KATHMANDU, July 15: A survey conducted by National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC) among female sex workers has found that a majority of them were married women.

The report launched by NCASC in Itahari stated that 74 percent of the female prostitutes were married, with 34 percent having one or more children.

The stastics presented were based on the data collected from areas near the highway between Jhapa and Kanchanpur. According to organizations working for women welfare in Itahari, many of the women do not care about their children often leaving them homeless.

The report further stated that 49 percent of the female prostitutes were around 16 to 29 years of age, among them 29 percent belong to Brahmin-Chettri community and the remaining to the indigenous community.

"Almost 39 percent of the women surveyed are literate," coordinator of the program, Dhirendra Shahi, said. "Most of them are aware about contraceptives."

About 0.8 percent of such women have been diagnosed of HIV/AIDs and 0.5 percent from Syphilis. Currently, 10.3 percent women have Syphilis.

 
• majority
 
• female
 
• sex
 
• workers
 
• married