KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — It's been four months since Sifa Kunguja recovered from mpox, but as a sex worker, she said, she's still struggling to regain clients,...
, but as a sex worker, she said, she's still struggling to regain clients, with fear and stigma driving away people who've heard she had the virus.
The town has 18 sex-worker committees, the alliance said, with a leadership that tries to work with government officials, protect and support colleagues, and advocate for their rights. She's been supporting her 11 children through sex work for nearly a decade, but said she now can't afford to send them to school. To compensate, she's selling alcohol by day, but it's not enough.
Kamituga’s general hospital gives them boxes of about 140 condoms every few months. Some sex workers see up to 60 clients a day — for less than $1 a person. Condoms run out, and workers say they can’t afford more.Even health experts admit the lack of information about the virus makes it unclear how effective condoms are. Lesions are usually found around the base of the penis, an area that condoms don’t cover, they note.
There's little awareness of that in mines, where conditions are often unsanitary. Mines have few, if any, handwashing stations, and sometimes miners don’t shower for days. Infected miners might urinate or openly defecate in mines and contaminate water sources, health officials say.
KAMITUGA Sex Industry Sifa Kunguja Congo Gold Miners African Sex Workers Alliance
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