In India, despite the fact that nearly 3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, the problem is still shrouded in denial and despair.
Sonia Faleiro and Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, a new book by writers from both countries, AIDS Sutra: unknown stories from India.
The authors discuss their report on the HIV epidemic in India and its impact on all sectors of society.
Baginka (Marinka)
Beat them and kick them out)
Sonia FaleiroThe sari smells dry blood.
I brought it closer.
Imagine Savita that night.
She was waiting for a train to go home and three railway police officers dragged her off the platform and kicked her in the face as she distributed condoms to other sex workers.
Her red glass bracelet reveals her wrist.
The blue cotton soaked her blood.
Savita was beaten twice a week by police.
She pays immediately, bribe, every time.
For her, most women would consider rape a "free sexual act "--
The price she paid to avoid arrest or further harassment.
When the request of the police becomes past, Savita changes her place of work.
Hiding in the shadows, keeping the police out of reach of her, she also made it impossible for outreach staff who provided her with free condoms to access HIV prevention efforts.
Savita received only Rs 30 (75 cents)for sex.
If she had to pay for a condom, she would not have a condom so that she could be infected with the HIV that caused AIDS.
Due to the inability to recognize its symptoms and access to the clinic, she will remain in an untested state and continue to work without protection.
Mumbai police are not alone in dealing with street communities.
Their role in HIV transmission is not new --
The link has been documented since the first known AIDS case in Mumbai in late 1980.
However, it was not until now that the police began to question their actions.
This is not a moral issue.
Because if sex workers are victims of the virus, so are their partners.
Including the police.
In 5'10, there is a heart
Savita, 31, is a Turner with a wide face and cheekbones.
She realized this and highlighted her beauty with gold earrings and liquid eyeliner to make her look like an old movie star.
Savita, like me, is an immigrant but from Karnataka.
We arrived in Mumbai about the same time four years ago.
Although she admitted that she didn't make a reservation, we came to make money.
She is doing her best.
She speaks Marathi, which is the language of her customers.
She can speak fluent Hindi.
She also learned new words to label herself.
If she spoke to me when she didn't meet the police for at least 48 hours, she might call herself a "sex worker" and a "social worker ", she was taught by an NGO she worked part-time.
Otherwise, she called herself "randi "--
There is no English equivalent for a Hindi word that so derogatory.
Neither a prostitute nor a prostitute, nor a prostitute.
One day I went to Good ita, a shabby cafe in Oshiwara, where we had tea and shared bhelpuri.
A policewoman walked up to our table and said to her, "I know who you are.
Savita looked at her face.
"I'm not like that anymore.
I am a social worker.
The policewoman smirked.
She leaned over to Savita.
She whispered and walked away calmly.
Immoral TrafficPrevention)Act of 1956 (ITPA)
It is the main regulation of handling work in India.
It is designed to curb recruitment, transportation or sales (
Defined as trafficking)
Sexual behaviour of women and children and punishment of traffickers and economic beneficiaries.
It makes sex work and sex workers a criminal offence, but it is illegal to conduct tenders in "public places.
While the purpose of ITPA is to control human trafficking rather than voluntary work for adults, the police have been more successful in arresting women like Savita.
Human traffickers are part of a complex cross.
It is almost impossible to break and provide the required evidence that the national network is rarely convicted.
However, the arrest of liquidity workers met the requirements of senior officials to meet the prescribed quota.
They deal with complaints from the public and are upset about their presence nearby.
Now, Savita knows the inside of the cell, just as she orders on the kitchen rack.
She talked about the humiliation.
Continuous innovation.
She was told to drink your urine if she asked to go to the toilet.
So wherever she goes, she will carry an empty bottle with her and fill it up before entering the cell.
If she starts her menstrual cycle, she will tear off a dress to protect the woman's humility and put it in her underwear.
The next day she replaced it with another of her Dupa towers.
Long after she was released, the memories kept Savita awake at night.
Her head is as fast as her heart.
Choose between silently accepting abuse from policewomen
Why can a dog find a job but you can't? '—
She will choose to be silent and fight for arrest by standing up for herself.
Savita is also vulnerable to the Mumbai Police Act (1951)
It manages the power of the state and describes its power.
This line is both broad and vague, and everything is illegal from terrible cattle to horses.
Section 110th, or "indecency in public", is used by the police to greatly facilitate and supplement ITPA.
It makes "misconduct" a crime punishable by an arrest and a fine of Rs 1200 ($30).
The definition of "Indec" is at the discretion of the arresting officer.
For example, when a member of the Legislative Assembly is expected to visit, the senior inspector at the station will want the adjacent roads to be clean.
A greedy move is that when the police pass by, sex workers who have been standing on that road for months will be arrested for "misconduct.
The women did not protest or argue.
Okay, prison, the judge is my newspaper, my laptop, my library.
Savita is sometimes unable to pay a fine of Rs 1200.
This is as much as she earns a week.
A policeman told her, "suck it.
She gave him oral sex.
Although Savita's experience is cruel, male sex workers (MSW)
A man who has sex with a man (MSM)
They think this is more the case.
Police get more fun from using their vulnerability to the law.
Like their female colleagues, MSWs works for money.
They may not be gay.
On the other hand, MSMs is very happy for masti cruise.
The social prejudice against homosexuality forced them out of the house and into the darkness of unfamiliar streets.
They are all very old;
Some people are educated and are in a marriage dilemma.
Their sexual tryst takes place in the cruising area, a sharp metaphor for their marginalisation --
Abandoned parks, public toilets.
Article 377 of the Indian criminal code recognizes social prejudice against homosexuality, which is entitled "Unnatural Acts ".
It even makes voluntary sex between adults a criminal offence, and fines and life imprisonment for sodomy.
Prohibition of voluntary sex between adults is as likely to succeed as prohibition of alcohol, and another reality, some people would argue that it is a natural impulse for adults to live.
The ban did not turn Mumbai, the 1940-generation city, into a city with long teeth.
People drink secretly in remote areas.
They put life at risk with fake wine.
They are also open to abuse that now symbolizes the relationship between police and sex workers.
Article 377 was enacted by the UK in the 1800 s, reflecting the existing laws in the UK.
Although India has not changed it since 1967, Britain has legalized homosexuality.
Ashok is an outreach staff member like Savita.
The Education of outreach staff on HIV/AIDS is a link between street communities and NGOs.
They distribute condoms free of charge and provide medical services such as HIV testing.
For Ashok, becoming an outreach worker is an achievement as precious as his own life.
It eliminated some of the horrors of living on the street.
When he explained to other sex workers, his peers how HIV was infected, the 28-year-old looked 5 feet higher than his 5 inch.
He is wearing a temple atmosphere.
His friend called Ashok "bevda" and drank alcohol, which also shows that they also drank and talked about it.
This is not a problem, he assured me.
He has no other bad habits.
He does not smoke, chew tobacco, or engage in unprotected sex.
If he can't get someone to catch him, he must have something to calm him down.
Garbage like Ashok, waiting for customers in the park, being approached by a well
The dressed young man asked, "chalta hai? ' (Coming along? )
Ashok's answer was yes, and the two walked out with their hands.
Waiting for them at the park gate were three or four plainclothes policemen, one of whom immediately grabbed Ashok's groin and squeezed hard.
He said with a smile, "arre is handsome," Ashok screamed painfully.
"I heard you were lovely.
May I try it?
Ashok is not expected to answer this question.
His wallet was taken away and the money was immediately distributed to the police and young people who, according to Mumbai street, were called "smart boys "--
Someone who was blackmailed by the police to do the specific job.
If Ashok takes his bank card with him, he will be sent to the nearest ATM and forced to empty his account.
Ashok will not file a complaint.
If he did, his elderly parents would receive an anonymous phone call to reveal the truth about their son's sexuality and employment --
He kept the secret of fear as carefully as a knife.
Men who have sex with men and MSW are not only targets of extortion, but also targets of sexual assault.
The people I spoke to can't say if their torturers are gay or not.
An AIDS activist sees sexual violence as a punishment.
He told me that female sex workers may be engaged in the oldest occupation in the world, but male sex work is a cultural fault that police cannot accept.
This is beyond their concept of men.
On February, at the police HIV/AIDS sensitivity workshop, a group of inspectors in their thirties were asked about their views on homosexuality.
A young man said with disdain, "Hanko Nahin Manta.
We don't want it.
As long as there are women, why do men have sex with men?
Ashok believes that the people who raped us are all gay.
They pretend to punish us while pleasing themselves.
Sankar Sen, former dean of the National Police Academy, believes that the only solution to abuse is a written complaint.
Non-governmental organizations only talk about this issue, he said.
When asked who should complain to, Sen's answer is open.
There was no one in the station, he said.
We must appoint a liaison between the police and NGOs.
This is the only way of violence.
Can deal with vulnerable officers.
Savita and Ashok are treated as criminals, even if they are innocent --
For example, sitting in a cafe with friends
It is not just that they have committed soliciting crimes in public.
No wonder their frustration is as smooth as sweat.
Or they blame the police for all the problems.
There was a leucorrhea and was not tested for HIV for six months.
For them, sex work is a fragile armor against poverty.
Unable to work on Monday due to police harassment, Savita will have tea on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, even if she is tired or doesn't like the way she tracks the man in the shadows, she will accept an average of more than four customers she expects.
I quickly realized that Savita's enviable beauty was a poor disguise of the basic features she shared with most sex workers --illiteracy (
Or in her case, halfliteracy)
Poverty, there are few opportunities to find a place on the street and in society that cannot be defeated for themselves.
Neither law nor law enforcement recognize the important link between sexual work and survival.
The law allows police to harass sex workers.
The public sees them as carriers of disease and immorality and supports it.
Most sex workers, like stray dogs, either accept abuse without objection or are not aware of it at all.
Now, Savita refuses to talk to the police, which in fact is part of her outreach efforts.
She was surprised to know that some police officers were equally powerless.
Police officer Anant Shirodkar told me if we arrest sex workers they complain about.
The public complained if we don't arrest them.
Politicians complain anyway.
Politicians can advise the police.
From the High Commissioner to the police on the street.
This was done through the offices of the chief minister and the interior minister.
During the period from July 1-20, 2005 to February 28, politicians in Mumbai made 170 proposals for police transfer.
Up to 40% passed.
If a politician decides that upholding the ethics of young people is the mantra of winning the election, then he can, with the help of the police, make sure to harass the young people in the bar on Valentine's Day, and the couple who exchange cards.
The Mumbai Police Act is a useful tool because when "indecent behavior" is an explanation of the problem, the police can choose to be shocked at anything.
However, the relationship between sex workers and the police is not only the enforcement of the law.
This is also a criminal act by some law enforcement officers.
The demand for sex and hafta directly affects the health of about 100,000 sex workers in Mumbai.
I want to know what this khaki cloth is.
Imitation Thunder bagBan-
Dressed in Latty Wilde, women like Savita will come to mind.
"She has to eat, I know," Shirodkar admits with a shrug.
"I feel sorry for her.
I just don't want her to stand by me because I have to take her in.
In fact, police like Shirodkar will not arrest sex workers on the spot.
The police station will soon be crowded;
The files will pile up.
The decision was made by a senior police officer at the police station, who was influenced by his boss, the deputy director of the police station.
He is responsible for the assistant commissioner;
He said to the Commissioner;
In a way, all of this is for politicians.
When senior officials sympathize with sex workers, or think there is no reason to arrest those who return to work almost immediately to increase their workload, unless there is a complaint that ignores the invitation
However, if their arrest quota appears to have not been fulfilled by the end of this month, Constable Shirodkar will be released.
In any case, the threat of arrest gave the police enough influence to extract what they wanted.
I asked Madhav Rao, a senior inspector at the platform of Mumbai's busiest train station, the same question --
His views on sex workers
He replied, "Marlene Ka, Bagan Ka.
They will be defeated and driven away.
Then he wrinkled his face, and I think it was a parody of a woman crying, and he said, "I told my men to beat them in the ass and let them pack their bags.
A policeman knows the plight of a sex worker but knows his duties.
Duty, on the other hand, means attack.
However, when beating sex workers, he not only acts according to his personal views on sex workers, but also takes criminal responsibility himself, like the sex workers who were caught soliciting.
The attitude of the police reflects the society in which they live.
If a regular police officer comes from a small town or village and people usually equate sex work with promiscuity, illness, and illegal behavior, then unless his training tells him something else, bring these emotions to work.
What makes this image dangerous is that the police have the right to act against their prejudices.
People like Rao who equate illegal and immoral will defend the law with their fists.
He will judge the crime and character.
As often happens in India, he will preside over justice outside the courtroom.
As a result, a sex worker was arrested for selling her body, but was slapped for being a bad woman.
She was fined because she was a prostitute and wanted some, but raped.
There is a dangerous passion for this justice, and in the pursuit of it Rao has become a criminal he should be disgusted.
But unlike Savita, who thinks twice before revealing to me that she is a sex worker, or Ashok makes excuses for his work, Rao proudly describes his
It's like we should all do what he does. Why was this?
Why is Rao not worried that I will complain about his behavior in turn?
The answer, of course, is that Rao is a policeman.
As experience has told those who have tested the loyalty guidelines of the unit, one police officer will not easily file a complaint against another police officer.
Police abuse instilled fear of authority in sex workers.
Ashok's friend Munir, a masseur who provides oral sex at a small extra cost, told me that he was stopped at the door when he first tried to enter the police station and asked to come back "tomorrow.
The answer has not changed for a week.
Another time, a policeman who speculated that Munir was illiterate asked him to write down his complaints about police abuse --
"Tell me every detail," he said in a blink of an eye.
Such a reaction would naturally prevent sex workers from approaching and possibly even being honest and respectable police officers.
Rao and those who withdraw hafta and free sex are sure to know that they will not face trial for crimes.
The possibility of this understanding is amazing.
Solutions are necessary for the protection of workers and police.
Sexual assault and connection with sex workers, combined with work injuries, make it easier for police to become infected with HIV than the general population.
The police I spoke to insisted that they no longer asked for "free sex" without condoms because they were afraid of HIV.
Sex workers interviewed for this article refuted this.
Rao has such an opinion for me: "If you give a vaishya [prostitute]a condom?
What if her bag was stolen on the train?
What if the thief was a little boy with a condom?
Then will he go directly to the randi market [
Prostitute marketand have sex?
Will he not be infected with HIV?
So how does a condom help ordinary people?
If more men and women share Rao's confusion about the role of condoms
They cause people to have sex and do not prevent HIV
Then, it is not only the police, but also the society that is in danger.
About 18% of female sex workers in Mumbai and 8% of MSMs are HIV positive.
If they pay money to the police, or they are raped, then HIV may enter the forces and spread it to partners, wives and unborn children --
More people.
Although there is no specific data to support this argument, there are two reports of disclosure.
In 2004, a police co-commissioner told the media that 450 of the nearly 50,000 police officers in Mumbai were HIV positive.
The figures looked low until people realized that the entire force had not been tested and that some numbers were randomly collected within a decade.
It is likely that only a small portion was tested, and the estimate of this 450 represents a very high rate of infection.
It left an undeniable question mark on the health of other forces.
In the same year, 15 of the 150 police officers who were randomly tested for HIV were positive.
There has been no report since and no unified inspection.
This is the practice of almost all government agencies in India.
They believe that mandatory HIV testing can lead to further stigma and discrimination.
Their concerns are not unfounded.
On 1999, a young man was expelled from the Karnataka police force after a positive HIV test.
He has passed the entrance examination but has not started his work yet.
After seeking legal aid, he resumed his work seven years later.
On 2007, an HIV-positive police officer from Andhra Pradesh was denied promotion to a deputy police officer.
Inspector after positive test
His case is on appeal.
Even the police who received a certain amount of support from The Force face problems.
The March revealed that police hospitals in the Nagpada area in central Mumbai have been lacking antiretroviral treatment for more than a month (ART)
Drugs that inhibit HIV replication.
The 300 police officers who allegedly received the art either had to interrupt treatment --
This is usually considered unsafe.
Or change hospitals and force them to reveal their HIV status again.
This is not the choice they should make.
At the end of last year, the Karnataka State Police became the first person in India to implement the workplace HIV/AIDS policy, which recognizes that HIV employees share the rights and responsibility of other staff members.
The additional dg st Ramesh of Karnataka police, who has been a police officer for 32 years, is a pioneering force in policy making.
He told me that you don't have to be a genius to know that AIDS is an important issue in contemporary society.
Therefore, although there is no empirical assessment of the relationship between AIDS and the police, certain factors are taken into account --
Police aggression, their sexual impulses, contact with sex workers, and most importantly, their contact with blood.
This is a logical step.
In Maharashtra, NGOs, with the help of the government, have started various programmes to deal with this issue.
Two of them are of great significance.
In 2006, six training schools in the state launched a pilot programme on HIV/AIDS --
Make the police sensitive to the disease.
Its success prompted Rakesh Maria, then director of police training, to conclude that it should be permanent.
Maria acknowledged that "the nature of our work has exposed us to groups that are vulnerable to HIV infection.
As a result, there are opportunities for vulnerability in the force.
In the same year, sex workers across the state agreed that solutions to their harassment should not be left to offenders, but should be designed by sex workers themselves.
Radhika, 27, an elf, collected three stations from Savita on the Central Railway line, one of these women.
She's part of a rapid response system (RRS)
Created by a non-governmental organization to intervene in potential explosive interactions between police and sex workers.
The project has 264 task forces in Mumbai, each with five sex workers in charge of the rest of their neighborhood.
Radhika gave me an example: "There is a policeman who often takes money from a woman I know.
One day I caught him while he embezzled 100 rupees. $2. 50]
Q: "Sir, why did you grab food from her child's mouth?
"The sex worker was shocked and said," Radhika, leave it for me.
"She didn't want to deal with him after I left.
I replied, "Why did you leave?
Don't run away, either.
We will all stand here before this problem is solved.
Then the police felt very small.
He said: "I just took the money today because I caught her with a customer.
"Sex workers are now bold.
She shouted, "it's only today! Don't lie!
Every time you see me, you ask for Rs 100.
People began to gather.
Do you know what the police did?
He quietly took out her money and gave it back to her.
We never saw him again.
The system exempts the police from breaking the laws they trust.
But it is also trying to counter a historically broken relationship.
Radhika visits at least four police stations a month.
She requested in writing permission to park the NGO's mobile health clinic nearby --
A meeting of about 10 sex workers was held on the railway platform.
They discuss everything: the price of herpes, babies, vegetables.
Seeing her so frequently, realizing that she had neither extra work nor trouble, the police had accepted her presence.
Some people trust her;
They want condoms.
Radhika also participated in the legal literacy conference organized by the non-governmental organizations she worked.
She was told that even "women" like me could not be detained after seven o'clock P. M;
She knew to ask for his badge number from a cheeky police officer.
Radhika told me that there is now an interesting story about how these things help us.
A policeman entertained himself and refused to pay.
When the sex worker objected, he said, "Get lost, Randy, or I'll arrest you.
"Do you know what that woman did?
Because she knew that a policeman's belt could be identified, she took it away and ran away.
The next day, she walked into his station and asked his senior officer in front of him: "Excuse me, your Constable, why is he not wearing a belt today!
"Radhika's confidence has not diminished in front of men who have put her life in danger for years.
She was eager to introduce me to someone who had a connection with her and strode ahead in 4 inch high heels.
At the gate of the police station, she smiled and said, "Good evening!
Speak English to a police officer
He replied politely with a smile, "Good evening, madam.
The night before, the same police officer saw Radhika with a customer.
When their eyes met, she turned and walked away, leaving her surprised customers.
She explained that it was his job to arrest me if the police found me soliciting.
"I can't tell him how to do his job, just like he 'd better not tell me how to do my job.
Radhika is looking for peers and customers in the same community.
As an outreach staff member, she wore a badge and a chic blue coat, indicating the quiet efficiency of the nurse.
When night falls, she will discard the equipment and stand next to a bucket of red roses and blood orange sword orchid next to the flower shop outside the train station.
A man would walk sideways to her and ask under his breath, "chalegi?
She would answer, that's why I'm here.
They quickly negotiate prices, decide where to live, and move to the street.
When we were together, she greeted the same policeman, who thought she was an activist and a man worthy of fear but admiration, I must now see her as one of the hundreds of sex workers in the neighborhood seeking trouble.
This is a fragile and curious relationship.
However, this has worked so far, as both the police and Radhika have agreed that he must complete his work.
Sex work provides a livelihood for Radhika.
On the other hand, outreach gave her a sense of self-esteem that, for her, was worth more than the price.
This confidence means a greater willingness to take care of her health, including taking preventive measures to prevent exposure to HIV.
"Do you know how I feel about being called a lady? ' she asked.
She raised her skinny arm above her head. 'Ten feet tall.
For different reasons, the HIV sensitivity program at the state police training school is significant.
It will educate new employees, and some are more likely to accept new ideas at the age of 18, as they continue to grow in their lives.
Although the people we met in the park were packed with pickers, police officer Rahm Naike was dressed in plain clothes, but his straight, untense pace, firm eyes and cover-up of his nose made it easy for me to pick him out.
His teeth are beautiful, straight and white.
But one in the middle is yellow like butter.
Every time he laughs, my attention moves away from his words.
Naek and his brothers and sisters were the first to be educated in the family.
His mother's signature is a thumb print.
As a housewife, she sewed her little daughter's dowry every night.
Naike's father, a phone company employee, relaxed by her side when he came back from work, switching between news channels and soap operas.
Perhaps because there is no chance of learning, Naike's parents see education as more important than everything else.
One bedroom in their apartment on the first floor of New Mumbai is not suitable for children who need sleep, but children who have to learn.
Everyone else was lying on the floor outside.
NAK grew up in the village and did not watch Hindi movies.
He did not cheer for the good police of Zanjeer, nor for the bad police in Khaki cloth.
In the nearby town, the presence of the police encouraged people to cross the road and respectfully put on the Hardy hat.
The boy understood that the police had power.
This is what they said in their speech.
After graduating from Nike, his parents urged him to consider government work.
It provides a stable pension.
If he dies, his son or daughter will get a job.
NAK remembered the police's arrogance, and his childhood was amazed at their uniform, as clear as the newspaper.
He is young and athletic.
Why not, he thought?
If he, like a few of his friends, failed to recruit, Naik would return to the village and plant wheat and vegetables on his five-acre land.
Life as fragile as dust
Every eight hours, the debt burden forced a farmer in the area to commit suicide.
When he is visiting now, his relatives are happy for his success.
They will tease you. can I make you some tea?
All the farmers of his father's age sought advice from him.
The boys at the school begged to take a look at the uniform he brought.
He saw his friend bend his back like curly leaves.
He knew he should be proud of his achievements.
But this is not the case.
Because since the first day of his training, Naek has seen corruption around him.
Not smart enough to recruit?
He looked down at his salad feet and asked.
Use your contacts to put pressure on the examiner.
Want a holiday but don't want to lose your salary?
Give a 10 rupee note to the police officer in charge of the attendance register.
Not much time this month?
Hafta is needed from your junior.
It's been two years.
Nike mood swings-
Sometimes painful, sometimes resigned.
His parents looked at the background.
He is their only son, but they are afraid to face him and worry about what the answer will be.
On the day off, he couldn't stand their anxious face and took the bus to the city center to attend the free activities published in the morning newspaper.
Seed show, exhibition
He is not picky.
Dressed in casual clothes, he is anonymous and one of thousands of people pushing sho to push sho, so that he can stare at his peers while he is idle in front of the store in the heat of the crowded street, what did he know?
He recalled the police officers of his childhood.
His surprise seemed like a joke.
"What is the life I choose?
He asked himself.
His parents urged him to get married.
His mother said that his wife would accompany him;
She will move his mind away from work.
He will not be spoiled by choice.
For young men of the conservative social class of Nak, interaction is not encouraged, let alone familiarity with the opposite sex.
He didn't play with girls when he was a child and rarely had a chance to speak to his female colleagues.
At home, when mom cooks or watches TV,ies—
Dialogue is limited.
So the irony is.
The woman he knows best about is sex workers on the streets he patrols.
Some of his names.
Asha, Lata, Priya-
Attach the polite "j" and they talked for a while;
Nothing special, maybe just a comment on the heat.
When they were told to clean up, he knew where they were hiding, and when the siren sounded, the loiterers dispersed like pollen.
He could recognize them even when they got off work;
As the children wander for toys and trinkets, the makeup on their faces is washed clean and the children jump happily around them.
He told me that the police think women are more sexually impulsive than men.
This is why they are engaged in sexual work.
"What do you think? ' I ask.
They are not Landis, he replied.
He made the word sound polite when he said it.
Of course, some of them like to have sex.
Others earn more money a day than my sister earns a month in teaching.
But most of the time, they are just very poor people.
About Free sex? I would never.
Not dying of HIV like a cow.
"So what do you do?
I asked. I mean very well.
He bit his lips.
"I saw the pages of the book needed for friendship in the newspaper. Every day.
I had a free outgoing call on my phone, so I called one of the numbers one morning.
The woman gave me a list of rates.
All kinds of sexOne person. Two. Massages!
He was disappointed with his face.
No friendship at all.
Will you call again?
"Maybe," he replied.
It's better than taking what's waiting outside.
"So this will be the case," Naike told me . "
He will not torture sex workers on his beat, he has never done it, and when he sees the police do it, his apparent disgust can make their enjoyment worse.
'I can't stop them, but at least I can make them feel bad,' he said.
The same is true of Hafta, which is another spur that drives sex workers into the ground, although he insists, "there is a reason why we do these things ".
Although many police officers choose hafta because they can, some say they have no choice.
Police revenues of Rs 3500 (about $86)
Benefits are not included in a month
This is about half of my first job after college, 21.
It was paid by a full-time maid.
Economic factors aside, asking for bribes is like a common problem on the streets of India --
Facing the superstructure overlooking the street.
This is a culture of the station itself, and some elderly people ask their subordinates to provide hafta.
Of every Rs 100 that a police officer has extracted from Savita or Radhika, 70 rupees are given to his police officer.
Statistics provide more insights.
In Mumbai, a policeman dies every 48 hours.
He died of a heart attack, stress-related illness, and an accident.
Or he committed suicide.
It was not until this year that the city's police began giving lower-level cadres a weekly holiday.
Despite the progress, even since he joined, Nak still worked 48 hours of shifts.
It is said that after ten o'clock P. M. , the police began drinking.
They claim the streets are their own. One man. What can he do?
I asked Naike if he would resign.
He thought about it. Looks down.
Then he asked me, "Can you imagine how sad I was to go home when I replayed all the things I heard and saw that day? ' I nod.
Somehow, however, when I wake up in the morning, I feel refreshed.
What I did when I applied to the police. When I got in.
I believe I can do some good things.
I still feel that way.
I still think I can be different.
On the face of it, Naike proves the fact that training and work within the law can help the police better handle rational workers.
It can restore the dignity of Savita and Ashok and the integrity of Madhav Rao.
But change will not come easily.
I know this as an outsider. Does Naik?
So I told the young man a story about Ashok.
This shows that whatever position sex workers may carve for themselves as outreach workers, they are still at the disposal of the police until the police decide it is time to change.
Nak was silent when I finished.
The hustle and bustle around us continues, but it seems clearer.
The bus honked too much, the children laughed screaming, and a woman giggled affectionately at her mobile phone.
A few hours later, when we said goodbye, after discussing other issues, Nak still did not respond to the story.
That's what I told him.
One night, when I was sitting with Ashok and a dozen other sex workers, he told about the events of a friend.
The friend was picked up by a "smart boy" in the park.
The police waiting for him were drunk.
They took him to their station, to their colleagues, and they were also drunk because of anticipation and rum.
He was stripped naked and stuffed into an empty cell.
The police line up.
They forced him to give them oral sex one by one.
The friends begged them to stop.
They asked for anal sex.
He is bleeding and he is not sure.
The police lasted all night.
None of them used condoms.
When Dawn changed, there was a new line.
Then one of the policemen had a "good idea ".
He plugged one wire into the socket, and the other one gave an electric shock to the genitals of a "friend.
This cell, still warmed by the smell of blood, now exudes the smell of burnt fat and burnt hair.
Tears filled Ashok's eyes.
I know who the "friend" is. I looked away.
What I see makes me want to keep my head low in my hand.
Other sex workers are mirror images of each other.
"Yes," said their face.
They nodded.
Yes, it happened to me too.
Excerpt from AIDS Sutra: The copyright of unknown stories from India (c)
2008 edited by Negar Akhavi.
Extract with permission from Anchor Books, a department of Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reproduced without the publisher's written permission.