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Mohammad Khairul Alam
AIDS which poses a
challenge to the mankind, has already claimed the lives of more than 40 million
and an additional 14,000 are added everyday to this alarming figure. Each year 3
million are dying of HIV/AIDS. According to a WHO report, an estimated 42
million people throughout the globe are currently living with HIV. It is spread
through contact with the blood or semen of a person infected with HIV. This can
happen during unsafe sex (without condom). People who inject drugs might get HIV
if they share a needle with an infected person. HIV also spreads through blood
transfusion. HIV is not spread by casual contact such as hugging, kissing,
holding hands, sitting on toilet seats, or sharing clothing.
Certainly, adolescent girls’ prostitution is booming in Bangladesh. Adolescent
girls engage or are forced into prostitution for trafficking or socio-economic
reasons. But in addition to sexual exploitation, they face all sorts of
violence. Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation carried out a recent field
investigation, the research confirmed that adolescents girls’ prostitution is
widespread in Bangladesh, although hidden at first sight from foreigners,
especially in Dhaka city. Adolescent girls involved in prostitution are to be
found in residence homes converted into brothels or in hotels. The majority are
aged 15-18.
Campaigns to raise consciousness on HIV and AIDS have to be clear and with the
simple messages such as using condoms, and these should address deep-rooted
gender inequality and interpret the risks to women which are beyond their
control.
In prevention strategies, adolescent girls do appear as a target group. The
education sector, and schools in particular, should be often a major target for
HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, via sex education and knowledge of condom-use.
By the way we have to address or find out those who didn”t get chance to enrol
in these institutions. We have to evolve different strategies to reach the
messages to them. In addition, health education programmes which aim to empower
women and girls to use condoms often fail adequately to tackle the actual
problems because of imbalanced power relations. The desired changes in the
behaviour of adolescent girls and boys cannot happen without programmes
addressing such issues like how a girl can say no, but also why boys, teachers
and other adults should respect the human rights of girls.
Health and education sectors can work together to develop prevention programmes
in schools/colleges, which enhance awareness of gender inequality among boys and
school/college staffs, as well as girls themselves. Such programmes also need to
expand beyond the school boundaries to reach adolescent girls and boys who do
not attend school/college or have dropped out. This may help reduce girls”
continuing vulnerability to violence, coercive sex and HIV infection. According
to recent survey by Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation, 80% of those
surveyed believe that adolescent need more information about HIV/AIDS. As a
result of the lack of accessible and appropriate information, fear and stigma
are common reactions surrounding the virus and infected persons.
In many developing countries, poverty and gender discrimination are both
strongly linked to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Gender and age analysis shows the
ways in which women and girls of various ages are vulnerable to the infection
and in need of support to enable the survivors to overcome the economic and
social effects of the epidemic. In fact, HIV/AIDS and poverty alleviation
strategies are interconnected.
Women empowerment can
prevent gender discrimination, which justifies a holistic approach of policies
and programmes to reduce poverty and address HIV/AIDS. For example, poverty
leads women into unsafe sexual encounters, and speeds the onset of AIDS-related
illnesses. Violence against women and girls is common in societies with high
instability or conflicts. All these factors establish the fact that more females
than males are being newly infected every day. It also indicates that women are
more likely to contract HIV and fall sick with AIDS at a younger age than men.
Development organisations and policymakers have not yet completely taken into
account the demographic changes caused by HIV and AIDS, although there is a
growing awareness of the critical need to do this. Combined gender and age
analysis is a necessary step to help development organisations to design
policies and programmes that would decrease vulnerability to the epidemic, and
minimise its impact on health and livelihoods.
References: UNAIDS, World
Bank, Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation
tag: female, male,
commercial, floating, street, sex workers, aids, hiv, csws, idus, fsws, girls,
women, consensual, premarital, exmarital, sexuality, empowerment, gender,
education, prevention, dhaka, india, pakistan, bangladesh, adolescent, teen,
teenage, truck drivers. trafficking, epidemic, street girls, knowledge, young
people, discrimination, nonconsensual, coerced sex, sexual partners, safe sex,
sexually transmitted diseases, stds, stis, sexual abuse, forced sex, risky
sexual behaviour, business, multi partner sex, heterosexual, injection,
intravenous drugs users,
prostitution,
men who have sex with men, msm, harassment, sugar daddies, relationships,
condom, polygamy, homosexuality, extra marital, relations, truckers, migrant
workers, gay, hijras, hermaphrodites, professional blood donors, heroin smokers,
hotel, brothel, street based commercial sex workers, casual sex workers, so
called sex workers, violence, exploitation, Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan
Foundation, Mohammad Khairul Alam
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