Summary

DescriptionLiving with dignity.ogg	English: Reading of the page of the page Living with Dignity of the Development Cooperation Handbook On YouTube ⇒ Living with Dignity - playlist
Date	Kolkata , West Bengal, India - January 2011
Source	Own work
Author	Rahulkepapa

Video clips

On YouTube ⇒ Living with Dignity - playlist

Limiting the spread of HIV-AIDS has been the biggest success story for International Cooperation in the past decade. The challenge continues to be immense and much needed urgent work still remains.

Kolkata, a metropolis of 15 million people, is the capital of the Eastern Indian State of West Bengal. A city of contrasts, Kolkata is, at the same time, fascinating and dreadful, inviting and alienating, chaotic and calm. Here, development did take place but the city has been struggling to cope with the ever increasing number of immigrants from poorer states. Immigrant labour and poverty in this city have boosted the demand for and the offer of sex workers .

Sonagachi is the main red light area of Kolkata. The low levels of literacy among sex workers in Sonagachi, combined with low awareness on HIV-AIDS and safe sex, makes them a high risk group for HIV infections. The women of Bengal are known for their energy, dynamism and determination. In Sonagachi, a group of self-aware, primarily women, sex workers came together to establish the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Samiti and they started working to improve their living conditions. They received funding from a programme of the Indian Government on the prevention of HIV-AIDS. And they started a campaign for the prevention and treatment of HIV and the practise of safe sex. They teach sex workers and their clients about the ways and means to protect themselves and the other from HIV-AIDS.

The Darbar Mahila Samanvaya Samiti is an example of when the expression of knowledge and solidarity in one collective voice can help even the most vulnerable and socially exploited persons to start recognizing and exercising their rights. And when they do so, there is a sense of more dignity and security among the entire community.

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