When Precious Pindai (37) found out that she was HIV positive nine years ago, she thought life was all but over.
She did not fear for her death but was afraid that her only child at the time would be left alone with no-one to love her.
Had the worst visited her, she was going to leave her child with nothing because her trade was not sustainable.
Now a mother of two, Precious says she does not know how she got infected because she slept with many clients.
She said depending on the day, she would “service” three or four clients per night.
It’s only after she fell sick that she found out about her status.
And because she was filled with anger and hatred due to her non-acceptance of her new status, she went on a rampage, sometimes deliberately infecting her clients.
“There are a lot of things that happen in life. I have had my fair share. It was a difficult moment when I found out and I couldn’t use protection to protect the next person, I was angry. I would simply look at someone, especially those that want to be bullies and I would lure them to bed and they ended up being infected,” she told 263Chat at an HIV support group meeting in Makonde recently.
Sometimes, she claims, some would insist on sleeping with her without protection despite her opening up about her status and she says it’s largely due to her appearance.
Most of her clients are long-distance truck drivers who buy sex after days on the road and most of them do not understand the need to indulge in safe sex. They often go for nice-looking ladies with the anticipation that they are free from the HIV Virus.
“There is a misconception within communities that when one is looking all weary and tired, they are sick and those that are looking lively are well. It’s wrong!”
“Often when I tell my clients that I’m HIV positive, they laugh it off saying ‘you don’t look like someone with the infection’. That’s how they lose it, you cannot make a diagnosis using your eyes. These men need to know that appearances don’t matter, they need to practice safe sex,” she adds.
Precios (right) following an HIV engagement meeting in Makonde recently (Lovejoy Mutongwiza/263Chat)
The other dilemma is that of clients who did not want to use protection because they can pay more money for unprotected sex, a proposal that can be hard to refuse.
Precious says at times she can show her clients her Anti-retroviral treatment but they still do not believe as they accuse her of covering up for not wanting unprotected sex.
“Sometimes, sex workers are simply powerless to negotiate safer sex. Clients may refuse to pay for sex if they have to use a condom, and use intimidation or violence to force unprotected sex. We do all we can to let our clients know who we are but when they start threatening us, we lose the power to say no” she says.
It is believed that the clients of sex workers act as a ‘bridge population’, transmitting HIV between sex workers and the general population.
High HIV prevalence among male clients of sex workers has been detected in studies globally.
Sex workers make up 9% of the total number of new HIV infections around the world.
In Eastern and Southern Africa, HIV prevalence among female sex workers is often extremely high.
However, Precious believes no life should be lost recklessly due to negligence and lack of knowledge.
As part of giving back the knowledge she has acquired over the years, Precious has since become a peer educator with help from The Advocacy Core Team and its implementing partner PEPFAR where she works with young people and those infected with HIV.
After all, HIV prevention services that are sex-worker led and community-based are proven to be most effective when they address the legal and social barriers that affect sex workers.
“I’m trying to impart the HIV knowledge in young people, other sex workers and even those that are married because it is their husbands who come to us for sex.
“In some instances, I might sleep with a married man whose wife I know and he might demand unprotected sex and because sometimes it might be extremely difficult to say no, I feel bad for the wife who will then sleep with the man,” Precious says.
But it is her hope that one day, all men and women will accept the need to have protected sex.
She and other peer educators remain in contact with the women and girls they advise, often visiting them at home and making sure they get regular health check-ups.
Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Union Secretary General, Angeline Chiweteni says although efforts are being made to empower sex workers, there are still gaps on the clients who at times find it easy to indulge in sex without protection, sometimes deliberately.
Angeline Chiweteni (right) speaking to one of the HIV infected people in Norton recently (Lovejoy Mutongwiza/263Chat)
“For these sex workers who are HIV positive, we really encourage them to have protected sex so that they will not contract STIs and other diseases.
“We need them to be in a safe position and to keep the nation safe because we cannot discourage them from doing sex since it is a form of work. So what we normally do is encourage them to seek early treatment and to disclose their statuses to their clients,” she told 263Chat.
Chiweteni also acknowledged that it is tricky for potential clients as some end up demanding unprotected sex.
“Others will be aware of their status but they don’t want to disclose to the sex workers because at times they would want to spread the virus which is very bad,” she added.
Unbeknown to many of these clients, Chiweteni added, is that by demanding unprotected sex, they risk contracting STIs and viruses that may be in their host.
He says through the extensive work they do countrywide with various implementing partners, there has been a positive outcome especially on condom use.
‘We are happy with that because it means they are using condoms consistently, they are adhering to what we are teaching them,” she says.
