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Chieh Li
Dana Murphy
Writing 39C
25 July 2014
Social Vaccine: Knowdoms can prevent the infection of HIV

A girl sitting in a small room crowded
with other girls that vary in age. She wonders
as a men walks towards her. Where are they
taking me? Why am I holding hands with this
unknown man? What are they going to do me?
These sort of questions are what is running
through trafficked girls upon being lost or
hopeless. Human trafficking is kidnapping a person without consent and traffickers uses the
person for exploitation purposes such as prostitution (UNODC 2
nd
paragraph). Females are
targeted by these traffickers. The girls that are trafficked are often forced to work in the sex
industry where they unwillingly sacrifice their body for the benefit of money. This is especially
common in the third world countries. The girls are often beaten and raped when they do not
comply with the pimp who controls the girls. However, those are not the worst things that can
happen to them. Once they are tested positive for HIV or any other form of sexual transmitted
diseases, they are often abandoned on the spot (Bales 221-212). Why not just solve sex
trafficking in the first place, so the spread of HIV through sex industries will completely stop?
The complexity of sex trafficking is beyond the ability of an individual government both dealing
Figure 1: An emotional video discussing the
harsh facts about HIV. (Truth | HIV/AIDS
Awareness)
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with social and cultural problems. Then, it becomes reasonable to turn our focus on preventing
HIV within the sex industries. Why is this relevant? The truth is that HIV possess a threat to any
country. For example, in the US there are about 1.1 million people infected and one sixth are
unaware of their infection (CDC fast facts). As you can see, anyone can be a victim of HIV.
Moreover, readers must first understand: the background and the basic information regarding
HIV, how Sex workers limited knowledge of HIV and why the inability to access free condoms
are the primary reasons why HIV is spreading quickly within the sex industries?
When did it invade my body? After every deal between a male client and a female sex
worker, both participants might take away more than what he and she thinks. This mysterious
plague first caught its attention in the United States of America. Based on AIDS.gov, five
homosexual males were healthy at the time; however, they suddenly all had a rare infection that
normally wouldnt be a problem. This [indicates] that their immune systems are not working
(AIDS.gov). By the end of 1985, one HIV case has been reported from each region of the world
(AIDS.gov). So, HIV first introduces itself to the world in a shocking fashion (AIDS.gov). What
is HIV? First, HIV is an abbreviation for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Based on its name,
the virus specifically targets human. In Fact, it has a high selection for the Helper T-cells in our
Body. T-cells are cells that makes up our immune systems and fights off infectious diseases.
Overtime, HIV uses the T-cells as a host to replicate more of its own, and as a result, the amount
of the T-cell decay over a long period of time. When the T-cell count gets below a certain
threshold, (AIDS.gov) HIV infection can lead to AIDS, the final stage of HIV infection
(AIDS.GOV). AIDS stands for Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome, and at this stage, all the
healthy T-cell are destroyed, and the person has no more resistance towards any kind of diseases.
According to AIDS.gov, the methods of transmitting HIV are: sexual contact, injection drug use,
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pregnancy, child birth, breast feeding, and blood transfusion. Sexual contact is one of the
common methods that HIV are transmitted between two people. Anyone who practice
unprotected sex are vulnerable to HIV infection. Usually, prostitutes in the developing world
often participate in unsafe sexual contact with their clients. A different form of Prostitution
where a pimp controls a number of girls are often referred as trafficked girls (Bales 211-214).
Together, the sex industries around the world are spreading HIV in an uncontrollable fashion.
HIVs history and effects will enable the
readers to understand how sex industries
are promoting this disease.
The lack of knowledge about
HIV is one of the biggest reasons why
this disease is spreading lighting fast
within the realm of sex trafficking. Why is HIV still spreading from people to people if the
information about this transmission method is distributed publicly? The answer is countries that
are known for sex trafficking and sex industries often are lacking the most up-to-date
information on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Just like in Dandonas research
High risk of HIV in non-brothel based female sex workers in India it states the number of
people living with HIV continues to rise despite the fact that effective prevention strategies
exist. Is Ignorance really in the big picture? I believe the answer is yes. FSWs, [Female Sex
Workers], who did not know that HIV could be prevented (Dandona). The research also
indicates that 4966 (74.7%) [of the sex workers] had no schooling. If 70 percent of the sex
workers did not have any form of education, then the word Virus virtually means nothing.
Furthermore, sex workers might disregard the spread of HIV and continue to take out clients
Figure 2: in the study, it shows a graph showing
the correlation of the knowledge of HIV vs the use
of condom. (Dandona)
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which expose the disease to the general public. Researchers and Journalists have interviewed Sex
workers that were in the human trafficking. For example in Kevin Bales article Because She
Looks Like a Child, Siri, a girl from Thailand that was sold into the sex industry, explains long
before she understood prostitution she knew about HIV(209). Many girls that are bought by the
traffickers were completely unaware of the disease HIV. I believe not all of trafficked girls were
fortunate like Siri who knew about HIV before entering this industry; some of them might have
realized HIV and development of AIDS after they have acquired the disease. Adults at least have
the knowledge of dealing with the real world problems. What about young children that havent
gone through any education yet? In Jay Silvermans research paper on HIV Prevalence and
Predictors of Infection in Sex-Trafficked Nepalese Girls and Women, he states that Younger
girls also may have more limited knowledge concerning sexual protection and risk for HIV
(504). These young girls have never being expose to the harsh world and as well as enough
knowledge about HIV. This is why the spread of HIV continues and more and more people gets
infected. Knowledge is a necessary ability to have in fighting against this disease. However, sex
traffickers are not concerned about the potential threat towards the spread of HIV globally. These
girls are brought into the industries without any awareness of this disease, and the spread of HIV
will starts to snowball out of control. The necessary knowledge is needed to slow down the
spread of HIV; however, I am afraid the girls are not getting the information, and they are also
controlled by drug injections from the traffickers. In S. Sarkars research on Rapid spread of
HIV among injecting drug users in northeastern states of India, he states Injecting females
were mainly commercial sex workers, as found in studies conducted during 1990 in Manipur.
Recent studies of groups of injectors at Manipur suggest that female injectors are increasing.
injections will only promote the spread of HIV when it is also used to control the female sex
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workers that are already lacking knowledge on this issue. Furthermore, one of the solutions that
the traffickers are doing to counter the spread of HIV is to target young virgins that have not
yet being expose to HIV. This is due to the male clients demonstrated preferences for younger
girls and virgins based on fear of HIV (Sarkar). However, this is not even attempt to stop the
spread of HIV, and this is only a temporary stopper. Based on all the research combined, one
common theme appeared. The most effective way is to pass the necessary information regarding
the disease to the sex workers. Education and knowledge are the ideal way of slowing down the
spread of HIV among sex industries.
Aside from preventing of HIV through education and knowledge, one of the more
physical preventions is condoms, but sex workers are not granted to access free condoms. What
is a condom? According to Kidshealth.gov, it says that condom is a thin sheath (usually made of
latex, a type of rubber) that is worn on the penis. A condom is a physical barrier that prevents
genitals from touching each other. Furthermore, cdc.gov mentions that Condoms block
transmission and acquisition of STDs by preventing contact between the condom wearers penis
and a sex partner's skin, mucosa, and genital secretions. A greater level of protection is provided
for the diseases transmitted by genital secretions. Since HIV can be found in the virginal fluid,
condoms can successfully block the transmission through direct contact of the genitals. In other
words, it is the best way to prevent HIV and other sorts of sexually transmitted disease, and why
is the spreading of HIV gotten worse over time? As Dandona states in his research paper, he says
Of the total 6648 FSWs, 6165 (92.7%) had penetrative vaginal/anal sex with at least one client
in the last 15 days, and of these 2907 (47.2%; 95% CI 41.253.2%) reported non-use of condom
with at least one of her last three clients. Almost 50 percent of the sex workers failed to use
condoms when it can prevent diseases such as HIV. Since HIV can spread from people to people,
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of those 50 percent that might have contracted HIV will further transmit HIV to their other
clients that are not using any forms of physical protection. The infection will increase
exponentially. Dandona says that this might be because of there are no access to free condoms
to the sex workers. In fact, this research further states inconsistent use of condom for
penetrative vaginal/anal sex were for FSWs who did not know that HIV could be prevented,
followed by those who did not have access to free condoms in the last 30 days. No access to
free condoms has dramatically increase the vulnerability of HIV victims. In Dandonas study
Nearly half of the FSWs had not used condom consistently with all the clients in this study.
Aside from sex workers not using condoms when it is not given, it also has to do with clients not
willing to participate in protected sexual contact. In Bales article, Siri says she also tries to
insist that her clients use condoms, and in most cases she is successful (Bales 209). In this case,
it is not the sex workers fault for not wanting to prevent HIV rather the clients sometimes does
not prefer to use condom. Based on the research and interviews, HIV infection rate will
definitely be higher than ever as time goes on. The combination of lacking knowledge on the
sexual disease such as HIV and refusing to use condom by both parties are the leading cause of
HIV transmission in the sex industries.
In conclusion, the background information were mentioned first to allow the smooth
transition and understanding about the topic that was discussed. Moreover, knowledge and
protection were heavily discussed with solid evidence to support why HIV is spreading quickly
throughout the sex industries. However only two of the problems regarding HIV transmission
were mentioned, and as one may know this disease is not just one sided. There are numerous
reasons why this disease is spreading so quickly. It is important to not judge the issue from one
aspect of the problem. When handling any type of information, it is best to enter it with an open-
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mind. So, as you can see the spread of HIV is not just their problem rather everyones problem.
As part of the first worlds citizens, it is our duty to help and solve this global issue. What do you
think?














Works Cited
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Silverman, Jay G., Michele R. Decker, and Jhumka Gupta. "HIV Prevalence and Predictors of
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