Mohd Zaid & Fayaz Ahmad Paul
Commercial sex workers who are homeless, use any drugs, or are migrants with unstable legal or residence status have a lot of trouble getting health care and financial assistance, which increases their vulnerability to poor health outcomes and long-term economic consequences. The frequency of underlying health issues among sex workers may increase the risk of Covid-19 turning into a serious disease. As sex work venues have closed or rental payments have fallen behind due to lack of income, the demand for refuge and subsidized housing has skyrocketed. Existing mental health issues are likely to be aggravated by concerns about income, food, and shelter, as well as the risk of infection that comes with working without social protection.
Disaster Pandemics is a big challenge for the last some years and it impact on all of us whatever it is rich or poor male or female black or white tall or short but question arises that after Covid 19 the problems still will the same or they will get the solution of their problems. Pandemics impact all sections of society and we have seen in past some years that marginalized section gets very much impacted by the pandemics. If we see particularly on migrant workers then they are getting too much affected by Covid 19. Somehow government is providing the facilities to the marginalized section and migrant workers.
According to the (NACO) National Aids Control Organisation India have close to 637,500 commercial sex workers and over thousands of customers visit the red-light areas daily. They are facing so many problems due to the coronavirus. Social distancing is a big issue for commercial sex workers. It is very difficult to maintain social distancing with sex workers. The areas which are operated by sex workers are mostly jam-packed areas like Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. Those areas are very much conjured and have very little space to move on. So it’s a big challenge to maintain social distancing. Maintaing proper health and hygiene is also one of the challenges. They have no access to running water and approx 20 to 30 people use a single washroom. The situation we seen in slums, the same situation is seen in these red-light areas.
Poverty is at its peak there. Brothels do not have a kitchen separately by which they need to purchase food from the vendors. And as we assume that in the lockdown situation it is not possible to depend on vendors for food. They are highly vulnerable to getting affected by Corona virus because they are already affected by a pre-existing condition. They are 10 times more at risk of HIV positive as compared to the general population. There are so many reasons for this because they are economically vulnerable and can’t negotiate for the protection used by the customers. So they face the violence by them and many times they face the violence of criminalization by the customers. Their immune systems are compromised. So if they get affected by the coronavirus then there is a high risk of death.
The problem here is that due to pre-existing medical conditions if they get affected than there is a very bad situation among them and they do not face only HIV problems but chronic sugar and blood pressure. Most of them do not have bank accounts because they are not less educated so they cannot take loans from banks. Further, there is no proper food available to eat. Majority of the population of Commercial sex workers are not getting food during the time of lockdown and Covid time and there is a shut down in each and every business. So they are much more under mental pressure. This can happen with anyone who loses their jobs so this is the same situation with sex workers. So as the uncertainty and fear of pandemic grows, social workers anticipate a sharp spike in depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies.
The same situation has been seen in farmers to suicide because of loss in business, now the same situation is with sex workers. There is a chance of anxiety over income, food, housing, and business along with the concern about infection from continuing to work in the absence of social protection. There is a social problem, social stigma, lack of acceptance in society regarding Commercial sex workers. After lockdown many women left for the villages, some could not manage to leave. One woman from Tamil Nadu expressed her desire to return to her homeland. With no buses or trains available, she has no choice but to walk. ‘Walking would take me a year to go home,’ she added, adding that she would not attempt the long trip back. The same situation has been seen in the migrant workers, the workers who were returning to different parts of India. They were saying once we reached our home we will not go to another state. During the period of lockdown almost 60% of sex workers in Delhi return to their home states.
There is no support from the government side the overall support is provided by the various NGOs, civil society, and organizations to the sex workers. Sex workers are dependent on charities for their basic needs, including food and access during the lockdown, especially antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications for treating HIV/Aids. The stand of the government is correct not to open the brothels but at the same time, the government should take the responsibility to provide the facilities to the sex workers. There should be a proper measure to provide food, medication. Government should work with the collaboration of NGOs, societies, and organizations so that the problem can be easily tackled by the government.
Authors are the research Scholars
