(Karachi)  The city holds the unenviable statistic of housing the largest number of female sex workers in the country, which stands at 25,399 and is closely followed by Lahore that has a total of 23,766, says a national survey conducted by the Canada-Pakistan HIV/AIDS Surveillance Project.

At the same time, 19,115 male sex workers, who provide services to male clients, live in Pakistan. They are spread over 3,706 spots in 14 cities of the country.

Experts associated with HIV/AIDS control in Pakistan are alarmed at the statistics, which indicate a growing number of male sex workers along with an increased prevalence of HIV/AIDS in female sexual workers.

According to the survey, there are some 89,178 female sex workers in 14 cities. Meanwhile, based on calculations, there are 7.2 female sex workers for every 1,000 men.

The survey also found that over 23,000 transvestite sex workers were offering services in 14 cities of the country. In addition to them, the mapped study also said that approximately 3,594 gurus, mentors of these sex workers, were operating in these cities.

There are some 1.9 transvestites for every 1,000 men. In Sukkur and Multan, the ratio is higher as for every 1,000 adult males in these two cities, as there are 6.9 and 3.4 transvestites, respectively. Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Quetta have about three such sex workers for every 1,000 men.

See the original news story on thenews.com.pk.