NEW DELHI: Worldwide condemnation against the United States has been growing after the country refused to grant visas to some 1,000 sex workers to attend an HIV/AIDS conference in the US. The result saw the conference move to India's Kolkata, where they discussed ways to ensure the health and safety of sex workers globally. The five-day Kolkata conference, known as the “Sex Workers Freedom Festival," was organized by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee – known simply as Durbar – and was held in Sonagachi, a notorious red-light district. “To make HIV intervention and prevention effective, we must include sex workers in policy-making decisions," Smarajit Jana, a co-organizer of the event, told India-West by telephone from Kolkata. “It was a huge mistake to leave these key voices out of the discussion," he said. “Sex workers must own the process and product, but often, participation in the process of policy-making is denied to them," said Jana, adding, “Society is against the active participation of sex workers in decision-making." Jana said the decision to hold an alternate AIDS conference was made in February, when sex workers from around the globe attended a conference in Geneva, organized by the World Health Organization. “Many of us had already received notification that our visa applications had been rejected, so we jointly took a decision that – under these circumstances – we would hold a parallel discussion," he said. The refusal to grant visas to the US was a shock to the participants, especially after US President Barack Obama lifted a ban on issuing visas to HIV positive applicants in 2009. A spokeswoman for the State Department told India-West that the US does deny visas to people who have a history of injectable drug use or sex work, but it is not a blanket ban. “Each application is considered individually by a consular officer," she said. Still, anger against the US has risen dramatically as a result. Michael Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, called the ban “outrageous" and told reporters that the Kolkata conference was “a wonderful example of people who face stigma and discrimination speaking out and taking control of their own destinies." He called for a new paradigm on fighting AIDS where sex workers and others most at risk are at the center of the discussion. Several politicians, including Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., joined Sidibe in denouncing the ban.
