Sex worker Sonia Jesus, 24, takes a client back to a
local brothel near Duarte Ave. in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic where sex
costs only 150 pesos, only a few US dollars. The most common way HIV is
spread in the Caribbean is through husbands that frequently have multiple
sexual partners, sometimes with both men and women. They become infected
with HIV and then bring it home to their wives who are taking care of the
families. When one becomes sick their savings are quickly spent to take care
of themselves and their families. Then with no money left and no job because
they're sick, families disintegrate with spouses often abandoning their sick
partners. When they die, their HIV-positive children are orphaned.
