Richard Gere Tours Red Light District of Mumbai

WASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 19, 2003 — The PSI/India office in Mumbai received an unexpected, but welcome, visitor — Hollywood actor Richard Gere. The long time activist and founder of the Gere Foundation had the opportunity to witness PSI/India outreach projects firsthand and lauded PSI's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.

Following the World AIDS Day 2003 launch of his new Indian HIV/AIDS awareness campaign "The Heroes Project," Gere paid an unannounced visit to the Mumbai office whereupon he was given a tour of PSI's U.S. Agency for International Development-funded outreach activities with commercial sex workers (CSWs) in the red light district. While he ducked in and out of brothels, many of the women mistook Gere for an American doctor, even asking him for examinations.

Gere, star of the 1990 hit movie "Pretty Woman," witnessed outreach activities including edutainment board games which compare the large cost of medical treatment for an HIV-positive person with the small cost of a condom for prevention. Gere questioned women if they used condoms with their customers and learned that many were more concerned about sexually-transmitted infections than HIV. While flipping through a book of educational diagrams used by the outreach workers Gere said, "It's unbelievable that all this is still new information to many of them. To get through to them simple ideas about health is not an easy process." It is estimated that as many as 50% of Mumbai's 10,000 Kamathipura-area sex workers are HIV-positive.

The actor, who has been traveling to India since the 1970s and funds projects there, spoke with CSWs, watched PSI outreach activities, visited one of PSI/India's numerous voluntary counseling and testing centers, visited the Saadhan telephone hotline and after three hours finally had to be dragged away by the Indian socialite accompanying him.

Dr. Shilpa Merchant, PSI/India's national HIV/AIDS coordinator, said Gere was warm with PSI staff and praised them as "motivated" because they work from the heart. He was impressed by the large presence of PSI outreach workers, highly visible in their yellow coats, who covered the red light district.

Upon departing, he told PSI staff he was leaving as a truly inspired man, adding that his visit had been a healing experience and that it was organizations like PSI that made a difference in the world. "There is light at the end of the tunnel when you see so many dedicated [aid] workers," said Gere.

The Gere Foundation awards funding to humanitarian efforts which support victims of war and natural disasters, address human rights violations and those which provide HIV/AIDS research and care.

— Karrie Carnes, PSI/Washington

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Hollywood actor Richard Gere toured Mumbai's red light district with PSI outreach workers where he witnessed firsthand PSI/India's HIV/AIDS prevention activities.