Women of the Twilight Zone

Around 580 sex workers have been identified in the capital complex by NGO Turbu Daleh Multipurpose Cooperative Society (TDMCS), but the actual number of such women could be far higher.

Based at Prem Nagar here, the TDMCS, which was established in May 2001, is currently working on one of its various projects, called Ajen, through which the NGO seeks to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS in Arunachal Pradesh, Ajen project manager Asha Dev informed this correspondent.

The TDMCS has so far counseled 435 female sex workers in the capital complex. Out of these, 201 have been referred to an Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre (ICTC) for regular check-up. The NGO has so far distributed 71,150 condom packets among sex workers.

Project Ajen was started in February 2008 and has completed a year since. Initially, it was very difficult to convince the sex workers to go for counseling, Dev said, since they were very reluctant, in the fear that counseling might reveal them to be HIV positive.

The NGO regularly monitors these women, provides them regular counseling, and encourages them to visit the ICTCs. On the touchy issue of AIDS, Dev said only one girl was identified as being HIV positive. However, the girl disappeared once she came to know of her status and her whereabouts remains unknown.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, some of the sex workers revealed that besides financial constraints, ‘failure in romance’ pushed them into prostitution.

One of them is a 27-year-old, who said though she was never interested in the trade, terrible need of money, coupled with a divorce from her husband, pushed her into it.

She has children to look after. Though she owns a small clothes business of her own, scanty earning from the business is not enough to keep their bodies and souls together.

She said there are around 20-30 others in her ‘network’. On being queried, she said she would continue in the trade as long as her body permits, without a second thought.

Since she is new to the trade – she started out 4 months ago – she earns around Rs 2-3000 per month.

“Kabhi kabhi toh khud kharcha karna padta hai,” she says, meaning that sex workers sometimes actually pay the conveyance fare for ‘clients’.

She knows about HIV/AIDS. When asked, she replied in the manner of someone who had memorized the definition of the syndrome: “It is spread through having sex with a person who is an HIV positive. There is a high risk of getting HIV/AIDS if one keeps multiple sexual partners; from HIV positive pregnant woman to her baby in the womb, and through use of drugs and unsterilized syringes.”

Another woman, aged 23, who also runs a small clothes business besides providing sex clients, claimed that she tested HIV negative twice.

She has chosen this trade to supplement her income and assist her family. She has to look after her parents, younger brothers and a sister. No one except some of her friends knows about her ‘work’. In fact, her parents are still in the darkness about their daughter’s other business.

She, too, has a network of 10-20 others. “We sometime party together,” she said.

Surprisingly, she revealed that she joined the profession when she studying in Class VI. Presently, she earns a handsome amount every month, ranging from Rs 10-15000 per month.

She revealed that she also travels to different parts of the North East for her purposes. Her clients are mostly mature men from well-to-do families. Some are young, some students. All in all, her clients’ ages range from 19-40 plus years. Apparently, many clients come to them and share stories of despair and misery.

The surprise that she presented was that sometimes these sex workers offer their services ‘on credit,’ if the clients are helpful and friendly.

The clients come through pimps, but sometimes through friends. While the pimps obviously take their ‘cut’, the friends sometimes do not, asking for a good treat instead.

Most of the sex workers know about sexually transmitted diseases and promote the use of condoms among their clients, the duo said. Some of them are demanding and dominating and many do not like to wear condom, they said.

On the possibility of a sex worker becoming romantically involved with a client, the general consensus appears to be in the negative.

The second woman said she was deceived many times in love. “I do not believe in love. Even if someone comes for marriage, I will never hide my past to him. He will marry me if he loves me. If not, no problem.”

Claiming that many of their clients are from the police department, the duo called it a question of morality when policemen raid hotel to arrest sex workers.

A woman who earlier used to work as a pimp informed that though she was never involved in any sex work she provided girls for clients.

“I was paid good money for arranging sex workers for these clients. Sometimes on a 50-50 ratio, depending on the looks and smartness of the girls,” she informed.

The former pimp sometimes suffers from pangs of guilt. She said it was the want of money that forced her into becoming a pimp; she worries what would happen if the society came to know about her past.

The two sex workers applauded the TDMCS. The NGO sometimes provides honorarium financial assistance to those sex workers who have now become its volunteers. In return the sex workers help the NGO to track other sex workers.

Dev said these women should be brought under the observation of the NGO, and that people should not discriminate against them.

Though these women do not want to come out of their closets, the constant fear in their minds would turn into reality if by any chance they happen to encounter their own relatives or friends while ‘at work’.

For now, they live in the twilight zone, neither in the light nor in darkness, as they walk the road of uncertainty to an unsure future.

N:B:-This Article was Published in Arunachal Front on June 26, 2009.