SAINDUR THYMMAI TI Project for FSW:

The project was started in October 2009, under the aegis of The Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian >Assembly Social Life Development Association (SELDA)

and it was sponsored by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) through Meghalaya AIDS Control Society (MACS). This Project is focusing on the entire Ri-Bhoi District and especially along the National Highway-44 from Sumer to Byrnihat. The main aim of this project is to prevent the HRG-FSW from HIV/AIDS and STI , also to spread the awareness among them and to change their behaviour by Behaviour Change Communication, as the FSW are the High Risk Group in the society and they are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and STI.

It is estimated that more than 90% of HIV transmission in India is related to unprotected sexual intercourse or sharing of injecting equipment between an infected and an uninfected individual. Not everyone in the population has the same risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV. Much of the HIV transmission in India occurs within groups or networks of individuals who have higher levels of risk due to a higher number of sexual partners or the sharing of injection drug equipment.

Since its inception, the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) has accorded priority to preventing and controlling HIV among populations at greater risk, which include inter alia sex workers. Targeted interventions (i.e. provision of risk reduction measures such as information, condoms, treatment for STIs) for high risk groups (FSWs, MSM, IDUs) will remain the mainstay of the response under NACP III. The programme recognises that stigma and marginalisation experienced by high risk groups amplify risks and limit their ability to protect themselves and others. Therefore, NACP III aims to empower high-risk groups to enable improved negotiation and health seeking. Creation of an enabling environment and community mobilisation are the key programmatic strategies to address such vulnerability.

NACP notes that structural determinants such as poverty, gender inequality and lack of viable opportunities compel many persons, particularly girls and young women, into commercial sex. Further, many are forced or fraudulently brought into sex work. NACO and its affiliate State AIDS Control Societies (SACS) cannot and will not support NGOs and CBOs which encourage the compelling of persons into sex work. NACO and SACS affirm the principle of voluntary entry and exit from sex work. NACO, in partnership with other Ministries, will seek to address fundamental conditions that contribute to involuntary entry into for sex work. Simultaneously, at project sites, targeted interventions will help institute community mechanisms to prevent involuntary sex work. For persons in sex work, NACP will promote health and occupational safety by promoting use of condoms, providing access to STI and other treatment and encouraging voluntary HIV counselling and testing. NGOs implementing targeted interventions for sex workers and MSM will proactively assist persons opting out of sex work through collaborative arrangements with women’s groups, Women’s Commission and the Ministry of Women and Child Development. At the same time, NACP will not interfere with the rights of those choosing to remain in sex work. Targeted interventions will promote active involvement of sex workers in all aspects of project development, implementation and evaluation.