Thiruvananthapuram: Flesh trade appears to be flourishing in God's own country, with men as well as women taking to sex work to make easy money causing concern over the physical and moral health of the society.

According to a study by the Kerala State AIDS Control Society, around 5,500 women and 3,400 men were very actively engaged in sex work in different parts of the State.

Joe Joseph, Programme Officer of the Society said that the five-year study project, titled "Partnership in Sexual Health" which would end this year, also found that sex workers in the State conducted their operations from lodges, houses and streets. Unlike in other States, the State did not have brothel-based sex workers.

The study, conducted with the help of TNS Mode, an international agency, also revealed that "call girl" system had also become frequent in major towns in the State. Students and housewives were included in this category, it said.

The maximum number of female sex workers was in the capital district (649), followed by Ernakulam (604), Idukki (580), Kozhikode (514) and Kollam (446). The break-up in other districts, Alappuzha (297), Kannur (226), Kasargod (224), Kottayam (353), Pathanamthitta (443), Thrissur (393), Wayanad (359), Palakkad (295) and Malappuram (162).

The average age of women involved in sex work was 32 of which 37 per cent were unmarried while another 29 per cent were women deserted by their husbands. Divorcees constituted 19 per cent, the study report said.