Telecon with Chandravel June 30, 2003 Attendees: Chandravel, TRY CH DP (Burlington) DP Hansa Shah (Princeton) HS Rajaram (Chennai) RJ Shankar (Princeton) SH Venkata Pingali (Los Angeles) VP [DP gave an overview of Asha Sanctuary effort and reminded Chandravel about a meeting with Tomorrow's Foundation and Guria folks at Timbuktu conference in December 2002] CH: I see advantage in meeting people. We can (1) share experience (2) be aware of other work. DP: Can you come to the conference at Assam in Dec, 2003 CH: Yes. HS: Are there specific areas where you would like to see progress? [DP gave the example of Guria festivals for which Ajeet had sought support.] CH: (1) Trafficking of girls. A network can help identify such girls and take action. (2) LIC policy support for women. HS: Where do rescued children go? CH: Usually they dont go back. If they do, the girls end up at the same place [brothel] because the conditions which led them there in the first place continue to exist. ------------------------- SH: There should be comprehensive health care network for the sex workers. CH: It is part of the rehabilitation. (1) HIV+ children treated as orphans (2) healthcare provided for STD infected women. SH: HIV+ve does not imply AIDS. It takes 8-10 years for symptoms to show up. There are cocktails. CH: True. The network can be used to create awareness. SH: What about the treatment? CH: There is a government center at Tambaram. DP: Are the facilities good [at Tambaram]? CH: Yes. --------------------------- VP: Are there other groups which you would like to invite? CH: I know Hariharan [?] from Indian Council for Sex Workers since 1996. HS: Are you aware of FIRM in Kerala? CH: No. I do know about State AIDS Board, Kerala AIDS Board. SH: Are you aware of Pache in Madurai? The prostitution business is rampant in Madurai. RJ: I am aware of them but havent been in touch with them. There is a person called Manoharan there. --------------------------- VP: Are there other groups that we you like to not work with? CH: Good understanding exists now. There is person called Santosh (padi@..) does long term work in Chennai. --------------------------- VP: Is there a network? CH: No. There is an informal network of individuals. A network can help. --------------------------- RJ: I dont see a lot of value in the Sanctuary network acting as an information channel. It can help in campaigning with the government. SH: I see collaboration on health, policy and trafficking related matters.