3.2.2 Issues of agency
As opposed to the focus on the structural factors pushing people into lifestyles that facilitate the spread of HIV and AIDS in Nepal, many authors have focused more on the personal choice (agency) involved, as individuals or communities adopt lifestyles or strategies that are contributing to the wider problem. Bhatt, Gurubacharya and Vadies (1993), taking an agency approach, studied a unique cultural group in the southwestern part of Nepal that relies exclusively on prostitution for economic security. This group, known as the Badis, was interviewed about its sexual practices and was tested for VDRL and HIV positivity.58 Although 70 percent were found to be VDRL positive, none tested positive for HIV. The article focuses upon the Badis’ choice of prostitution as an economic strategy enabling them to own lands and houses, something unusual for a low-caste group such as the Badis. The authors trace the unique history of the Badis.59 They conclude:
Like Gypsies, [the Badis] would travel and provide musical entertainment for hire...and would entertain at the homes or estates of wealthy landowners in the region. Probably some landowners began paying young Badi girls’ high fees for sexual favors, in addition to the other entertainment being provided. This was probably very tempting to Badi girls as well as the family and the community, which were always economically deprived as part of the untouchable caste. This caste is the lowest caste, lower than even the fourth caste in the traditional Hindu caste system. More recently, income primarily from prostitution has enabled some Badi families to own land and homes, something normally unheard of for most members of an untouchable caste. (Bhatt et al. 1993:280)
The first point I would make about the above quote is that it illustrates the highly speculative nature of this piece. “Probably” is overused and deserves the criticism of CMA advocates who would accuse these authors of blaming the victims. On the other hand, moving beyond this weakness, the authors do acknowledge the political economy involved in the caste system but choose to focus further upon the personal agency behind the Badis’ choices. The article describes a sliding fee scale developed by the Badi (politicians are charged the most), the ‘marriage’ ceremony at which a Badi girl is initiated into the sex trade, and their preference not to use condoms. Concerning the latter, the authors write:
When questioned about the non-use of condoms, Badi women again stated the desirability of pregnancy and the resulting possibility of more female sex workers within the family...family planning is not a priority. This is because the Badi view female offspring as future economic security as prostitutes. Male offspring are still accepted but are not considered as desirable as females. (Bhatt et al. 1993:282)
The article concludes that although the Badi are currently uninfected with HIV and AIDS, their practices and choices put this group at the highest risk of HIV infection in the near future. The authors suggest that “there is some evidence that counseling alone may have little or no effect in getting prostitutes to leave their profession, even after they have become HIV infected. There is also some evidence that despite efforts at training and providing alternative employment to Badi prostitutes, they return to their practice in a short time (1993:282).”
Bignall (1993), in a review of Bhat, Gurubacharya and Vadies (1993), for the British journal The Lancet, focuses further on the agency of the Badi that is exacerbating the epidemic. These two articles clearly reflect a focus on the personal choices (agency) of the Badis in manipulating the system and in determining their own future.
Near the turn of the century, various writers began to challenge the traditional girl trafficking discourse (which was the main discourse at that time).60 John Fredrick (1998) asserted that much of the discourse was, in fact, myth. The consensus view, he contended, was that a majority of women trafficked to India were being abducted and sold into sexual slavery as prostitutes mainly in the brothels of Bombay. Fredrick termed this sort of trafficking “hard trafficking.” The reality was, he suggested, that much of Nepal’s girl trafficking was actually done with the families’ own complicity. He termed this form of trafficking “soft trafficking” and suggested that in most of the cases of girl trafficking, the families’ own agency was involved. Many more women actually were going of their own free will; or at least with their families’ firm encouragement and blessings. Prostitution, as it was among the Badi, was more of an economic strategy to address the growing problems of providing dowries, paying off generational debts from an established bonded-labor tradition, or providing a better quality roof (tin) for the family home. Fredrick (1998:19) claimed that this “family-based” prostitution in Nepal was “an increasingly common response to poverty and a significant source of rural income.”61 Likewise, Campbell (1997:220) suggested that prostitution was simply the “latest form of commoditizing Tamang62 labour power.”
It seems clear that there are both issues of personal choice (agency) as well as wider socioeconomic (structural) factors that underlie commercial sex work in Nepal. Economic pressures are pushing people into commercial sex work in one of two ways: either as an economic strategy needed to survive absolute poverty (structural), or as a way to provide extra income for luxuries that could otherwise not be afforded (agency). Either way, as the earlier statistics reveal, commercial sex work puts one at highest risk for HIV infection, so both structure and agency are important factors to be considered.
3.2.3 Cultural issues
Besides issues of personal choice, there are also many widely held beliefs and cultural practices (usually considered issues of agency) that are contributing to the spread of HIV and AIDS in Nepal. The following list is a summary of widely held beliefs elicited from HIV positive persons at a local non-governmental organization (NGO) sponsored education class held in Kathmandu. These are all related to folk beliefs about prevention and cures for HIV and STDs.
1. Having sex with 10863 virgins will cure AIDS and STDs.
2. Cleaning the penis with urine, Detol soap64, or Coke, will cure AIDS and STDs.
3. Naag65 Puja will cure AIDS and STDs.
4. Anal sex will cause HIV.
5. HIV is prevalent only in Bombay.
6. A tika from Sai Baba placed on the penis will cure STDs and AIDS.66
As one can see, there are many widely held beliefs reported by these HIV positive persons that would actually advance the spread of HIV and AIDS.
According to Ghimire (1997:8), “There are certain cultural traditions in Nepal that approve the sale of girls and prostitution.” The Badi tradition spoken of earlier is one such case. The Deuki tradition is another. Smith (1996:27) explains that in the Seti Zone of far-western Nepal, parents offer their daughters to a temple deity in order to improve health, acquire a new job, get a son, or a number of other such reasons. The girls remain at the temple and are held in high esteem. Although the girls are unmarriageable, sex with a Deuki is said “to insure eternal bliss.” The similar Devidasi tradition is yet another. Chhetri (1998) explains that the Devidasi (which literally translates as ‘slaves of God’) tradition is “a distorted legacy of a seventh century religious practice in which girls were dedicated to temples to live as dancers. Today, the girls pledge fealty to the goddess Renuka, and then—with the full knowledge of their parents—are spirited off to brothels” (1998:3).
Several other authors also cite the sub-continental preference for Nepali girls as FSWs (Dixit 1996:52; Brewer 1995:4; Chhetri 1998), because of their “fair skin” and “oriental features,” an appearance found “so exotic” by Indian men (Chhetri 1998).
Another interesting belief about sex, which may contribute to the spread of HIV and AIDS, is held by truck drivers, one of the largest groups frequenting FSWs (Cox and Suvedi 1994:6). This common fallacy held by truck drivers is that long hours spent behind the truck’s engine “heats up the body” and that they can rid themselves of this harmful heat through frequent sex (Brewer 1995:6).
As mentioned earlier, there is a strong connection between migration and the spread of HIV. Nepal has a long tradition of migration. Seddon (1995) claims that the “search for employment abroad has always been an important feature of Nepalese economy and society.” In the 1950s, the government encouraged resettlement to the newly mosquito-eradicated Terai region of Nepal. And for at least 180 years