Sex workers in Sonagachi (the largest red light area) area of India’s city of Kolkata (Calcutta) have been asked by a welfare NGO which protects the rights of the sex workers, not to offer their services to Africans following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
According to Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a forum of 130,000 sex workers in West Bengal, there are risks involved should the prostitutes come in contact with those infected with Ebola.
DMSC is now training the prostitutes on how to identify and handle Ebola patients.
“According to WHO guidelines, transmission of the virus requires close contact with body fluids such as sweat, saliva, cough of an infected person and also body contact. So we are training the sex workers on how to identify the symptoms,” said Samarjit Jana who runs the programe for DMSC
“We have requested the sex workers not to entertain Africans as it can be a life risk for them if they get infected by the highly contagious Ebola virus causing havoc in some West African countries,” said Mahasweta, a member of the DMSC.
It is not clear what activists will say about this considering the fact that even in Kenya’s national referall hospital, an Indian was found with Ebola symptoms after flying in from Liberia.
SOURCE
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