Caught in India’s AIDS Crisis | India: The Sex Workers (full documentary) | FRONTLINE/World

A 2004 examination of India’s AIDS crisis through the eyes of girls and young women sold into sex work, originally aired as part of the FRONTLINE/World series. (Aired 2004)

This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Donate to FRONTLINE now

And support your local PBS station here

Starting with “India: The Sex Workers,” we are making episodes from FRONTLINE/World’s archive newly available here on YouTube and on pbs.org as part of an effort to make our past reporting widely accessible.

Originally developed by FRONTLINE producers in conjunction with public television stations KQED San Francisco and WGBH Boston, FRONTLINE/World launched in 2002 as a national public TV series that turned its lens on the global community, covering countries and cultures rarely seen on American television. The series completed its final broadcast season in 2010.

At the time this FRONTLINE/World documentary was filmed, more than two million women and girls were working in India’s sex trade, and being forced to navigate their country’s AIDS crisis.

With more than 4.5 million HIV infections across India at the time, often, the women and girls’ only defense against HIV was convincing men to wear condoms. But frequently, the documentary revealed, the men would refuse.

As she reported this story, Raney Aronson-Rath, who is now FRONTLINE’s editor-in-chief and executive producer, found girls as young as 12 years old who had been sold into prostitution by their families. She also found organizations that were trying to fight back and help India’s sex workers protect themselves from HIV, including a sex workers union, a group of peer educators, and an AIDS prevention group.

“India: The Sex Workers” was A Little Rain Productions for FRONTLINE/World. It was reported and produced by Raney Aronson-Rath. It was edited by Seth Bomse. The founder and executive producer of FRONTLINE was David Fanning.

Explore more about FRONTLINE/World and this film on the legacy website for the series:

#Documentary #India #HIV #AIDS #Health

Subscribe on YouTube

Sign up for our newsletter

FRONTLINE/World was a production of GBH in Boston. The executive producer was David Fanning.

FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.

Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation, and The Fialkow Family Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.