How has the HIV Epidemic and the Covid-19 Pandemic affected women in the sex trade?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s in India, HIV/AIDS epidemic was growing at an alarming rate and particularly in the red light areas in the country. Many women in the sex trade faced discrimination, stigma, and suffered due to the lack of proper medical treatment. And more recently in the year 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, these women and their children suffered the same hardships all over again.

On this episode, Ms. Priti Patkar, co-founder of Prerana discusses the overall impact the HIV epidemic and Covid-19 pandemic had on the lives of prostituted women and their children. We answer questions like,

What was the impact of HIV on the lives of the women in the sex trade?

What role does stigma and discrimination play in their lives?

How did the State support prostituted women with HIV?

How has the COVID19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown affect the prostituted women and their children in the red-light areas?

For more information go to https://fighttrafficking.org/research/health-services-red-light-area-2019/

https://fighttrafficking.org/atc_blog/covid-kamathipura-lockdown/

https://fighttrafficking.org/research/covid-ras-2020/

Credits

Producer: PRERANA C/O Exe Secretary-Priti Patkar

Conceptualised by Dr Pravin Patkar & Kashina Kareem

Host & Exe Producer– Kashina Kareem

Content & Expertise – Dr. Pravin Patkar