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Source: CIA Factbook
Bangladesh Partner Profiles
Jagoroni Chakra
Project: Brothel Children Human Rights Program
Activities include: advocacy; community education; economics; ethics; human rights; peer education; information/education/communication (IEC); school-based education with: adolescents; children; commercial sex workers; women.
Project summary
In January 2003 the UN declared that Bangladesh is on the verge of an AIDS epidemic and it is now recognized that without immediate and effective HIV prevention programs the population will inevitably face an HIV and AIDS problem similar to that of its neighbor India which is the second largest HIV infected country in the world. According to the Bangladesh National AIDS committee and surveillance team members the increasing rate of infection is alarming among the most vulnerable groups which include truck drivers, migrant workers, professional blood donors, drug users and commercial sex workers.
Brothel based female sex workers in Bangladesh report the highest turnover of clients anywhere in Asia. Although HIV rates are considered to be comparatively low at present – one per cent among sex workers, sexually transmitted infections are high at 20% indicating the prevalence of high-risk behavior and the increasing vulnerability among this group.
Jessore is one of the oldest districts in Bangladesh and is located along the Indian border of West Bengal. As the Jessore Benapol border crossing is the largest and busiest crossing point between India and Bangladesh, business people, smugglers and truck drivers come from all parts of the country, cross in and out of Bangladesh this way, and stay overnight in Jessore town. The existence of a large number of licensed brothels, residential hotels and slum areas where commercial sex workers trade, is due to the commercial nature of Jessore.
Many sex workers have children, but within the brothel communities there is very little discipline or security for these children and there is the constant risk of sexual abuse or coercion into dangerous adult activities involving alcohol or drug abuse. Sex workers’ children are systematically denied access to government primary schools, and suffer psychological, physical, and sexual abuse by clients, police, and society in general. Birth rates in brothels are quite high as condoms are not generally used, and girls who are born in brothels are generally forced into sex work when they reach puberty, while male children often become pimps, middlemen, or alcohol and drug sellers and users. Under-age sex workers are especially vulnerable to STD and HIV infection, due in part to their biological underdevelopment, but mostly because of the typical client demand for younger sexual partners, who are in no position to negotiate safe sex practices.
Most of the children of sex workers have no other relatives to care for them, and if they occasionally leave the brothel, society denies them and their mothers their rights, particularly regarding freedom of movement and access to basic education, health care or alternative employment options. As they are one of the most socially disadvantaged groups in Bangladesh, Jagorani Chakra’s Brothel Children’s Human Rights Program has established a residential centre where these children are protected from sex related exploitation, disease and discrimination and have the opportunity for education and assimilation into society as well adjusted young adults.
