Flesh trade is flourishing in Kerala. More and more men and women are taking to sex work to make easy money, causing concern over the physical and moral health of the society, says a study.

The Kerala State AIDS Control Society study says around 5,500 women and 3,400 men are 'very actively' engaged in sex work in different parts of the state.

The society's programme officer Joe Joseph said a five-year study project, 'Partnership in Sexual Health', which would end this year, has noted that sex workers in the God's Own Country carry out operations from lodges, houses and the streets. Unlike in other states, Kerala does not have sex workers based in brothels.
 
The study, conducted with the help of international agency, TNS Mode, says the 'call girl' system has also become 'frequent' in major towns with students and housewives involved in it in a big way.

The maximum number of female sex workers are in Thiruvananthapuram district (649), followed by Ernakulam (604), Idukki (580), Kozhikode (514) and Kollam (446), the study says.

The break-up in other districts is Alappuzha (297), Kannur (226), Kasargod (224), Kottayam (353), Pathanamthitta (443), Thrissur (393), Wayanad (359), Palakkad (295) and Malappuram (162).

The average age of the women involved in sex work is 32. Over 37 per cent are single, while 29 per cent are women deserted by their husbands.

Divorcees constitute 19 per cent, the study says.