Tibetan nomad ladies in Lhasa. Photo: B Otto

In Tibet (China) , we have a small team of Tibetan staff who undertake outreach activities with vulnerable groups.  Everyday our outreach staff go out to the bars and brothels, and other sites where sex work takes place, to provide HIV education and condoms to young women and men. 

The young women are typically from rural areas in Tibet and come to Lhasa hoping to find work.  Unfortunately, with limited education or skills, sex work is often their only means of earning a living. Many of these young girls have never even seen a condom, let alone know how to use them.  We hear that one young woman actually ate a condom as she had heard that it would prevent illness.  As you can see, there is an urgent need to educate young Tibetans about safer sexual practices to reduce their current high level of vulnerability to STIs and HIV.