Monday, July 21, 2008

Today, as I did my usual google trawling for call centers and health, I ended up where I didn't think I would.

New HIV/AIDS Threat In India Found Among Youth Working At Call Centers, Researcher Says

Unprotected sex with multiple partners among young staff in India's call centers has emerged as a new HIV/AIDS threat in the country, Suniti Solomon, the researcher who detected the first HIV case in India in 1986, told the International Congress on Infectious Diseases on Saturday, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports.

According to Solomon, such risky behavior among "call center Romeos," who typically work at night to correspond with the daytime working hours of their U.S. and European clients, has become a great concern. Solomon said, "They have all the money. They huddle together in the night. They are young, they are sexually active, so naturally they start." (italics mine)

What do I make of that last sentence? Brings to mind several extremely charged images. The article goes on to state how the fight against HIV/AIDS has been hampered by extreme conservatism, including opposition to male circumcision.

The various interpretations of conservatism. It seems ironic that the very notion of liberalism embedded in the supposedly promiscuous lifestyle of call center workers leads to consequences like AIDS that cannot be combatted on account of male workers' conservatism.

P.S Solomon is further is reported to have said, "You will see call center Romeos are a major high risk for HIV".

The same article is also reproduced on China Daily.

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