Sex workers demand licence

hyderabad: on a day when everyone who was somebody was talking about aids and its implications, there were few takers in the city to tackle the problems of sex workers, who fall in the highrisk group. the sex workers of the city, who recently formed an association — chaitanya mahila mandali (cmm) — want the government to issue licences for their trade, mainly to safeguard their health and get spared from harassment by the police and rowdies. speaking to the times of india, cmm secretary m aruna, 33, said when issuing licences to commercial sex workers of sonagachi, kolkata, and kamatipura, mumbai, posed no problem, there should not be any here also. the licence will help us get regular and free health check-ups and some respite from the police and goondas and give us some legal identity, she said. aruna is the leader of sex workers troupe, which on saturday, performed a skit highlighting their problems at ravindra bharati, here, as part of the world aids day celebrations. she said the cmm needs 200 identity cards for its members, who are in dire need of medical attention. we are ready to come out of the highly-abused profession. before that we need ration cards, house sites, free education for the children and a permanent source of livelihood. if the government is helpless to provide the basic requirements, then it should give us licences, said cmm president ramanamma. women empowerment programme in south india (wepsi) state coordinator a uma maheshwari said the licences would definitely give social recognition to the commercial sex workers, who have no other alternative but to fall back on the flesh trade. the women activist said, instead of sermonising them (sex workers) to shun the profession, it is better to give them social dignity and respect by giving them licences. vijaya lakshmi, a health activist, associated with asmita, a women's resource centre, said giving the sex workers licences would give them better access to health by insisting on the use of condoms by clients. the licence would also help them fight for their rights, she added.