex workers face in India, particularly their exclusion from the mainstream school system because of sex work related stigma and discrimination. It outlines how the Durbar Women's Collaborative Committee, with assistance from their children, have countered this problem through the establishment of alternative schools and centres where older children can learn vocational skills.

A BBC news story available online about 'wedding volunteers' in India who believe that by marrying sex workers they will 'save' them and reduce the spread of HIV.

This news story by Joeanna Rebello was published in the Times of India on the 16 January 2009.