Edi stands out as the roughest in a circle of men on the fishing dock. Streaks
of motor oil mix with sweat on his chest and weather-beaten face as he puffs on
a cigarette and talks loudly.
It's hard to know if they've ever met, but they move in the same circle that is
helping to spread HIV. He's a deep-sea fishermen who spends his short time
ashore prowling for sex; she's a woman in port who gets paid to provide a warm
body.
. . . .
Bali is a famed tourist playground, but there's a side to the island most
foreigners never see. Indonesian fishermen who often haven't seen land for
months dock at Benoa Harbor and make straight for a bar with two things in
mind: getting drunk and finding women.
These habits have put fishermen at high risk of getting HIV -- especially in
Asia, because it's home to 25.5 million fishermen, or about 85 percent of the
world's total. Yet fishermen have been largely overlooked since the virus began
raging 26 years ago, with only a handful of surveys focusing on them.
One report found that out of 10 poor countries, all but one had fishermen with
estimated HIV rates four to 14 times higher than the general population.
Two studies of fishermen on big commercial vessels found over 15 percent were
HIV-positive in Thai and Cambodian ports. That's more than five times the rate
of other migrants at high risk, such as truck drivers.
A few programs in Papua New Guinea, Thailand and elsewhere in the region are
now working to reach fishermen, and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
earlier this year urged that they be recognized as high risk. But fishermen
weren't even mentioned in UNAIDS' 630-page 2006 global report.
. . . .
Ririn, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, grew up on a rice farm
with her parents and seven siblings on the island of Java. She dropped out of
school in fifth grade.
At 20, she was offered a chance for a better life, working as a maid on Bali, a
neighboring island she imagined was full of hope and money.
''I wanted to help my family back home,'' she says. ''There's a lot of mouths
to feed.''
But after three months of cooking, cleaning and caring for someone else's
children, she had only $20.
Like many young women far from home, she was wooed by a man promising $40 to
$50 a month for fewer hours. She would only do it for a little while, she
thought.
After six months as a prostitute, she tested positive for HIV. She kept working
until her sixth month of pregnancy.
. . . .
Most sailors infected with STDs treat themselves with cheap antibiotics. They
may take the wrong dose or stop treatment when symptoms disappear, allowing
STDs to linger, which makes it easier to contract HIV. They also are misled by
greedy peddlers.
''When the ships come in, medicine vendors or peddlers are already waiting for
them,'' said Made Setiawan, a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, who's researching fishing culture and the risks of HIV in Bali. The
peddlers' typical patter runs, ''Here, take this medicine and go have sex in
the brothels.''
. . . .
Edi, 20, is the shortest guy on the dock in Bali, but his muscles are the
thickest. He brags he had sex with up to 10 women a night. His monthly pay of
about $70 wouldn't have lasted long at the going rate of about $6 for 15
minutes.
He's never been sick or tested for STDs, but points to a friend who's had
syphilis.
''There's a medicine for HIV. There is a cure,'' he says. ''Maybe it will take
longer to cure, but you will get better.''
. . . .
Ririn, 22, may sleep with up to 10 men a night. Many are fishermen. Worried she
may infect a man who could then give HIV to his wife, she sometimes begs
customers to wear condoms -- which is more than anyone did for her.
Most refuse.
''I tell them, 'I'm a working girl. There's a chance you might catch something
from me,' '' she says.
''The man says, 'That's tomorrow's problem.' ''
Associated Press
