WHY THE RIGHT TO HEALTH SERVICES ARE DENIED TO WOMEN WORKING AS
SEX WORKERS IN BANGLADESH?
CASE STUDY PREPARED BY IVONNE CAMARONI FOR THE PENN-UNICEF SUMMER
PROGRAM ON ADVANCES IN SOCIAL NORMS AND SOCIAL CHANGE
INTRODUCTION:
The case study intends to analyze the social norms underpinning the limited access women
working as sex workers in Dhaka have to regular reproductive health services provided in
the public or private for profit services in Bangladesh.
The analysis of this specific example of denial of women dignity may contribute to a better
understanding on the urgent need of having a better understanding and application of a
human right principles in the HIV programme to maximize the impact of the high medicalized
approach that currently dominate the national response to HIV not only in Dhaka but in many
other part of South Asia.
HIV spread along the fault lines of failing development such as poverty, gender inequality
and limited access to basic services such as health and education. Development gaps
increase people’s susceptibility to HIV and aggravate the impact of the epidemic. Therefore,
it cannot be seen as an isolate health problem but rather in the context of a right based
approach to development.
BACKGROUND:
Bangladesh is the most density populated country in the world with a population of 130
million. Most people live in the rural areas (77%) but there is a continuous migration to urban
areas. About 39% of the population is below 15 year of age. Infectious diseases still
dominate the disease burden as a result of overpopulation, malnutrition and poor hygiene
and sanitary conditions
The first case of HIV was diagnosed in Bangladesh in 1989. It is estimated that there are 12
million people living with HIV in the country. Bangladesh formed a National AIDS Committee
in 1985, established a National AIDS Control Programme in 1996 and adopted a National
Policy on HIV in 1997. In 2000 the Government entered an agreement with the World Bank
and UK Department for International Development to expand activities for HIV prevention
with the focused on people with high risk behaviours such as those buying and selling sex
and those using drugs.
1
The majority of HIV infections in Asia are sexually transmitted. Therefore, women selling sex
represent one of the most vulnerable groups for HIV. This is of particular concern in
Bangladesh as the reported average of clients per week is 18.8 – one of the highest rates of
client turnover in Asia. The overall prevalence of HIV among women working as sex workers
is less than 0.3% compared with 0.1% overall rate in the country as a whole.
Other groups of the population that are vulnerable for HIV in Bangladesh are those using
drugs and men buying or selling sex. However, this case study is focused on women
working in brothels
THE CONTEXT
There are 14 brothels in the country with more than 4000 sex workers living and working
there. Brothels are complexes of huts or houses where women live and receive clients.
Usually run by former sex work it may be seen as offering protection to women but at the
time stark their segregation form the mainstream society.
The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act makes it illegal to manage a brothel or to buy, sell or
live off a woman. However, according to the law, working in a brothel is allowed providing
that women register for licenses with a magistrate court staying they are working in the
brothel on their own will and they are over eighteen.
However, the system of affidavit is a profitable instrument for many men who usually prepare
the documentation on behalf of the girls and women they may have bought from their
families or trafficked from rural areas to the brothel with false promises of marriage or work.
The lawyers, notary public and police officers are also involved in the affidavit process and
extract considerable financial benefits of it.
These are different categories of sex workers in the brothel, Chukris (bonded girls); Bharatia
(independent); Shardarni (madams) and Gharwali / Bariwali. The mashi’s or old sex workers
are also seen in these brothels as house maid or eye keepers on the bonded sex workers.
Bonded sex workers are young and the most marginalized population in brothel community.
The living conditions on the brothel are appalling, with lack of or limited access to safe
drinking water, sanitation facilitates, and electricity supply.
In 1999 police evicted the residents of two mayor brothels near Dhaka and many sex
workers were arrested during eviction and compulsory tested for HIV despite the provision in
the law against mandatory HIV test.
A 16 years-old girl was found positive; she was
detained in a government hospital in Dhaka and released first after 6 months due to the
intervention of an international nongovernmental organization with which she was later on
employed as a peer educator.
2
After the closure of the brothels many of the women were force to work in the streets
However, local regulations as the Metropolitan Police Act prohibit soliciting another person in
public for the purpose of prostitution. Therefore, women working in the street are at risk of
facing harassment by police.
The National AIDS and STD Programme has responded to the emerging epidemic in the
country thought HIV programmes focused in the groups of the population with high risk
behaviour. The programmes addressing the needs 9as perceived by the government)
comprise a variety of components such as prevention and treatment of other sexually
transmitted diseases, distribution and promotion of condom, behavioural change
communication activities and outreach work through peer educator approach However, the
needs of sex workers go beyond treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and their
expectation is to receive a variety of services for them and their children. Many of those
needs are not covered in the HIV response as the programme is managed by the Ministry of
Health. On the other hand, women working as sex workers or their children are usually not
included in other development programme such as micro credits, informal education, etc,
due to the social stigma attached to their livelihood.
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTS IN WHICH SOCIAL NORMS RELATED TO SEXUAL TRADE DEVELOP:
Using epidemiological language to blaming the women: Traditionally, in the HIV national
responses in South Asia, women working as sex workers are seen as a vector of infection,
as the core groups through whom the epidemic is spread and perpetuated. Men buying sex
are seen as ‘bridge’ population that will carry over the infection to the ‘general population’ by
which it is implied that women working as sex workers are not a part of the general
population. Few women have freely elected sex trade as their preferred livelihood, but the
majority has been forced into sex work by acute poverty, physically coerced or sold into the
sex trade. Women are categorized as sex workers and therefore their multiple identifies as
mothers, doters, neighbours,. etc are not longer seen but they are identified only by their
livelihood, as that is what many people believe matter from the epidemic point of view . They
are not perceived as human beings with aspirations, dreams and hopes but only as the
object of a condom promotion campaign. This has also resulted in the aberration of referring
to ‘child sex workers or child prostitute’’ instead of talking about children commercially
sexually abuse.
I. Women as ‘target’: the language used in HIV programmes is not always in
concordance with a right approach. It talks about ‘target interventions for SW, IDU,
MSM” when referring to prevention activities addressing the needs of people with high
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risk behaviours. By using acronyms (SW= sex workers, IDU=injecting drug users and
MSM: men having sex with men, PLWH= people living with HIV) the persons behind
the acronyms are to some extent dispossessed of their quality of human being. By
talking about target interventions, those whose needs the programme are supposed to
address are regard as passive receptor of the benefits of the programme rather than
agents capable of identifying their needs and actively participate in the design of ‘their’
programme.
II. Looking where the light is and by doing so perpetuating myths: Data collection for
different surveys is usually collected where programmes are implemented and among
those who are reached by the prevention programme. Women whose clients are from
well off group and their clients are usually left off of surveys as they are difficult to
reach. Therefore, the available data refers mainly to women working in brothel or in the
streets and men working as rick saw puller or drug users. The selection bias
contributes to perpetuate the myth of poor people having weak character and therefore
indulging themselves questionable behaviours
III. Deprivation of women’s dignity: Until few years ago, it was common that women living
in brothel were not allowed to wear shoes when leaving the brothel, so the community
could easily identified them when they were out of the perimeter of the brothel. It has
also been common that women working as sex workers are denied their burial rights or
the right of their children to be register as the name of father have to be provided at the
moment of registration. In addition, they are not having easy access to other services
in the community including health and education for their children
‘I am a woman, I have a right to live like other women. But my identity is as a sex
worker and not as a human being’ Jahan H , quoted in Human Right Watch Report
‘Why should I use a condom with you? You are not my wife. I don’t care about your
children’’ Client of a sex worker quoted in Human Right Watch Report (page 21)
IV. Gender inequality: In spite of the improvement on Gender Development Index1, the
majority of women still lack access to land, education2, employment opportunities and
inheritance and their health and nutrition needs are not met adequately. Women social
subordination makes them more vulnerable to poverty. The proportion of ultra poor and
extreme poor is higher for female-headed households
In addition, values related to masculinity, results in a general tolerance for men who
have pre or extra marital relations while the same behaviour among women is strongly
1
2
GD in 2004 was 110 among 174, which represents an increase of 13 positions since 1999
Male adult literacy rate (15+ ) 56% compare with 43% female adult literacy rate.
4
condemned and penalized. Adolescents and youth male are often encouraged by their
older relatives to buy sex before marriage to meet what is considered as natural sexual
needs. The same prerogative is not granted to female adolescents and youth but on
the contrary it is expected that they will remain virgin until they get married and after
they will be faithful to their husbands. The sexual needs of women are not recognized
but women are seen as having sex to please their spouses and not for their own needs
Therefore, women who are having multiple partners may be regarded as sinner and
not having the same rights of other human being. Therefore, girls who are
commercially sexually exploited and women working as sex workers are stigmatized
and discriminated probably by the very same men who buy sex from them.
Women are seen as commodities, bought as wife for the family’s son or bought by men
for sexual pleasure. Lazeena, in a study on romantic relationship among youth in
Dhaka found that some male youth had their first sexual encounters with their sister-inlaw while their elder brother were working abroad. It can be assumed that in a family
structure that is closed controlled by parents and parents in law, those kind of
encounters happen with the implicit acceptation of the family as they seen the sister-inlaw as a commodity to be used to meet the needs of the family whatever those needs
may happen to be
V. Gender-based violence: Bangladesh law prohibits discrimination against women
through legislation such as the Dowry Prohibition Act, the Cruelty to Women Law, and
the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. However, the enforcement of the
law remains weak. In addition, many people are not aware of the laws, or if they are
aware, they may be reluctant to denounce violations of the law due to fear or shame.
Coercive sex is not an offense in Bangladesh and it is considered as a private matter
Violence within the family remains the most under-reported crime in Bangladesh social
structures that force woman into passive acceptance of violence In a study conducted
by UNFPA (2005) it was shown that 2/3 of the women included in the survey reported
that they were subjected to physical abuse during their married life3 ..
Violence exposes women to rape (in and out of their marriage) and to internal and
external traffic to force them to work in the sex trade. Adolescent girls are particularly
vulnerable to violence, particularly rape. Among the cases of rape reported in 2001,
58% of victims were below 18, while 21 % among them were less than 12 years old.
They are also exposed to commercial sexual exploitation. The lack of birth registration
3
UNFPA.(2005) Baseline Survey for Assessing attitudes and practices of male and female members and in laws
towards gender based violence .
5
makes hard to establish the accurate age of girls and consequently, the entry of minors
in brothels and sex trade is difficult to challenge.
VI. Abuse of authority from policemen: In a survey conducted by Transparency
International in 2002, the police was ranked as the most corrupt public institution in
Bangladeshi Police routinely used torture, beating and other forms of abuse while
interrogating suspects Several testimonies of abuse are reported in the Human Watch
Report ‘Raging the Vulnerable’ii showing the perception of the police and other people
that women working as sex workers are less than human and they have not the right to
refuse having sex with them. According to the testimonies collected for the report,
many women have been abducted and rapes in police stations, house of police officer
and public place by police and their friends. They have also been subjected to violence
by mastan the local term use for muscle men that usually are backed by politician who
use them in their own political campaigns
VII. Poverty: Important progresses have been made in Bangladesh, as shown by the
improvement on the Human Poverty Index4 .However, 44.2 of the people live below the
poverty line and the inequality has increased as shown by the trend of the Gini
coefficient
5
the top five per cent of the population received nearly 19% of national
income while the bottom 40% received only 17%. Poverty forces people to adopt
survival strategies that may put them at risk of contracting HIV infection and force
women to sell the only asset they may have, i.e. their bodies As unregulated and illegal
activity, the power of women to negotiate their working conditions and their protection
to work related hazard are more than limited
VIII. Migration: Mobility is not per se a risk factor for HIV. However, migrants may be more
vulnerable due to the loss of their known environment, including family and social
network. The alienation may be even worse for those who migrate to other region in
the country with different language and cultural values. Urban population has been
growing rapidly from 19% in 1991 to 23% in 2001. The pattern of migration in Dhaka
has changed; most of the migrants earlier were single male, while now there is an
increased migration of single women.6 In a society where traditionally married women
were confined in their houses and female children were married to ensure purity, the
migration of single female is a new phenomenon that has imposed a quick transition in
social norms. Young women migrating to Dhaka or other cities to working in garment
4
HDI has increased from 0,389 in 1990, to 0.493 and 0.543 in 2000 an 2007 respectively. Human Development
Report 2009, UNDP
5 Gini Coefficient prior to 1991-1993 for urban areas 0,30-0,32 and 0,25 for rural areas. In 2000, urban areas 0,41
and rural 0,28
6 Rahman A, and al.(2005) Realizing the potential of children living in Metropolis Dhaka , presented at workshop
on 25 october 2005
6
sector are exposed not only to sexual harassment in their work place but also are at
high risk to enter the sexual trade as the only way to complement their low income.
IX. Trafficking: Human rights monitors estimated that more than 20,000 women and
children are trafficked annually. Most trafficked persons are forced to work into the sex
industry, domestic labour or hazardous labour. A study has shown that among the
trafficked children 28% were from extremely poor, 38% poor and 19% marginalized
households. Majority of them were working (30%) or seeking work (42%) when a
trafficker recruited them.
THE ACTORS INVOLVED

Women working in the sex trade and their pimps

Health care providers: doctors nurses and others working in the health facilities

Communities using the services

Communities in general

Law enforcement authorities: police, judges, law makers
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL DILEMMA FACED BY MANY WOMEN BEFORE ENTERING THE SEX TRADE:
Several studies in Bangladesh and other low income countries have shown that usually
women do not enter the sex trade as their free choice but they are pushed to do so mainly
due to poverty.
The individual dilemma faced by many women coming for poor families is that by staying at
home she would become a burden for the family as her family could not afford paying for her
dowry and therefore her chances of getting married will be very low. As a result, she may be
prepared to take the risk of migrating as single female to Dhaka to work in the garment
factory or as a domestic helper not only to support her family but also to save for her dowry.
When alone, she will be confronted with a harder reality than expected, and she will almost
immediately face a social dilemma.
She believes that all the other women in the work place accept the sexual harassment of
their supervisor. If she does not accept, she would be penalized or dismissed. Harassment
at work place may pave the way for changing on the livelihood strategy: in order to complete
her meagre income in the factory, she may get involve occasionally in transactional sex and
eventually may move to a full time work as sex work. This social dilemma may be supported
by pluralistic ignorance as she may be accepting what she thinks others accept as normal
despite her dislike for the situation. Many other women may be in the same situation as they
do not openly discuss what may be considered a shame. A case of pluralistic ignorance that
may be address by open the dialogue among workers from same work place
7
Finally, for many women, the ‘luxury’ of having individual or social dilemma does not even
exist as they are sold to the brothel by their families or trafficked under false promises of
work in other sector or even worse of marriage. For this group of women there is not a
choice.
SOCIAL DILEMMAS FACED BY WOMEN WHO ARE ALREADY WORKING AS SEX WORKERS AND BY
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS:
If a women working as sex worker concealed her profession when seeking health services in
order to avoid being harassed she will gain access but the stigma against sex workers will
remain. She will only change her behaviour when she trust all the other women will do the
same and instead of shaming over their livelihood, they will collectively fight against stigma
For health care providers, the main concern is to ensure the reputation of their clinics is
maintained. If the clinic is patronized by women from the brothel, other clients may decide to
shift to other clinics. They think that the income lost from not having the women from brothel
is largely neutralized by keeping the constant flow of other clients. Therefore they do not
provide services to women from brothel as they think all the other practitioners do the same.
They may shift to a different praxis only if they know all the other will do the same.
The dilemma faced by health care providers is equilibrium of prisoner’s dilemma (figure 1)
while the one faced by women represents Nash equilibrium of coordination games (figure 2)
FIGURE 1: Social dilemma phased by health care providers
Accept
Accept
Do not
accept
Do not accept
Accept
S, S
W, B
B, W
T, T
If one health care provider do not accept women from the brothel while the others do, s/he
will get not only the regular clients but also the clients from other clinics that do not want to
continue seeking in clinics where sex workers are also seeking services. It will be the best
option for the selfish one.
If everybody accepts, women from brothels will come but some of the regular client won’t
come, therefore it is the second best option. If nobody accept women from the brothel, they
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will retain all the regular clients, but will lose the potential income from clients from the
brothel, therefore it is the third best option not all the regular clients will come
If they do not accept women from the brothels, they will get regular clients but not women
from the brothel
FIGURE 2: Social dilemma faced by women working in the brothels
Declare profession
Declare
profession
Do not
declar
e
Do not declare
B, B
W, T
T, W
S, S
If the women from brothels have a coordinated and collective action of advocacy and
dialogue with the clinics, in the long term they will receive without stigma, i.e. the best option
for all of them. However, if they do not declare their profession, they will receive services but
the stigma against sex workers will remain unchallenged
EXPECTATIONS SUPPORTING THE ANALYSED SOCIAL NORM:
The role play by expectations in supporting social norms has helped differentiate between
social norms, convention and descriptive norms. The conformity to a social norm is always
conditional upon the expectation of what the relevant other’s will do (Bicchieri & Muldon) 7
EMPIRICAL EXPECTATIONS:
Empirical expectation reflects what people expect others will do in the same situation
although it may not reflect their preferences. Due to the socioeconomic background many
women come from and the gender inequality prevailing in the Bangladeshi society women
may be discriminated already before they start selling sex and hence they may be used to
be considered as having less value than others. Their livelihood will further contribute to
stigmatization but also to self discrimination as they perceived their work as ‘bad and dirty’.
The violence they are subjected to from both police and pimps reinforce their self
devaluation
Women working in brothels believe they do not deserve getting services from the clinics.
When young women come to the brothel they observe other women are not going to the
7
Bicchier Cristina and Muldoon Ryan. Social Norms, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Course literature)
9
health care settings and therefore they may think they are not entitled to the services due to
the kind of work they have. After sometime in the brothel they will internalize that as a
normal praxis and convey the message to the new young women joining the brothel.
It could be assumed that due to the traumatic experience of being trafficked or sold by their
family they need to quickly adopt what they perceive as the prevailing social norms in their
new place. They have a psychological need to conform to a set of shared norms in the
brothel as a strategy to keep their mental health. They feel they do not deserve a better
treatment from the gate keepers in the brothel, the clients or the police as they may feel
guilty for the kind of work they are engaged in. They may soon or later internalize the
perception of others that they have less value that other people (negative socialization?)
Until recently, women living in brothels were force to conform to norms of separation
imposed by outsiders as the prohibition of wearing shoes outside the brothels. Women need
the group to validate their identity and therefore they will conform to the norms. As stated by
Tajefel (1981)8 part of an individual self concept derives from his knowledge of his
membership of a social group together with the value and emotional significance attached to
that membership.
Health care providers think they should not provide services to women working in the
brothels. They think there are special NGO run clinics in some of the brothel where women
receive services. Therefore, they believe other health care facilities in the area are not
providing services to women working as sex workers as they think it is the responsibility of
the national HIV programme to cater for their needs.
Alternatively, they may consider the work women do as unmoral and therefore have ethical
reservations in providing services to them. They believe all the other providers feel in the
same way
NORMATIVE EXPECTATIONS:
Normative expectations reflect the belief that a relevant number of people in a given
population conforms to the norm in a they feel an specific situation or that a sanction will be
the result of not conforming with the norm.
Women are not comfortable coming to the health facilities due to real or self perceived
discrimination by health care providers and the public attending the facilities. They think
people consider they are sinner due to the work they are doing and that they will be met with
8
Tajfel, H (1981) Human groups and social categories. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Quoted in
BicchierI & Muldoon, pag 17)
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discrimination and harassment from the staff in the clinics and they believe the health care
workers are expecting that them seek services somewhere else
Health care providers think other clients will refuse to come to their health care settings if
they know sex workers are also coming there. They believe other clinics are not willing to
receive women from the brothels.
HOW TO CHANGE THE CURRENT SOCIAL NORM SO WOMEN WORKING IN THE BROTHELS CAN
RECUPERATE THEIR DIGNITY?
Norms emerge from expectation and the origin of the expectation is based on the scripts.
The analysis of how the scripts resulting in a discrimination and denial of the dignity for
women working as sex workers is a very complex one and its analysis beyond the scope of
this case study. However, a in-depth analysis of the historical science of social norms that
result in the emergence of stigma is crucial if a comprehensive and right based approach is
to be used in HIV prevention programmes among women selling sex.
Having as a guiding principle that all human being are born free and equal in dignity and
rights (Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights), the overall goal should be to move
away from social norms that contribute to infringe the human rights of the women involved in
sex trade and support the process that will result in the development of new social norms in
which the dignity of women is respected.
We need to understand why the current social norms are followed, who gains from that and
who the losers are we need to understand who are those who have a conditional preference
but do not agree with that but follow just as a norm. Some of the required steps in that
process as shortly describe below.
Recategorization: It is central to understand what the categories that matter are, what the
ones that may need to be changed and how to change those. The recategorization of
women working in brothels will contribute to give back their personhood.
‘I am a woman, I have a right to live like other women. But my identity is as a sex worker
and not as a human being’ Jahan H , quoted in Human Right Watch Report
The language used is not always neutral but may convey values and contribute to further
stigmatization and the reinforcement of prevailing social norms. When referring to women
working in brothels as sex workers, they may not longer be perceived as women, mothers,
spouses, dotters, etc, but only categorize based on their livelihood. In the context of HIV
prevention instead of talking about people engage in high risk behaviour or more specifically
about people who have unprotected sex with multiple sexual partners (which will include
both women and men), the term of high risk group is used, implying that belonging to the
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group is what matters instead of social and individual behaviours. Rehabilitation of sex
workers and core group of the epidemic are other example of a value-laden
In many countries in Africa transactional sex is relatively common as survival strategy but ,
women do not identify themselves as sex workers. Therefore, at the beginning of the HIV
epidemic, ti was difficult for them to understand that the HIV prevention messages focusing
on sex workers were also meant for them.
Women selling sex should be seen as human being and as part of the solution of the HIV
epidemic rather than as their responsible. Men should be seen as part of the equation and
equality responsible to control the epidemic and protect themselves, the women from whom
they are buying services and their own children and spouses.
Recategorization of masculinity is also important to move away from social norms tolerating
accepting pre and extramarital sexual intercourse among men but reproving the same
behaviour among women and accepting gender based violence. Positive value of being a
responsible manhood should be reinforced.
Community conversation could be conducted to discuss current values attached to the
concept of being a man and whether the values are favourable or not for the achievement of
a society that offer equal opportunities to all their citizen.
Capacity building: it would be important to develop the capacity of women working in
brothels and those profiting from their works (madams, pimps, police, etc) on human right
principles as well as for health care providers, stressing with them the universal right to
access health services. The capacity building plan could be designed using a similar
approach that Torstan in Senegal.
Empowerment of local communities will help them to reclaim their rights to health and
survival as demonstrated by women working in Sonargachi brothel in Kolkata where they
have committed themselves to demand the use of condom from their clients as the result of
a comprehensive HIV prevention programme implemented initially by an international NGO
but subsequently taking over by the women in the brothel :
Moving from pluralistic ignorance to common knowledge: Organized diffusion
A sequence of initiatives needs to be developed to create a supportive environment,
beginning with interpersonal communication, group/organisation discussions, and then
mechanisms (committees, meetings, etc.) that would bring together a range of involved
players. At community level, approaches such as community discussions, needs based
meetings and drama and folk media could be used.
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Recognizing the role that social network can play in changing expectations and hence social
norms, it would be necessary to analyze who is talking with whom and on what in both
brothels and health care providers. As part of the social network mapping, trendsetter will be
identified
Women living and working in brothels have a limited interaction with people or networks
outside the brothels. There are some women that may be more influential than others based
on their personal skills to communicate but also based on their experiences in the brothel or
other settings where they are working.
Public commitments
The role of the police in the community as guardian of the rights of every citizen, women,
men, children should be discussed in open forum and among policemen. The police as
institution should promote a public commitment of citizen friendly behaviour among their
members.
The creation of a locally supportive environment has to begin by ensuring that the practices,
attitudes and values of the staff of the projects is non-exploitative, respectful and supportive.
The staff and workers had to provide strong role models for the behaviour that they seek to
promote and advocate to others.
Only then could they effectively build political and
community support. This requires the development of self awareness, values orientation
and skills building processes for staff and workers, including training, group discussions and
community monitoring. This can be complemented and reinforced by the development of a
code of conducts to which all the staff is committed
Public incentives and awards
Providing financial incentives to the clinics may appear as an easy solution. However, it may
backfire by reinforcing that women from brothel have to buy their rights to be served in the
clinics and therefore the care health providers will receive more money. In addition, using
financial incentive to change the norms may not change the quality of services or the
derogatory attitude of health care workers, The difference will be that now they are
‘compensated’ for that
A quality assurance system could be developed and agreed between the project, the women
and the health care providers. The monitoring team should include women from the brothel .
Only number of women from brothels attended won’t be enough as indicator as the quality of
care is essential in all the cases and specifically in this case to avoid further stigmatization
and harassment to women by the staff.
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As mentioned by Gillespie and Melching iii navigational capacity (the capacity to look ahead
and see the possibilities and potentials) moving from what is and what could be involved
participant in a process of inquiry that moved from the concrete, to the intermediary level to
the abstract moral domain is crucial in the process of moving from projects addressing
immediate causes of the problem towards a holistic human right based approach.
Transparency International ‘(2002) Corruption in South Asia
Human Right Watch (2003) ‘Ravaging the Vulnerable: Abuses against persons at high risk of HIV infection in
Bangladesh’
iii
The transformative Power of Democracy and Human Rights in Non formal Education: the case of Tostan .
Adult Education Quarterly Online First, March 26,2010
i
ii
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