“There are still people who do not prefer using condoms while indulging in paid sex due to their personal prejudices,” said S Rajyam, a Hyderbad-based sex worker.
Rajyam (33), who visited the Red Ribbon Express (RRE) at Secunderabad railway station on Monday said, “ I have been a sex worker for the last 15 years and saw many people refusing to use condoms. Moreover, they are ready to pay 50 percent more for it.”
Many sex workers including MSM (men who indulge in paid sex with men) and transgenders visited the Red Ribbon Express, an exhibition train plying across the country to spread awareness on HIV and AIDS, which reached Secunderabad railway station on Monday.
Asked about the safe sex practices they follow, many of them reiterated that personal prejudices of their clients were preventing them from following safe sex practices. “People should be taught about safe sex practices, because many of them are still ignorant on the issue,” they said, adding that the exhibition train is definitely an eye opener on the high risk of practising unsafe sex.
Special chief secretary Pankaj Dwivedi declared the Red Ribbon Express open for public at platform no 10 on Monday in the presence of the officials of the AP State AIDS Control Society (APSACS), Hyderabad district medical and health department and the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).
The RRE, which is to stay at Secunderabad railway station for two days, will be open for public viewing between 10 am and 6 pm. The train has eight exhibition coaches with awareness games on touch screens and video clippings on issues like AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, reproductive and child health services, general health and hygiene. In one coach, counselling on health matters is offered.