Kanawi slams unwise spending of cash for sex

By KARI TOTONA
NATIONAL AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS) director Wep Kanawi has made a call yesterday for all traditional landowners to refrain from spending their royalty money in exchange for sex.
He made this call yesterday when launching a study report titled “Askim na save: People who sell and exchange sex in Port Moresby”.
 “People need to be more responsible in how they spend their money, otherwise they will end their lives and this may also lead to HIV/AIDS,” he said.
The report revealed that 76% of landowners exchanged cash for sex followed by students at a rate of 42%.
Kanawi told The National that this would only reduce their life span by 40 years.
“I am calling on the landowners who are engaging themselves in this act to use a condom if they do decide to have sex,” he said.
He said more needed to be done in the distribution of condoms in the urban settings.
“The distribution of condoms is very important because with the LNG project, this issue will still be here so it is better to have condoms everywhere,” he said.
Kanawi said the facts in the report were taken from the sex workers themselves that proved that people were irresponsible.
He said sex workers had equal rights as equal partners in the community.
Meanwhile, the extensive report champions the need to:
* Continue to provide funding and support to peer lead and other services which champion the needs of people who sell and exchange sex;
* Better access to condoms; 
* Provide awareness and education of anal sex as a mode of HIV transmission between women and men and not just between men;
* Foster an environment whereby all people can access health care services including HIV testing and prevention services, in particular men;
* Increase policy attention as well as resources for underage youth who are involved in the selling and exchanging sex;
* Conduct extensive work with clients in particular traditional landowners of natural resources who account for the largest group of clients in Port Moresby;
* Prioritise programmes and policies which address the vulnerability and risk to HIV; and
* Continue and expand current work with police.