02-14-2005, 04:07 AM
<b>India's eunuchs want respect in battle to stem AIDS spread</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The eunuchs say they are women -- a cause of much of the friction with the public and officialdom as they sit in the women's section of segregated buses and insist on applications for work or government programs to be called female.
"We know how to use condoms, it's the men who don't know," one eunuch at the meeting said.
There are sharp divisions among eunuchs -- "double deckers" who have sex both ways, "panthis" who are givers and "number nines" who are mainly cross dressers.
Many of them ply truck stops or work at hamams (bath houses) leading to concern that HIV infection can spread rapidly among their highly mobile clients.
Entering the eunuch world is part of an elaborate ritual of acceptance into small communities. Not all of the men are emasculated, though many just cite the cost of the operation as the prime barrier.
Kothi eunuchs, like women sex workers, earn about 300 rupees (seven dollars) on a good day of several clients.
Because of the low wages, many emasculated eunuchs choose a crude tribal ceremony that can lead to infection -- tieing their testicles for 24 hours and then cutting them off and cauterizing the bleeding. This costs 3,000 to 5,000 rupees (70 to 115 dollars), Alexander said.
At the higher end are operations performed by a local medical practitioner who may use antibiotics at around 10,000 rupees (230 dollars) and then sculpting by a professional doctor which can cost 60,000 rupees (1,400 dollars).
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"We know how to use condoms, it's the men who don't know," one eunuch at the meeting said.
There are sharp divisions among eunuchs -- "double deckers" who have sex both ways, "panthis" who are givers and "number nines" who are mainly cross dressers.
Many of them ply truck stops or work at hamams (bath houses) leading to concern that HIV infection can spread rapidly among their highly mobile clients.
Entering the eunuch world is part of an elaborate ritual of acceptance into small communities. Not all of the men are emasculated, though many just cite the cost of the operation as the prime barrier.
Kothi eunuchs, like women sex workers, earn about 300 rupees (seven dollars) on a good day of several clients.
Because of the low wages, many emasculated eunuchs choose a crude tribal ceremony that can lead to infection -- tieing their testicles for 24 hours and then cutting them off and cauterizing the bleeding. This costs 3,000 to 5,000 rupees (70 to 115 dollars), Alexander said.
At the higher end are operations performed by a local medical practitioner who may use antibiotics at around 10,000 rupees (230 dollars) and then sculpting by a professional doctor which can cost 60,000 rupees (1,400 dollars).
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