WESTERN PROVINCE

RUBAVU — A new study has revealed that men part with more money to have unprotected sex with prostitutes while those that accept to use condoms pay less.

The study, made public in Rubavu recently, was conducted by Mission of Hope Rwanda, an NGO that fights HIV/Aids especially among the rural population. It was conducted among sex workers in Rubavu, Rusizi and Nyamagabe districts.

The research was also meant to find out whether sex workers were aware of HIV/AIDS, and the way it is transmitted and its prevention.

At a meeting where the report findings were being discussed, Chantal Nibigira, a consultant of Mission of Hope Rwanda, who also carried out the study, said most sex workers’ clients who prefer unprotected sex were married men.

"The study revealed that all sex workers are aware of HIV, how it is transmitted and its prevention measures though they have not followed them,” Nibigira said. 

Asked why married men preferred unprotected sex with prostitutes, Nibigira said it’s because most married people were used to unprotected sex.

"Most married people are used to having unprotected sex. That is why they preferred it even with prostitutes. This is a danger not only to them but also to their innocent wives at home,” she explained.

At the meeting, UNAIDS official Deudonne Ruturwa reaffirmed their commitment to partnering with the government and other NGOs to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in the country.

Ruturwa said the campaign especially targets residents in districts bordering neighboring countries-which are said to have big numbers of sex workers.

The districts include Rubavu bordering DR Congo, Nyamagabe near Burundi and Rusizi district.

"We need to first of all identify the drivers of the epidemic. We need to know the reason why people engage in prostitution, why their clients such as married people leave their wives to go for prostitutes. The campaign should not only be limited to sex workers but also to their clients,” he said. 

The meeting attracted members of former sex workers’ associations, Rubavu district officials and officials from Mission of Hope Rwanda.

Ruturwa pointed out that HIV awareness should be everyone’s responsibility.

Parents should sensitize their children, wives to their husbands, church leaders to their followers, local leaders to their subjects, and employers to their employees, he said.

Ruturwa called upon hotel owners to screen people seeking lodging facilities which he said would decrease prostitution which is mainly done in lodges.

According to the president Mission of Hope Rwanda, Claude Kabutwari, the organisation has tried to encourage many sex workers out of the trade by helping them into forming small associations so as to start small scale business.

However, he said: "Many are still on streets due to poverty. The few who have managed to quit the activity should be supported. If not, poverty ,a condition that formerly drove them into prostitution still exists  and could at the end of the day force them back into the dangerous trade.” 

He said that Mission of Hope Rwanda had no sufficient funds to support all sex works countrywide and called upon local and international donors as well as various NGO to support sex workers leave the street.

"There is no way the government can achieve its goal of reducing the current 3 per cent HIV transmission rate to less that 1 per cent by 2012, when hundreds of sex workers are still on streets,” he warned.

According to Odile Mukabega, one of the former sex workers in Gisenyi town, who has since spoken out on the risks involved, poverty makes sex workers forget about the dangers of HIV and prevention mechanisms.

"There is no way you can put restriction to clients after spending days with no food. Some times hunger can force you  accept any conditions given by clients and in many cases, clients especially married men give out more money to have unprotected sex with them which in many cases one has to offer to survive,” she said.

Mukabega is currently pregnant but has no knowledge of the man responsible for her pregnancy.

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