Himalayan News Service

Dhading, January 11

Ten women have died of AIDS in Dhading district in the last five years and two are living with it, data revealed.

A research undertaken by the General Welfare Foundation (GWF) along the Mauwa River to Nag Dhunga section of the Prithvi Highway also revealed that about 300 women were involved in flesh trade, there.

Representatives from the GWF visited roadside hotels, riverbanks and private homes and found that 141 hotel owners and 36 housewives including some 100 more women and three school girls were involved in the trade.

Though the customers and traders use condoms, they are not aware of the proper use of condoms and some were not able to afford them, the research revealed. Of the women involved in the trade, 92 were affected with sexually transmitted diseases of which 70 per cent were infected with gonorrhea and syphilis.

Women aged between 17 to 20 were found to be involved in the business and 44 per cent of the total were unmarried and 23 per cent professionals sexworkers.

Majority of the customers for these sexworkers are drivers, conductors, labourers and some police and army men. Some long-route passengers are also found to be their customers.

Many of these customers are drunk when they engage in sexual relations. The study revealed that about 50 per cent of the customers were married.

Shambhu Jung Karki, the field coordinator of the GEF said that these women hailed from Dhading, Gorkha, Makwanpur and Kathmandu.