News Update on the Mary
Magdalene Project
19th July 2006
Hello again from Jos for the latest on what’s been happening
with the Mary Magdalene Project. The wet season continues on
unabated here and the rocky contours of Jos are now covered by
abundant green foliage, which has grown in just the short space
of 3 months time since the rains and the project began.
View over Jos. |
The testing continues and the steady flow of women participating
has been reassuringly met by the now smooth routine of the staff.
With recruitment being one of the most sensitive areas, particularly
as the mindset of the women is often that they do not wish to
leave the hotels, both for lost clientele/income, and also because
of the trepidation involved in HIV testing, the fact we now have
almost 300 women tested is wonderful. This has not meant that
there have been no difficulties. Some of the women approached
to participate have declined, mainly on the basis that they already
have been tested for HIV before and know their status, and so
do not feel it is relevant to them. The importance of this becomes
apparent when you consider the fact that although many of them
are still practicing sex work, they may know they are HIV positive.
Also, for many whose status was negative at the time they tested
last, the need for continual screening must be emphasized to them.
The effect that knowing their HIV status has on their sexual health
and practices, particularly their lemon/lime juice use, we hope
can be hinted at to some degree by those women who are participating
in the study and already did know their status. Many however
are reluctant to reveal this to us.
Participants waiting for testing. |
The challenges of recruitment are often due to strong peer influences,
as indeed much of their sexual practices and many other facets
of their lives are. This can be either positive, in that women
who have participated and feel they understand the benefits they
derive from doing so go and tell their friends - this has resulted
in more than a few sex workers not actively recruited turning
up to participate. It can also be detrimental, with one women
who had previously had an emotionally traumatic abortion, despite
the pre-test counseling and giving informed consent, subsequently
believing we had attempted to do a similar procedure (despite
her not even being pregnant), and consequently she then went to
a few hotels and convinced some other women not to participate.
We have now decided to continue on into August and keep testing
women, in the belief that the more participants we have, the more
data we can collect and therefore the more obvious any trends
potentially would come, whilst also in a practical sense, the
more women we can treat.
Godwin Imade and Mrs. Barau |
Prof. Sagay |
We have also expanded the study to include hepatitis B and C
testing, of which we have completed for the first 180 participants
so far.
Hep B positive results |
Blood samples
and HIV test strip results |
The true reality of these girls’ lives is however not shown by
the laboratory results and statistics, it is in their stories
and the environment and culture of the brothels where they work.
These places can vary from large establishments, with open bar
areas and low tables littered with old couches, surrounded by
discreet small rooms shielded by a partition, to concrete foyers
showing few pretences in hiding squalid rooms behind ragged curtains.
The women are the common theme in these places, scantily clad
and heavily made-up, with a constant and at times frighteningly
frequent revolution of customers, often preceded by vigorous haggling
over prices. The foreboding presence of the managers is overshadowed
by the anecdotes of police exploitation and harassment, often
in the form of free custom.
In these hotels however, the commodification of sex is apparent
most commonly not as a morality issue, but as a consequence of
poverty and issues of dependency, and the necessity of providing
for families and themselves, whether it be for food, education,
or rent. The powerlessness of this situation inevitably contributes
to their submissive role in the transmission of HIV, and hence
the overwhelming need for a microbicide, and our current study
of the potential use of lemon/lime juice. The stories from many
of the women on why they entered sex work often exemplify this.
“My father died, my mother re-married and wouldn’t take care
of us, my friend said to come to Jos with her to get work in a
shop – once here, find out my friend is sex worker and no choice
but to do same. No-one else here in Jos to run to for help.”
Anon.
The problems associated with this group of women are immense,
and it is difficult to try and address their collective issues
– until you gain perspective, and motivation, from individuals.
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