Kiran is 21 years old. She has been working as a sex worker for almost two years. Her father is a plumber and there are six members in her family. She lives in Badarpur area of South Delhi. Her family is not aware of her involvement in the sex trade. They think that she is a factory employee.
Kiran is pursuing a bachelor’s programme from Indira Gandhi National Open University. “I have joined this profession to support my family financially and my studies,” she says. She earns an average of almost Rs. 4000 per month. She says she will continue in the profession as she wants to provide the best education to her younger brothers.
Poverty and financial constraints compel girls like Kiran to join this profession. They live in slums as they mostly come from the lower strata of the society. The majority of these Female Sex Workers (FSWs) belong to the age group of 20-40 years. Some of them have been in this profession for over a decade.
Urvashi Gandhi, Manager of Education at Breakthrough, (an NGO working for Human Rights) believes that poverty and patriarchy are the main reasons that propel young girls into this profession. She says: “This cannot be stopped until and unless we are able to overcome these social evils.” Sibghat Usmani, a faculty member of the social work department, Amity University, agrees: “It is a matter of great concern for India that a large number of its population is unable to fulfill even it’s basic needs. The girls are bound to get into such professions.”
The relation between poverty and prostitution has long been firmly established. The sooner we accept this, the faster we can approach this problem and eliminate the plight of many women. Priyanka Sarkar, Manager of Communication, PACS (Poorest Areas Civil Society) says: “The problem lies in our social structure itself. We need at least 50 years more to overcome these problems and find solutions.”
Apart from the risks that their lifestyle exposes them to, these women have to fight daily battles of survival.
Neha, 36, is a sex worker and also a pimp. She has been in this profession for the last six years. A South Delhi resident, with a respectable two-storey house, she has been ostracized by her local community. The neighbors have stopped the water connection to her place and her children have also stopped going to school. The safety of the family has become a major concern.
Everyday is a struggle to live. Rajani, 45, another sex worker points out: “My family threw me out after they came to know that I was a sex worker. Now I have remarried but my husband doesn’t know how I make a living.
Unlike their American and European counterparts they neither have any representation at the state or the national level. According to International Labour Organisation, the mean monthly income of sex workers across the world is $500 compared to $60 for India with no avenues for health or safety from the government. Faced with nothing but social ostracization these women are caught in a vicious circle of poverty and shame that only pulls them deeper into the horror of their lives.
Yet Rajani has hope.
“I pray my children will have a better life than I had, and society will accept us as very much of their part.”
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