Indian sex workers in Sonagachi have been instructed to refrain from rendering sex-services to all Africans, following the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in the sub-region of West Africa.
At a forum of 130,000 sex workers in West Bengal, Indian NGO, ‘Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee’ warned them of the danger in having close contact with those infected with Ebola.
Mahasweta, a member of the DMSC said, “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.”
Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Unstoppable Women’s Synthesis Committee) is a collective of 65,000 sex workers in West Bengal, and it has an estimated membership of 11,000 sex workers.
In a similar vein, the association of Nigerian prostitutes have also advised their members to be wary of the
customers they take on, with the body imploring its members to take a temporary leave until the spread of the virus is stopped.