Imphal, December 10: Having realized sexual contact as one of the major routes for transmission of HIV in Karnataka, Devadasis of the State have not only embarked on a challenging mission to fight spread of the disease but have also begun mulling over to abolish their sex work system.

After decades of confinement at their respective villages, the Devadasis have come out to fight the disease.

Along with peer educators and Anganwadi teachers and social activists, they have taken up the responsibilities of spreading awareness on the issue including condom promotion, safe sex practices, etc besides fighting for their womanhood, socio-economic and children's rights.

Devadasis stay thickly in Karnataka's northern belt including Bagalkot district .In ancient Devadasi tradition the families dedicate one of their daughters as a means of propitiating the Gods and hence the daughters were not allowed to marry.

Devadasi system has been practised historically in other States.

They had various responsibilities in the temple including the priest's sexual needs and dancing.

Following this tradition the Devadasi, over the years, have become traditional sex workers and even non-Devadasis too reportedly join the flesh trade only to eke out their livelihood.

Though the Karnataka Government has put a ban on the practice of dedicating girls as Devadasis under the Devadasi Prohibition Act 1982, some odd cases continue.

Karnataka is one of the six high HIV prevalence States in the country .

Unlike the reported system of mobile sex work in Manipur, Devadasi in Bagalkot are home-based sex-workers and as such it is somewhat easier for the latter to educate them for reducing HIV transmission and Sexually Transmitted Infection/Disease amongst their sexual partners.

During a survey carried out by a team of experts and journalists including this writer in north Karnataka recently the gutsy Devadasis who are now fully aware of the disease gave their testimonies on the stigma and discrimination attached to them and their challenging endeavours to come out in the social strata and fight the HIV spread and other social ills.

Said a Devadasi peer educator " Our children repeatedly raised queries as to why they have been left as a focal point of hatred and ignominy by the society".

" We have no status in the society, throughout our life we are called prostitutes as owing to this stigma attached to us, we were not able to come out and knit ourselves in the society.

By virtue of the intervention projects we have now come out as peer educators to combat HIV/AIDS and other issues related to women and socio economy.

Another woman said when the Devadasi were caught unaware of the spread of HIV/AIDS and many started dying from the disease, an NGO � Belguam Integrated Rural Development Society (BIRDS) came into the scene and began intervention programmes for the Devadasis in 1996.Gradually condom promotion campaigns were spread amongst them, she said adding that in 1999 five peer educators were selected and they had begun effective counselling of their colleagues numbering over 800. After Bagalkot became a full-fledged revenue district the India-Canada Collaborative HIV/AIDS Project (ICHAP) too came to the district and implemented its sex work demonstration project amongst the Devadasis since 2001, the peer educator said.

In the same year a collective body of sex workers' christened Chaitanya AIDS Prevention Mahila Sangha was formed with the supports of BIRDS under ICHAP with the primary objective to address the vulnerabilities and risks of home based sex workers in the district.

40 SHGs have been formed under Chaitnya Mahila Sangha with 10-16 members in each group.

The primary objective of the groups is dissemination of HIV prevention, education, empowerment and building linkages to micro-credit institution like banks.

Another peer educator said she has three children who all are studying and she never wanted her children to become Devadasis.

After working with the Sangha I am able to cull information on various aspects of education and carrier building for our children.

With the effective intervention of the Sangha the Devadasis are also fighting for their rights.

Divulging this an educated Devadasi who is also working as an anganwadi teacher said at a local school, Devadasis' children were not allowed to eat their mid-day meal with the rest of their classmates.

Thus the foodstuffs were packed and given to the children only to eat at home.

Being a member of Renuka Mahila Sangha, one of the SHGs , she informed the matter to the Sangha.

After the Sangha threatened the school authorities to file a complaint on it the system was corrected.

With the intervention of the Sangha the children were also allowed to join functions at the school.

Another peer educator said the Sangha members were able to prevent 12 dedications in the past few months." As a Devadasi I constantly counsel parents who plan to dedicate their children and try to stop them.

But some dedications were done secretly for which they could not prevent them.

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