The Primacy of Gender in STD and HIV Prevention Programmes

Abstract

Intervention projects aimed at preventing STD and HIV generally tend to target women sex workers and through them their clients. This approach sees women sex workers as agents of change, with the attendant burden, but has failed to recognise gender issues surrounding sexual health, particularly power relations existing in society. While gender justice is a recognised legitimate concern, the discourse has excluded sex workers from its purview making them the moral 'other'. Sexual health projects implemented currently in different parts of Kerala are not sensitive to gender issues because they mistakenly assume that sex workers are autonomous subjects. In the sexual health project for female sex workers implemented in the Kottayam municipal area some gender issues were tackled with modest success. This paper makes a strong plea for more gender sensitivity in sexual health projects and for men to take their fair share of responsibility for HIV transmission.

Using Participatory Research to Work With Women from Ethnic Minorities at Risk for HIV Living In Industrialized Countries

“…The greater their economic dependence, the greater the likelihood that women will engage in HIV risk behaviors [39]. Furthermore, the lack of financial resources induces some women to take up prostitution in order to meet their own and their children's needs [35,48,49], thereby putting themselves at greater risk for HIV. Still others, including many WACB, must send money to their families in their home country, which takes a heavy toll on their meager incomes [35].…”