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| Monday, 07 May 2012 14:17 |
 A group of commercial sex workers at work at a hotel entrance. PHOTO | AGENCIES Dar es Salaam. Many sex workers and their customers are still ignoring the use of condoms despite the increased HIV/Aids awareness campaigns It sounds amazing, but it is the fact, as the recent findings reveal. Perhaps this could be one of the reasons for the persistent high infection rate of the pandemic disease.According to the National Statistics of 2007/2008, the new infection rate was at 6.5 per cent.The countrywide figures show that urban areas lead in new infections with 8.7 per cent, with Dar es Salaam Region ranked high at 10 per cent followed by Iringa Region. For sex workers and their customers, the new infection rate was at 7 per cent, according to the USAID report of the year 2009. But, Voluntary Centres (VCT) show that the infection rate for the group is 9.74 per cent for Dar es Salaam. The survey conducted by the WHO/UNAIDS in the year 2002 indicates that infections to sex customers in Dar es Salaam increased from 29 per cent in 1983 to 50 per cent in 1993. Despite such situation, a report by the Tanzania Commission for Aids (TACAIDS), shows that it is only 40 per cent of sex workers who use condoms. The situation pushed the reporter to look for sex workers around the city in seeking their response over the use of protection in their business. Winfrida Rafael, 49, says many of their customers do not like using condoms and in some cases they force or motivate them to ignore using condoms. Ms Rafael says apart from those who communicate their wish not to use a condom, there are those who use tricks in taking the condom off at the time of having sex. “If a sex worker is drunk, she would only come to know later that she had sex without a condom,” she says. Ms Rafael says though that currently she continues with sex business, although she has been living with HIV since the year 2000, the time when she came to know her status as HIV positive. “But, I still don’t know whether acquired this disease from men or from my affected relatives whom i had been nursing because I nursed many relatives and in those days there were no awareness campaigns over the disease, therefore, it was difficult to protect yourself,” she adds. Apart from being HIV positive, on one of her legs, she also has cancer which she acquired when she got a car accident seven years ago-the two make her struggle with severe pains. However, she reveals that life hardships has forced her to continue doing sex business because it is her only means to get money for food. “There are men who see how I am and I tell them the truth over my health status, but they say I lie to them and they force me to have sex without a condom,” she says. However, she adds since she is being weak due to the disease and oldage, many times her customers pay her as little as Sh2,000 or Sh5,000. “Sometimes a man may have sex with me then pushes me down and leaves without paying a single coin, and I don’t have muscles to face him,” she complains. She admits that due to life hardships, sometimes she is forced to sex without protection if he pays good money. It is difficult to resist when one is in this kind of situation. Following that, her health has been deteriorating and her CD4 has fallen to around 200 and 300 instead of the preferred level of 600 to 1,000. “I attend my clinic at Mnazi Mmoja hospital, I have been put under the group for special care, they have changed the dose for me but the situation has not improved,” she adds. “I know that my health has been worsening because I continue doing sex business and I don’t have the recommended nutrition, but I have no other option to make me meet my needs.”Diomente Mandanda ,29, a resident of Keko, says many men like to have sex with her without protection. Ms Mandanda concurs with her colleague that sometimes customers are ready to pay any cost in order to have sex without a condom. “For me it is bitter to lose the money than doing it without a condom, but where I reside it is normal to see men who use it, and sometimes one doesn’t care even if she knows that her or his sex partner is affected,” she says. Ms Mandanda had to do sex business in order to get food for her child. “I got a child with an Italian man, but he abandoned me. I tried to go to the country’s embassy but they failed to help me find him,” she says. Ms Nelis Kamhambwa ,25, also a sex worker, notes that although she carries many condoms in her handbag, many of her customers have been reluctant to use the protection. According to her, she has to carry a special lubricant to avoid friction when in the act.Another female sex worker, who preferred anonymity because her husband and her family don’t know that she is involved in sex business, says when customer wants to pay any cost she wants in order to have sex without a condom she never refuses. The lady, living in Temeke but conducts the business in Kigamboni, at a place known as Wahaya, says that her husband only knows that she is a bar maid. She normally earns about Sh12,000 a day since she gets about six customers who pays Sh2,000 each.“When I get that money I deduct Sh5,000 to pay for a room, Sh1,000 as a fare for going back home and the next morning I give my two children Sh2,000 as pocket money,” she explains. “On this situation when you get one customer who wants to pay you Sh20,000 to have sex without condom you can’t refuse,” she says. Secretary General of the Non-governmental organisation called Dhahabu Arts, Mr Hussein Wamaywa, says his organisation has realized the problem and it has been working on it. Mr Wamaywa notes that in order to reduce high infection rates to sex workers, they resorted to giving them education on how to protect themselves from the disease and providing them means to stop such business. He says that initiative was implemented in collaboration with Rapid Fund Envelop (RFE), which it offered funds for the seminars and loans for them to start decent business.He says the programme would reach about 3,600 people from 90 wards within Dar es Salaam, 30 wards from each district of the region. On the part of training, the organization has already conducted seminars to sex workers in all three districts of the city.“What remained was for them to be in groups for creating projects for us to finance,” he says. |
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