Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Informal Sex Trade Threatens to Undercut Gains in HIV

By Irwin Loy

PHNOM PENH, Jul 20, 2010 (IPS) - On a muggy evening, a handful of men in suits were quickly getting drunk in a beer garden here in the Cambodian capital. One man rested his hand on the thigh of a slender woman sitting uncomfortably in a short skirt.
A sign above the table read: "Be responsible. Use a condom."
"The customers play around with us all the time," said Neang, glancing at the scene unfolding at the next table. "They touch my breasts, or put their hands on my thigh while I’m sitting down. I don’t like it, but I have no other choice."
Beer promoters like Neang and others who work in places where Cambodia’s informal sex industry can be found are a growing concern for health experts in this South-east Asian country, as sex work shifts from traditional settings like brothels to informal ones in the entertainment sector.

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