A story of two prostitutes and the brutal truth about AIDS in the red lantern district in Amsterdam – BLITZ

"If they do not agree to use a condom, I give them a kick," said Foxxi Angel, a 47-year-old platinum blonde bad worker with tattoos Fearsome in the scandalous hot district of Amsterdam. It is no coincidence that this year the International AIDS Conference is being held in the Dutch capital, become synonymous with the bad industry, according to AFP

The streets of the city are bursting with public houses, bad shops and prostitutes in every corner. Exotic ladies playing in the vicinity of the railway. station, are likely to attract more curious tourists than car service customers

Foxy is one of the ladies waiting for customers under red neon lights

"When we chose Amsterdam, it was especially the idea of ​​shedding light on those most vulnerable to HIV infection.If we do not pay attention to these people, we will lose the battle against AIDS ", told AFP Linda Gail-Becker, president of the international AIDS community
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Female bad workers did not expect some of the world's best doctors and scientists to cross paved corridors and dimly lit rooms at their edges to see with the eyes the risk of being exposed to the "oldest profession".

"I never have bad without a condom, and I do HIV testing and badually transmitted diseases four times a year," Foxy says while sitting in a red velvet armchair and eating a sandwich.
Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, more than 80 million people worldwide have contracted the virus. Among them are colleagues from Foxy and Elsa – the young prostitute who is in the next showcase. A long time ago in this region, HIV was not a taboo

"I am not afraid at all.Many of my friends are HIV positive and continue to work. Is possible, "says the 25-year-old American, referring to the advances of modern medicine and therapies that are now infected
.
About 7,000 people work in the area of ​​paid bad in Amsterdam. 75% of them come from poor countries, mainly from Eastern Europe.

Elsa describes herself as "married and polygamous". She is a 17-year-old prostitute. The exhibition hall on which she sits looks at the many cbads of Amsterdam and is directly against the public house where she started working when she arrived in the Netherlands, fleeing the bans on her "activity" in the United States

She, as well as Foxy, does her HIV tests several times a year at a center funded by the municipality. "I'm very careful, I use condoms, but the tests are free, so I take advantage of it," said the young woman, dressed in a pink blouse and a wedge black

"Some men try to get a condom during bad.If this happens, it's the end of the session, right now," says Foxy, who worked as a salesman before to become a prostitute 15 years ago

"I will never accept that. Even for a million, "she was adamant."

Translation and Editing: Blitz