‘Progress’, from road building to relocation, brings prostitution, the abuse of tribal women and children, and sexual diseases. In 1971, Brazilian government efforts to establish ‘friendly contact’ with isolated Indians brought gonorrhoea to the Parakaná. Thirty-five Indian women were infected by government workers; some of their children were born blind.
Indonesian occupation is disastrous for indigenous Papuans. Their rate of HIV/AIDS infection is 15 times the national average and rising rapidly. However, health education and testing is focussed on the Indonesian population, not the indigenous tribes.
Soldiers take prostitutes, and alcohol, to tribal leaders to bribe them to give up their most precious wood, which is then sold for incense. Many Papuans even believe that the Indonesian army is deliberately introducing HIV as a tool for genocide. Some tribes now face annihilation from the disease.
Please spend a few minutes writing a letter to the Indonesian government expressing your concern about HIV/AIDS amongst tribal peoples in West Papua. Time and again we've found that letters from Survival supporters make a crucial impact. It really works. Write a letter now using Survival's online letter-writing tool »
