Y Merina Chishi
Dimapur| September 6
The recent figures indicating the high rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state is alarming. It is learned that a lot of cases contributing to the spread of the virus are people who are least ready to handle the epidemic. Migrant workers, truck drivers, commercial sex workers (CSW) and their clients are some of the major contributing factors leading to the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI).
Assessing specific reasons for the spread of HIV results in one major concern, the large external workforce in the state, and what is driving them into the state. In this situation, one of the most worrying factors is the impact of development on the spread of HIV/AIDS, and the failure to address it from a gender perspective.
Nagaland, especially Dimapur is growing by leaps and bounds. Everyday dozens of infrastructural developments are carried out within the city. While most high-level jobs are carried out by locals, migrant labourers who carry out manual work in such projects are most vulnerable to HIV. It is worrying because most of these unskilled labourers are ignorant in their attitude towards HIV.
Most skilled workers and semi-skilled workers working in construction sites are generally uneducated. They are less aware about HIV and seek the services of CSWs as they are away from their families for a long time. Moreover, due to the immobile nature of their jobs, added to their ignorance, migrant workers stand carriers of the virus to other people. Sadly there is no mechanism to monitor the movement of HIV-infected migrant workers in the state.
CSWs are also mostly migrants, although reports now suggest that 50 % of CSWs in Dimapur and other interior places of the state are Naga women. These local women infect their partners when they go back home. Naga women working alone in small hotels and providing paid sex along the highway are also exposed to the risks as mobility increases, reports suggest. Although displacement due to development is not known in the state, the increasing standard of living has propelled many Naga women to resort to flesh trade.
With development, trade increases. Everyday an average of 500 to 600 trucks enter the state. These inter-state truckers possess high risk behaviour, thus attributing to the rising cases of HIV. Reports indicate that cases of STIs are increasing rapidly and their immobile nature of work only makes the risks greater. An NGO in Dimapur takes out intervention and advocacy programmes with truckers, but how far it has been able to achieve its target is uncertain. For such NGOs, the problem is compounded by the constant changing of drivers. It is stated by the NGO that each year, about 25% of drivers are new, thus, bringing in new cases of HIV and STIs.
An assessment carried out last year by the Transports Cooperation of India states that most truckers are in close contact with commercial sex workers, making them more vulnerable to the virus.
Gender discrimination also magnifies the AIDS epidemic. Although Naga society proclaims to be egalitarian, most women still suffer in the hands of their spouses. NGO workers say that most Naga CSWs are driven to work for sex; it is not something they do out of choice. The inability to raise their voice socially also disempowered Naga women. Rape and sexual exploitation by husbands is not uncommon either, putting women at greater risks. Reports from various NGOs indicate that such incidences are on the rise among the elite class — kept under wraps — but brewing.
Improved transportation has also resulted in more youths seeking jobs outside their hometowns. Free flow of drugs and alcohol increases the risks and many youngsters also indulge in paid sex. More and more young people have become involved in risk-taking behavior, resulting in 80% of HIV cases resulting from sexual behavior. Better mobility has enabled many men to seek for paid sex despite having their wives at home.
