1. society
2. crime
3. sexual offence
4. prostitution

Brothel-based and
Floating Sex Workers
In Bangladesh
Living Conditions and
Socio-Economic Status
March 2005
Prepared by:
Italia
humanitarian aid, cooperation for development and
child’s rights
Funded by:
European Union
Content
PART 1-Brothel-based Sex Workers In Bangladesh Living Conditions and
Socio-Economic Status
Brothel Stakeholders
Map: Brothels in Bangladesh
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Objective of the report
1.2 Methodology of the study
1.3 Limitations of the study
Chapter 2 – Brothel-based Sex Work
2.1 General informations about the brothels
2.2 Place of Origin of the sex workers
2.3 Age and Status of brothel-based sex workers
2.4 Reason for joining the sex trade
2.5 Affidavit: entry ticket in the sex trade
2.6 Age of entrance into the Sex Trade
2.7 Chukri: duration of bondage
2.8 Children of the sex workers
Case Studies
Chapter 3 – Brothel – based Sex workers: Socio-Economic Status
3.1 Education background
3.2 Income
3.3 Main expenditures
3.4 Loan and savings
3.5 Health-related issues
3.6 Violence and torture
3.7 Future plans
Appendix I – NGOs interviewed for the survey and main problems in the brothels
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PART 2- A Study on Street based-Sex Workers In 4 major Cities of Bangladesh
Their Demographic, Socio-economic and Human Rights Status
Introduction
Objectives
Methodology
Strength and Limitation of the Study
Research Findings
Information on the Cities Visited
Map of Bangladesh highlighting 4 cities
Back ground of the Floating sex workers
Place of Origin of Respondents
Age of the Respondents
Educational Status of the Respondents
Marital Status of the Respondents
Respondent’s Family: Children/Parents/Siblings
Reasons for Leaving Home and Joining this Profession
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i
Why did they leave home?
Why did they join this profession?
How long have they been working?
Socio Economic Status of the Floating sex workers
Economic Status of the Respondents
Income/Expenditure
Expenditure
Debts/Savings
Social Standing of the Respondents vis a vis the Clients, Mastaans and the Police
The Clients
The Mastaans/goons
The Police
The Society
Why are you in the streets and not in the brothel?
Differentiating a Floating Sex worker
The Scars on their Faces
Vagrant Home
Affidavit: What is that?
Health Status of the Respondents
HIV/AIDS, STDs and Condom Use
Contraceptive Use
Mental Health Care
General Health Care
Drug Addiction
Human Rights Status of Respondents
Right to Livelihood
Right to Justice/ Equality before Law: Arbitrary arrests/Detention
Freedom from Slavery: Right to Independent Living
Freedom from Torture, Inhuman/Degrading Treatment
Freedom of Movement, Assembly
Right to Organize
Right to Vote
The Situation of Underage Girls in the Sex Trade
Drop-in Centers
Future: Expectations and Needs
Conclusion
Appendix II – Comparison between brothel-based and floating sex workers
Appendix III - Organizations and persons who has helped for the interviews to the
street sex workers in Dhaka, Chittagong, Jessore & Sylhet
Appendix IV – Organizations of Sex Workers and NGOs working the in brothels
Appendix V – Questionnaire for survey
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PART 1
Brothel-based Sex Workers
In Bangladesh
Living Conditions and
Socio-Economic Status
By
Robiul Alam
The Researchers: Saadia, Jahid, Mozammel, Sagor
Terre des hommes Italy Foundation
March 2005
iii
BROTHEL STAKEHOLDERS
1. Sex-workers
(i) Chukri (Bonded Girls)
The brothel is a place with its own rules and hierarchies. The sex workers have adopted their own
expressions to identify their related social status and type of sexual exploitation.
Chukris are the bonded girls and they occupy the lowest ranks inside the brothel society. They
generally are victims of trafficking (deceitful love affairs or allurement of well paid jobs) and enter
the brothel after being sold to a shordarni (landlady). Afterwards they start as forced prostitutes and
come under the overall control of their owner. Their shordarnis get an affidavit on behalf of them
before a notary public stating that they are above 18 years, consenting with the sex trade and very
poor. The same sex workers erroneously interpret the affidavit as a trade license but on the contrary
it is just a statement without any legal value.
The debt bondage relationship between chukris- and shordarnis is played inside the brothel as a sort
of imaginary mother-daughter relation.
Chukries represent a very much profitable business for their owners: shordarnis generally spend
15000 to 30000 taka for their purchase and involvement into the brothel sex trade. The price
depends on their beauty and age.
They start the sex trade well below the age of 18 years and the research team estimated that most of
them are between 13 and 17 years old. On average, chukris have to spend a period of bondage,
which lasts from 1 year to 5 years. During this period, they cannot enjoy any kind of rights or
freedom. They are daily forced to satisfy several customers and they cannot control their high
income. Shordarnis misappropriate all that they earn in exchange for living expenditures such as
rent, food and clothes.
After this period of bondage, chukris can get their freedom by paying back their debt or sometimes
by the help of a powerful customer. The separation from their owner is commonly known as Azad
(freedom).
The survey team found several hindrances in order to interview such sexual slaves. Ostracism by
their shordarnis was the main obstacle. During the in-depth interview sessions they were watched
all the time and often completely frightened of confiding their harsh living conditions.
(ii) Bharatia (Independent Sex Worker)
Once chukris got their freedom, they start to work as Bharatia. They are tenant sex workers who
work freely by renting a room in the brothel and controlling their own earnings independently. In
such way, they are sometimes able to save money.
Bharatias is the biggest group inside the brothels and it was the main respondent sample. They are
mainly between 18 and 35 years.
Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that some sex-workers have started their trade as Bharatia
rather than as Chukri.
(iii) Shordarni (Madam)
Shordarnis are madams or female brothel managers who own and force in slavery the bonded girls
known as chukris. They generally are involved in the trafficking process and have influential
relationships with powerful people and police. In the cycle of life of the brothel, the status of
shordarni represents the main aspiration as well destination of some bharatias who quit the trade for
having reached the “retirement age”.
(iv) Gharwali
iv
Gharwali are tenant sex workers who rent rooms from bariwalis, bariwalas or shordarnis and
afterwards, they rent the rooms to the independent sex workers. Sometimes they can also own
chukris.
(v) Bariwali (Owner of brothel homesteads)
Bariwali are the female owner of the brothel homesteads (bari) and they lease land from local
brothel landowners, build housing which they later rent to shordarnis or bharatias.
In many brothels, bariwali are also shordarnis. The brothel rent is a huge profitable business
because it is double or three times higher than the outside rate. The rent of a room is per day around
30 to 250 taka and it depends on the quality/size of the room.
Commonly an agent on behalf of the bariwali daily collects the payments from the brothel inmates.
Bariwali, bariwala and shordarnis are the main source of violence, tortures, abuses and harassments
inside the brothel.
(vi) Mashi (Old & former Sex-worker)
Mashi are former sex workers who retired from active sex-work and take on related profession
inside the brothel such as household chores for other sex workers (cooking, washing, looking after
their children). They do not have any savings and they face critical living conditions living from
hand to mouth.
Sometimes, local old women who live outside the brothel come to work as Mashi, too. Their
income per day is between 10 to 30 taka.
Former sex workers can also work for the brothel entertainment collecting customers for others,
running small restaurants or simply supplying cigarettes, drugs and alcohol.
Chukri
New sex
worker
comes in this
profession
Bharatia
Shordarni
Mashi
Figure 2: Life Cycle of sex-worker into the Brothel
2. Bariwala (House-owner)
Bariwala are the male owner of the brothel homesteads and they live outside the brothel. They rent
the rooms to Bharatias and Shordarnies. They often run alcohol, drugs, gambling and cigarette
v
business inside the brothel by taking advantage of influential links with political, administrative and
police officers.
Several sex workers reported abuses and tortures from Bariwalas. This generally happens when they
fail to pay the rent in due time. On the contrary, sometime the Bariwala also helps the brothel
dwellers when they are in financial straits or in danger.
3. Badha Babu (Fixed Customer)
Most of the time children are born in the brothel without any acknowledged father. But according to
the brothel customs, many children have a fictive father who is generally their mother’s fixed
customer also known in brothel slang as babu or so called husband. He sometimes provides for the
sex worker’s main expenditures, otherwise he is just a danger for the younger daughters whom he
would like to involve in the sex business.
Since the sex-workers are neglected by the society and rejected by their families, they are always
eager to get love and affection. Some Badha Babus have been found really good with their beloved
sex-worker. On the contrary, they often deceive the sex-workers and take away all their savings.
It should be mentioned that most of the sex-workers do not use any protective measure with their
Badha Babu and throw themselves into risk.
4. Dalal (Pimp)
The agents who are engaged in collecting and selling the girls into the brothel are called Dalal. The
major percentage of the sex-workers entered the brothel after having been deceived and sold by
them. Most of the Dalals are female. They generally deceive new girls by offering them a fake
marriage or a well-paid employment.
5. Mastan (local muscleman)
The Mastans are the local musclemen. They take drugs inside the brothel, enjoy sex with the sexworker without paying money and take away money from the sex-workers. According to the
finding of the survey it has been discovered that at most of the brothels the sex-workers have been
organized against them and the activities of these Mastans are decreasing day by day.
6. Police
The Police play an important role in the brothel. The local thana police register name and age of
each sex worker and therefore authorize all the new entries.
In this process, habilders (patrolling low rank police officers) play a pivotal role because they are
also in charge of the thana register as well as public order inside the brothel.
They are involved in trafficking and they receive protection money for each new girl. Furthermore,
they exploit the sex workers with a daily system of bribery payment and they are source of several
abuses and harassments.
If any customer wants to stay in the brothel after a certain hour, the police have to be paid.
7. Shopkeeper/ businessman
In the brothel, there are mainly grocery shops. Besides, there are some food shops, small
restaurants, hotels and liquor stores. Marijuana and some other drugs are also available.
Beauty Parlors, Tailoring Shops, Laundry Shops, Photo Studios, Phone Call Centre, CD/VCD,
Audio-video cassette shops generally surround the brothel environment which are often located in
the town market areas.
Some of these shops are run by the sex-workers themselves.
The brothel houses also many street vendors and hawkers such as show and clothes makers, ice
cream and hand-made food sellers, etc. Because of their restricted freedom of movement, sex
workers are often forced to buy consumer goods for a price, which is generally double than the
outside rate
vi
8. Local Doctors/ private clinics
The sex-workers generally do not enjoy the benefits of public hospitals. In case of diseases or
unwanted pregnancy, they mainly depend on local doctors, kobiraj (quake doctors), outside
chemist’s, and midwives.
10. Beggars
A lot of beggars used to stay in the brothel, which is a money enterprise. The sex workers are
discriminated by the mainstream society, which considers them as sinners and fallen women. The
sex workers themselves often believe in their immoral status. For this reason, they often give money
donations in order to get rid of their supposed sin.
11. Mohajon (money lenders)
Those who lend money to the sex-workers are called Mohajons. They lend money at a very high
interest rate and are very hard about the return of their money. The sex workers have to cope with
several high expenditures. Even if their average income is higher than other professions, they
generally are not able to save money and afford the daily spending. Therefore they ask for loan and
incur debts. They cannot leave the brothel until the debt has been paid off.
vii
Map: Brothels in Bangladesh
Raniganj Brothel,
Jamalpur
Mymensing Brothel
Tangail Brothel
Doulatdia
Brothel, Rajbari
Marwari Mondir,
Babu Bazar &
Jhalaipatti
Brothel, Jessore
Faridpur Brothel,
C&B Ghat Brothel
Madaripur Brothel
Phultala Brothel,
Khulna
Bagerhat Brothel
Potuakhali Brothel
Baniashanta
Brothel, Khulna
Brothels in Bangladesh.
viii
Chapter 1 Introduction
In Bangladesh, women who are forced or choose because of poverty the sex trade as livelihood
constitute one of the most affected and discriminated groups of society.
Though the number of sex workers and underage forced girls is estimated between 60,000 and
100,000, it is acknowledged that this current figure would be higher, up to 150,000.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics does not recognize the sex business as an occupation and it
enumerates prostitutes as “destitute”.
In the country there are 14 acknowledged brothels where women and children involved in the trade,
like in many other Asian countries, are underprivileged, abused, exploited and face a condition of
powerless and vulnerability towards brothel landlords, madams, pimps, traffickers, mastans, police
as well as the mainstream society.
The brothels are like ghettos where sex workers are confined in order to keep what is considered an
“unbearable business” from spoiling the social environment. Such places are deliberately kept in
obscurity and hidden in the eyes of the mainstream society. But inside their narrow alleys and
crumbling lanes, a life full of hardship, extortion, rape, abuses and harassments of any kind, are an
everyday occurrence.
Sex workers do not enjoy the citizen’s rights, which are enshrined in The Constitution of the
People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The right to equality, adequate living standards, life and personal
security, protection by law and legal remedies, own property, movement, and simply the right to be
free from exploitation of any kind, are commonly violated in a social context which prefers to turn a
blind eye to brothel-based sex work instead of becoming aware.
On 23rd July 1999, police violently evicted Tanbazar and Nimtoli brothels. On 14th March 2000, the
High Court of Bangladesh issued a judgment after a written petition submitted by some local NGOs
such as ASK, BNWLA, BSEHR, etc. This rule can represent an important step towards the social
recognition of brothel-based sex workers as citizens. The High Court declared that the sex workers
are citizens of Bangladesh and they have enforceable rights under art. 31 (right to the protection of
the law) and 32 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. Consequently their right to
livelihood should be safeguarded against any illegal and abusive eviction. Furthermore,
rehabilitation scheme must not be incompatible with their dignity and the common worth of human
beings.
In despite of this, in the brothels, the present atmosphere is oppressing and suffocating. Their
existence has to be acknowledged and they need to open up. This may be an important and first step
to reduce prostitution-related crimes such as slavery-like practices, children sexual exploitation and
chukris’ debt bondage.
1.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE REPORT
This report was drew up within the framework of the project “Asserting the Human Rights of
Brothel Children and their WiP (women in Prostitution) mothers funded through the European
Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). The project, which started in March 2002
1
and ended in May 2005, has been implemented by Terre des hommes Foundation-Italy (Tdh-I) in
collaboration with two local NGOs, Aparajeyo Bangladesh in Jamalpur and Jagorani Chakra in
Jessore.
It aimed at promoting human rights awareness of brothel children and their mothers at local and
national level by setting up two centres, providing for education, counselling, vocational training,
health and legal support.
This national survey on brothels was deemed as a further useful tool in order to assess the living
conditions of brothel-based sex workers, their social and economic status and give an exhaustive
picture of the main human rights violations, which hamper their full participation in the society as
the other citizens.
The research aimed at identifying living conditions, main problems and priorities for the betterment
of the plight of women and girls in the sex industry as well as assessing possible areas of
intervention for future NGOs/Government pilot projects.
In order to achieve this overall objective, the report seeks also to obtain the following specific
objectives:
9 Identify all the actors involved in the brothel exploitation and the main perpetrators
9 Identify the sector of intervention and activities of other NGOs working inside the brothels.
9 Elicit informations about the reasons of entrance into the brothel.
9 Assess living conditions, perceptions and advices of brothel inmates to improve their
hardships
1.2 METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
Beginning from May 2004, Tdh Italy set up a human rights cell comprising a local consultant, a
project officer, three university graduates in social science, and three former sex workers, member
of Ulka Nari Sangho and Durjoy Nari Sangho.
Ulka is a local organization of evicted sex workers from Kandupatti brothel (or English Road
Brothel, 1997). Durjoy is a street-based sex workers organization.
The team surveyed all the official 14 brothels from July to September 2004. The research has been
accomplished as follows:
• Data collection
• Data entry
• Data analysis and reporting
1. Data collection
Two different questionnaires have been developed to collect data about the brothel.
One questionnaire was submitted to the local NGOs working in the brothel in order to carry out a
brothel census (total number of sex workers, classification per age and status such as chukri,
bharatia, shordarni, mashi, etc), a homestead survey (total number of houses, rooms, latrines, tube
wells, drainage system, water and electricity supply), a general assessment of inmates living
conditions (diseases, constraints, abuses, common problems), and local NGOs area of intervention
(education, HIV/STD prevention, micro-credit programme, etc.). A total number of 23 NGOs
workers have been interviewed.
The second questionnaire was submitted to 344 brothel-based sex workers during personal meetings
and in-depth interviews. It was structured in different sections focusing on reasons and
circumstances of entrance into the brothel, living conditions inside, the plight of the sexual slaves,
trafficking network, role of police, lawyers and notary publics in the brothel-based recruitment,
income, expenditures, savings, customers, abuses and violence, health conditions, informations
about education, family, future plans, children, HIV/STD knowledge and the general local
community discrimination.
2
Besides, 27 case studies of sex-workers were also drawn up. Moreover, informal group discussion
sessions and unstructured interviews were held with different brothel stakeholders such as
customers, shop keepers, etc.
Table 1: The number of the respondent according to their category.
Respondent category
Chukris
Bharatia
Shordarni
Bariwali/Gharwali
Masi
Total
Number
42
254
35
8
5
344
As table 1 clearly highlights, the independent sex workers or bharatia are the main respondent
group. Indeed, they are the majority of the brothel-based sex workers. Moreover, they are less
reluctant to speak up and vent. Out of 344 brothel inmates that have been interviewed, they
represent the 75%.
On the contrary, the underage bonded girls (chukris), who generally are locked up in rooms or are
watched by the shordarnis, were hardly approachable as well as their owners (shordarnis, gharwalis
and bariwalis), who were mistrustful towards the team research.
In despite of this, the human rights cell was able to interview 42 chukris, which are a considerable
percentage in the total number of brothel dwellers interviewed (12%).
Diagram1: Respondent according to their category
10%
2% 1%
12%
75%
Chukri
Bharatia
Shordarni
Bariwali/Gharwali
Masi
2. Data entry
Four Research Assistants have been employed under the supervision of the team leader to enter the
data into excel spreadsheet and set up a database. Besides, they translated from Bangla into English
the narrative findings of the questionnaire as well as the case studies. Such process started on 10th
January 2005 and continued until 10th February 2005.
3. Data analysis and reporting
In this stage, four Research Assistants were employed to analyse the data and draw up the final
report. This stage of work has been begin from 11th February 2005 and continued till 3rd March
2005.
3
Figure 1: Flow chart of the Methodology
i.
ii.
Data collection
iii.
iv.
v.
i.
ii.
iii.
Data entry
Questionnaire survey- sex workers.
Questionnaire survey- NGOs working in the
brothel.
Case studies- sex-workers.
Informal Group discussion- inside and
adjacent the brothel.
Unstructured interview with different
stakeholders of the brothel.
Data entry- excel spreadsheet
Narrative findings – word file
Case studies – word file.
Data analysis and reporting
1.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The survey team came up against several difficulties. Ostracism, little cooperation by shordarnis as
well as fear to speak up by chukris was the main hindrances, which have affected some data
reliability (age of sex workers, status inside the brothel, etc.).
Furthermore, some sex workers were reluctant to reveal their age because their affidavit declares
that they are above 18 years old. Besides, many of them do not know precisely their age.
The content of the questionnaire made also some difficulties because several sex workers were not
comfortable with terms such as human rights, income, tortures, etc.
The number of brothel-based sex workers is probably highest. The team survey generally relied on
the figure recorded by local NGOs working in the brothel. In order to carry out a brothel and
4
homesteads census survey, an ad hoc questionnaire was submitted to local NGOs workers, but most
of the times the respective figures did not match. Hence some data could not be used.
Finally, the person involved in the survey (3 students and 3 sex workers with the supervision of a
Tdh project officer) had some quarrels. The same sex workers, who carried out the research, have
been of huge help, but sometimes they were disapproved by other brothel-based dwellers and
especially by shordarnis who felt themselves threatened.
5
Chapter 2 – Brothel-based Sex Work
In Bangladesh, there are 14 acknowledged brothels. Seven are located in Dhaka Division, six in
Khulna Division and only one, Pothuakali brothel in Barisal Division. The brothels are generally
located in or near the town commercial area or river port. Most of them date back to the British
period. Doulatdia brothel is the most recent and, after the eviction of Tanzabar brothel in 1999, it is
also the largest one.
The brothels look generally like urban slums. They are congested, overcrowded, narrow, crumbling
and dirty. Few sex workers can enjoy a single room: they usually live sharing windowless rooms
and poor sanitary facilities. Water supply is inadequate, the drainage system is not proper, and
latrines are often not sufficient for all the inmates. Nevertheless, the living expenses are huge inside.
The room rent is extortionate and it must be paid on daily basis. Otherwise, the brothel dwellers risk
the threat of eviction and violence by agents, who come to collect the money on behalf of brothel
landlords. These are the real beneficiaries of the sex business and they usually run inside also illegal
related activities such as alcohol and drug-trade.
The brothel is a place with its own rules and hierarchies of power. The sex workers have adopted
their own expressions to identify their social status and the related type of exploitation and freedom.
At the summit of such pyramidal structure, there are brothel landlords and bariwali who rent out the
land and the homesteads to the other sex workers. Shordarnis are madams and managers who
generally owner bonded and underage girls commonly known as chukris. Bharatia are the
independent sex workers who can lease the room and control their own earnings independently.
The brothel environment houses also several children of sex workers and former sex workers who
lead a wretched life working as housemaid or begging around.
2.1 General informations about the brothels
According to the survey, there are 4192 brothel-based sex workers. This figure includes former sex
workers (345) and children victims of forced prostitution (783), too. However, the number of
chukris living inside under the control of a shordarni/bariwali seems to be much higher. As
mentioned previously, these girls are hardly approachable by NGOs worker and they live generally
confined in the brothel rooms or controlled by their owner who does not let them speak openly.
The largest number of sex workers is bharatia or independent (2260). They started generally as
chukri and, after their freedom, they kept on working in the sex trade because of the lack of
alternatives and a spread discrimination which branded them as impure at local community level.
The number of madams (shordarni) is 554. Inside the chain of brothel exploitation, they benefit,
together with bariwali and landlords, from the business of the others. Consequently they can save
money and enroll their children to the schools.
Data referring to the social and working status of the brothel dwellers are confirmed by their age
category. 841 sex workers are between 18 and 25 years old, while 782 are between 26 and 35. The
independent sex workers who live since several years inside the brothels mainly represent these
categories.
6
The survey has found only 386 underage girls working as bonded, but the same reflections made for
the number of chukris are valid. Minors are generally locked up in the rooms. On the contrary,
when the research team was able to interview such children, they generally replied to be above 18
years old because their affidavit establishes their majority.
397 sex workers are between 36 and 45 years old, and 215 are above 46 years. These are shordarnis
or mashi, former sex workers who generally do household chores for the other dwellers or look
after their children. Mashi represent, together with the chukri, the lowest rungs of the brothel
society.
Table 2.1: Informations on age and status of the brothel inmates
Chukris
(Bonded
Bharatia
(independen
Shoardarni
(madams)
5
11
48
15
13
29
250
-
2
8
375
102
6
-
52
53
375
352
271
1176
16
7
25
74
29
100
25
32
300
123
117
900
9
6
20
50
19
176
2
8
30
105
106
-
-
763
344
185
300
109
65
305
194
72
158
16
36
25
12
-
157
1
4192
783
226
0
554
345
250
65
0
44
60
45
20
3
1
22
9
15
0
63
94
41
9
6
105
77
-
27
24
170
100
-
11
14
40
63
-
15
22
-
300
125
71
232
67
53
100
36
8
68
22
12
841
782
397
215
-
Not
mentioned
Not
mentioned
59
34
69
30
65
50
33
Others
(cooks, old
sex
workers,
46 & above
5
15
38
36-45
74
57
250
95
145
3
38
6
Total
no.
Of sex
worker
74
57
29
26-35
Kandapara
Mymensingh
Ranigonj
Barar,
Total
Sex worker’s type
(Frequency)
60
16
18-25
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jhalai Patti
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
C& B Ghat
Doulatdia
Sex worker’s Age
Category (Frequency)
Below 18
Brothel
Potuakhali brothel
The brothel is located in Barisal Division in Potuakhali district. The place dates back to the British
period and is situated in the center of Potuakhali town. The commercial area and the river port are
not far from the brothel as well as the local thana police station.
The brothel, compared to other ones, is small and houses only 74 sex workers.
49 of them come from far districts and 3 from neighboring ones. Here, 59 sex workers run their
business as bharatia and 15 as mashi.
7
According to the survey data, there are no chukris or shordarni, but this figure seems to not be
reliable.
The brothel is made by 9 homesteads and 125 tin-shed rooms that look very poor and dirty.
There are 5 latrines and 7 tube wells, but no proper drainage system and there is lack of safe and
drinkable water.
The brothel inmates risk a daily threat of eviction and they complain that, for such reason, the
number of customers is decreasing. At present, they do not still have a local graveyard, but they
have less restriction of movement because of the presence of Kajus, local NGO that is the partner of
Care Bangladesh.
Bagherhat brothel
The brothel is located in Khulna Division in Bagherat district. It dates back to 1945 and it is situated
in the center of Bagherat town, near the river port. The main thana police station is within half-akilometer. During high tide, the brothel is submerged two times per day by knee-deep water.
The place houses 57 sex workers. 30 come from far districts, 22 from neighboring and only 5 sex
workers are born in Bagherat district.
Here, 34 sex workers are running their business independently, while 5 live in bondage. There are
also 5 shordarni. Besides, 13 former sex workers survive as mashi.
The brothel is made by 8 homesteads of Golpata palm leaves and 113 rooms. It is provided with 5
latrines and 4 tube wells. There is a big and dirty garbage filled-pond inside the brothel. The
inmates daily use the water from this dirty pond and the water from the tube well is contaminated
with arsenic. The sex workers have to take drinkable water from outside because the water, which is
available inside from the municipal supply, is salty. Here, there is no proper drainage system and
the local corporation of sweepers comes only occasionally.
In Bagerhjat brothel, the sex workers still do not have their graveyard, and sometimes they can bury
their children at public graveyard with the help of local NGOs such as JJS (Jagrata Juba Sangha)
and HELP.
Since few years, they are allowed to leave the brothel wearing shoes.
Banishanta brothel
The brothel is located in Khulna District and it is in proximity of Mongla Port and Sundarban
forest. The brothel looks like an isolated island, surrounded by Poshur River and a big shrimp farm.
Therefore, the place is very vulnerable and prone to flood during high tide and rainy season. Most
of the times, the environment is muddy and the movement inside is very difficult.
The brothel is made by 65 houses and 391 rooms thatched by Golpata palm leaves. Riverbank
erosion represents the main concern for the brothel as well as the lack of customers. The only way
to reach the brothel-island is by boat, but during the last two years, since Mongla Port is not active
as before, the number of customers, who were mostly seamen, is drastically reduced.
The brothel houses 250 sex workers and 205 of them come from far districts.
65 sex workers are between 18 and 25; 65 between 26 and 35; 60 between 36 and 45 and 60 are
above 46 years. Here, the survey team was not able to collect informations about the number of
children forced in the sex trade, but according to the significant number of sex workers who are
above 26 years (185), it has been estimated that several girls are working in bondage as chukris.
Here, drinkable water and a graveyard for sex workers are the main claims.
Phultala brothel
8
The brothel is located in Khulna District in Phultala Upazilla. The place is 34 years old and it is
situated beside a jute mill and near a small port on Bhoirab River.
4 homesteads and around 80 rooms in which 95 sex workers live make the brothel.
69 of them are bharatia; 15 work in bondage as chukris and 11 work as shordarnis. As in other
cases, the survey team was not able to collect informations about underage prostitution, especially
because of ostracism by madams. In despite of this, 15 chukris are working inside and,
consequently, this figure has been estimated reliable for identifying exploited underage.
Here, 45 inmates are between 36 and 45 years old.
The place is small, congested and surrounded by a wall. The entrance is very narrow. There are 5
latrines, 4 tube wells and no proper drainage system as well as drinkable water.
The sex workers of Pulthala brothel mainly complain about the lack of a graveyard for them and
their children. Some local NGOs such as JJS and Marie Stopes Clinic are assisting the sex workers.
They face also local community discrimination: they cannot leave the brothel wearing shoes.
Here, Police officers usually know as “cashiers” raid the brothel and harass the sex workers: if they
want to leave the brothel, they have to pay some bribe.
Marwari Mondir, Jhalaipatti and Babubazar brothels
In Jessore in Khulna Division, there are three brothels located besides the Sadar Thana. They are
situated in the commercial area of the town.
The Marwari Mondir brothel is 100 years old and it is the largest and the richest one. The place is
made up of three homesteads and 69 rooms in which 145 sex workers live. 38 out of them are
chukris, 30 bharatia and 48 shordarni. Besides, 29 work inside as mashi. According to the survey,
the brothel houses only three underage working as chukris, but it should be deemed that the number
of young brothel dwellers is higher.
33 sex workers are between 18 and 25 years old, 44 between 26 and 35, 20 between 36 and 45 and
finally 16 above 46 years old.
Marwari Mondir compared to others looks rather wealthy. There are 5 latrines and 7 tube wells;
almost every room is provided with electric fans, tape recorders, televisions and other domestic
items.
The Babu Bazar brothel is 60 years old. The entrance is very narrow and the place is small, poor,
dirty and congested. The brothel is made of 2 homesteads and 26 rooms in which 52 sex workers
live. 16 are chukris, 25 are bharatia, 9 are shordarnis and 2 are working as mashi.
Also in Babu Bazar, the age of the sex workers is not completely reliable: there are three underage
girls, 9 between 18 and 25 years, 27 between 26 and 35 and 13 above 36 years old.
The Jhalaiptti brothel is crumbling and the poorest one. Here living and hygienic conditions are
unhealthy. There are 2 latrines, two tube wells and 53 sex workers live inside: 7 work as chukris, 32
as bharatia and 6 as shordarni. The brothel is made by one homestead, which comprises 24 rooms.
Each rooms houses two sex workers.
In these three brothels, the survey team found out a huge consumption of alcohol and drugs,
especially in the richest one, Marwari Mondir. The sex workers mainly complain about the high
room rent and a lower income. This is due to the prohibition to engage children and new girls in the
sex trade by local thana police and the spread of hotel-based sex work in Jessore, which has
replaced the brothel business.
9
They also complain about poor and unhealthy living conditions, lack of water supply and toilet
facilities. They asked for education and vocational training programs that can allow them to leave
the brothel.
Puranbazar brothel
The brothel is located in Dhaka Division in Madaripur District. The place dates back to the British
period, 85 years ago. It is situated in central wholesale market area of the town.
The brothel is very poor and dirty. There is no proper sewage and drainage system. There are 21
houses and 200 rooms in total. Here, 375 sex workers live and work. The largest number of brothel
dwellers comprises bharatias (300), followed by 30 mashi, 25 chukris and 20 shordarnis.
Here, data collection was very difficult for the survey team because in general the sex workers
refused to give informations about their age. In Puranzabar brothel, sex workers tend to involve
their daughters in the sex business. The sex workers mainly complain about their poor living
conditions, absence of a graveyard and violence by mastans.
Rothkola brothel
Rothkola brothel is located in Dhaka Division in Faridpur District. The place dates back to 100
years and it houses 352 sex workers. 140 of them come from far districts, while only 80 are born in
Faridpur. The brothel houses 74 chukris, 123 bharatia, 50 shordarni and 105 former sex workers.
Mostly all the sex workers are between 18 and 35 years old (275). 22 are below 18 years old and 55
are above 36 years old.
The brothel is made by 11 houses and 250 rooms. Here, there are 23 latrines and 9 tube wells. There
is regular water supply and electricity, but no proper waste management system.
The environment is very congested. The sex workers especially complain about violence by
mastans and extortion by police. Here, they have to pay monthly protection money to the local
thana police.
In Rothkola brothel, the sex workers have their own cooperative, Joy Nari Kolyan Shomity, and
they elect their leaders. Their fixed customers or Bhada Babu set up their own organization, too.
C&B Ghat Brothel
The brothel is located in Faridpur District in the outskirts of Faridpur Town and it is 27 years old.
The place is situated on the bank of the river Padma and it is prone to river soil erosion and flood.
Here, 271 sex workers live in 52 homesteads, which comprise 249 rooms of mud, bamboo and tin.
217 of them come from other districts. C&B brothel houses 29 girls in bondage, 19 shordarnis, 106
former sex workers and 117 independent tenants.
177 sex workers are between 18 and 35 years old. The figure of only 9 children forced to
prostitution is not reliable.
The brothel is crumbling; there is no proper drainage system, electricity supply or other civic
facilities. The sex workers have to pay high expenditures for electricity supply.
At present, the main concern is the lack of customers, dirty living conditions and the absence of a
graveyard for them. They bury their dead hiding their identity and without any funeral services.
They are buried without a “Kafon” (cloth to wrap the body).
The sex workers of C&B Ghat have set up a cooperative, Padma Nari Kolyan Shomity.
10
Table 2.2: General informations about the brothels
Potuakhali
Sadar
Centre of the
town
Bagerhat
Sadar
Besides River
Baniashanta
Khulna
Dakob
Phultala
Khulna
Phultala
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jessore
Sadar
Jessore
Sadar
Jhalai Patti
Jessore
Sadar
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
Madaripur
Faridpur
Sadar
Sadar
C & B Ghat
Doulatdia
Faridpur
Rajbari
Sadar
Goulanda
Kandapara
Tangail
Sadar
Mymensing
Mymensing
Kotowali
Near River
Port
Besides the
river and the
market
Commercial
Area
Commercial
Area
Commercial
Area
Puran Bazar
Commercial
Area
River port
Bus Stand
Railway
station, River
port
Commercial
Area
Commercial
Area
Jamalpur
Jamalpur
Bagerhat
Ranigonj
Commercial
Area
Sex-workers coming
from (frequency)
Total
Far
Neigh
bouring
districts
Age of
the
Brothel
Local
district
Position
District
Potuakhali
Upazila/
Thana
Location
Name of
the Brothel
22
3
49
74
5
22
30
57
20
25
205
250
-
-
-
95
100+
years
60 years
-
-
-
145
-
-
-
52
60 years
-
-
-
53
85 years
100 years
88
124
140
375
352
27 years
20 years
54
100
81
150
136
926
271
1176
150/200
342
266
155
years
From
British
Period
74
74
37
From
British
Period
Total number of sex workers
763
From
British
Period
Since
1945
34 years
old
34 years
old
344
185
4192
Doulatdia brothel
Doulatdia is the biggest brothel in Bangladesh. It is located in Dhaka division in Rajbari district.
At present, there are 1176 sex workers but the number has been estimated highest. It probably
overcomes 1700.
The place is situated beside the river port of Goalonda Ghat and it dates back to 20 years ago.
11
Here, 1076 sex workers come from other district. The majority of them are bharatia (900). On the
contrary, around 100 of them live in bondage under 1 of the 176 shordarnis who manage the
brothel. The survey team has found 150 underage girls, but it has been estimated that this figure
may reach the number of 400.
Doulatdia brothel is made by 223 homesteads, which comprise 669 rooms of corrugated tin sheets.
There are 135 tube wells and a very poor drainage system. During the rainy season, the place
becomes muddy and the movements inside are difficult. Electricity is available inside the brothel,
but the charge is very high. The bill for the electricity supply is collected on daily basis.
Inside the brothel there are several shops and many of them run alcohol or drugs business.
Mostly of the sex workers complain that the price of goods and commodities inside the brothel is
very high compared to the rate outside the brothel.
Kandapara brothel
The brothel is located in Dhaka Division in Tangail district and it dates back to 150/200 years ago.
The place is made by 57 houses, which comprise 138 rooms. Here, 763 sex workers live and out of
them, 342 come from the same district.
300 chukris live in bondage under the 158 shordarnis. The team has found 63 children engaged in
the sex trade, but as in other brothels, this figure shall be deemed higher.
Like other brothel, the place is congested and dirty. There are 57 latrines and 57 tube wells.
The sex workers of Tangail have recently bought their own graveyards and they set up a
cooperative called Nari Moitry Shongho. The use of alcohol and drugs is widespread inside the
brothel.
Mymensing brothel
The brothel is located in Dhaka Division in Mymensing district. It is situated in the center of the
town and it dates back to the British period.
Here, 344 sex workers live in 10 houses, which comprise 138 rooms. 194 sex workers work as
bharatia, 16 as shordarnis and 109 are living in bondage as chukris.
94 brothel dwellers are below 18 years and 192 are between 18 and 35 years old. There are also 25
former sex workers who are living as mashi.
The place is congested, filthy and dirty. The houses have corrugated-iron roofs and bamboo-screen
walls. Furthermore, there are 14 latrines and 13 tube wells. Here, alcohol and drugs are widespread.
The sex workers have set up a cooperative called Shuktara Kolyan Shongostha.
Ranigonji brothel
The brothel is located in Dhaka division in the middle of the town of Jamalpur. The brothel dates
back to the British period. At present 185 sex workers inhabit it and only 74 come from Jamalpur
district.
The brothel, owned by seven landlords, is made up by nine homesteads, which comprise 156 rooms.
Here, 65 are working as chukris, 72 as bharatia, 36 as shordarni and 12 as mashi. The children
working as chukri are around 41, while 71 are between 18 and 25, 53 between 26 and 35 and 20 are
above 36 years old.
The brothel is unhealthy and unhygienic: there are 11 latrines and 10 tube wells but no proper
drainage system. Here, the sex workers do not still have their graveyard and they still do not have a
proper burial. Their bodies are buried in a municipal cemetery, which houses only dead animals,
12
and it was a killing ground during the 1971 revolution. The bodies are just put in recycled graves
without any proper funeral ceremony.
2.2 Place of Origin of the sex workers
According to data collection (table 2.2), mostly all the sex workers come from other districts. Out of
3128 sex workers, around the 54% (1678) come from far away, while the 24% (745) from
neighboring districts. Only a 22% (705) work in the district of birth.
This figure confirms the reasons that bring about the entrance into the sex trade. Poverty, lack of
employment opportunities, trafficking and deception drive women and girls to migrate within the
country in search of a source of income. In Doulatdia brothel, such data is significant: out of 1176
brothel dwellers, 926 come from far districts and only 100 has born in Rajbari District.
Diagram 1: Place of Origin of the sex-workers
22%
54%
24%
Local district
Neigh boring districts
far away
2.3 Age and Status of brothel-based sex workers
According to the data collection (table 2.1), out of 2621 sex workers, the 20 % of the brothel-based
dwellers (841) are between 18 and 25 years old; the 19% (782) are between 26 and 35 years old; the
9 % (397) are between 36 and 45.
The survey team has found only 386 children involved in the sex trade that corresponds to the 9 %
of all the sex workers. In despite of this, as mentioned several times before, this figure is not
completely reliable, because it is higher. Besides, 1571 sex workers preferred to not reveal their age
The main hindrances to the brothel age survey were:
• The ostracism of the shordarnis who controlled the chukris during the interviews;
• The ignorance of their own age;
• The fact that the sex workers so called license (affidavit) provides for their majority;
• The worry of doing something illegal
Similarly, data related to the status of the sex workers inside the brothel are not completely reliable
because many sex workers, who have declared to be bharatia, are on the contrary bonded chukris.
13
Out of 3942 sex workers/children forced to prostitution, the 54% are bharatia (2260); 19 % are
chukris (783); 13 % shordarni (554) and 8 % mashi.
Besides, the 8% (250) preferred to not reveal their status.
Diagram 2: Age Category of Sex workers
9%
Below 18
38%
18-25
20%
26-35
36-45
46 & above
5%
19%
9%
Not mentioned
Diagram 3: According to Category
19%
8%
13%
54%
Chukris (Bonded girls)
Bharatia (independent sex worker)
Shoardarni (madames)
Others (cooks, old sex workers, etc.)
Not mentioned
14
2.4 Reason for joining the sex trade
Poverty, deception, abuse, coercion and rape can be identified as the main circumstances of
entrance into the sex industry.
Mostly all the sex workers come from economic and social backgrounds typical of the largest
section of Bangladesh's population. They are generally vulnerable, very poor, illiterate or provided
with low education and no marketable skills. The incidence of dead parents among sex workers is
fairly high, too. They generally faced disruption of the family unit and hence they are tricked in
abusive and exploitative situation.
According to the Tdh “Human Rights Report on Brothel-Based Women in Two Bangladeshi
Towns: Sex Workers of Jessore and Jamalpur” (2004), the 22.4% of the sex workers joined the
profession when they were between 9 and 12; 35.4% between 13 and 15 and 25.6% between 16 and
18. Hence, underage prostitution is a plague, which affect all the country.
Table 2.3: Reasons for coming into this profession
Brothel
Dowry
Pressure
Dalal
(sold)
Step
mothers
tortures
Following
their
mother
path
Deception
by lover
Poverty
Brought
by relatives
and friends
Rape
Kandapara,
Tangail
Rathkhola,
Faridpur
Marwari
Mondir
Jamalpur
Madaripur
Babu Bazar
C&B
Mymensingh
1
15
3
5
3
5
6
0
5
7
4
5
4
5
4
2
3
9
3
4
1
12
4
1
6
4
1
1
2
14
9
8
10
7
3
1
1
1
4
2
10
2
6
2
2
1
0
2
0
3
4
6
8
6
5
4
3
7
1
3
1
2
1
0
Jhalaipotti
Patuakhali
Bagerhat
Banishanta
Doulatdia
Phultala
Total
5
3
4
2
1
2
40
5
1
5
3
4
1
98
1
0
0
1
1
0
23
5
0
0
1
0
0
42
2
0
1
2
1
0
19
8
5
2
1
2
2
69
1
0
2
6
5
2
50
0
1
2
0
1
0
14
According to the survey, the main circumstances of entrance into the sex trade are:
1. Dalal. Out of 355 brothel-based sex workers, 98 (26%) have been involved in the sex trade
by a dalal (pimp). Agents, traffickers and recruiters usually approach women and girls or
their parents by alluring them with well-paid job or better life opportunities. Afterwards,
they sell them in the brothel with the collaboration of powerful bariwali/a and shordarnis.
Some of the parents and guardians are too poor to be choosy and cautious about what kind
of work their daughters will do. Dalals take advantage of the condition of poverty and
vulnerability in which such deprived women and children live. The common price for the
purchase of a girl is 5000 taka to 15000 and it depends on her beauty and age. In
Bangladesh, trafficking is still the main reason, which forces poor women in the brothel.
15
2. Poverty. 69 brothel-based sex workers (20%) joined the trade to escape a life of hardships.
The brothel is a moneymaking enterprise and it looked a profitable business to girls and
women who are unemployed and hardly provided with education and skills.
3. Brought by relatives and friends. 50 sex workers (13%) started the business after having
been brought in the brothel by parents or relatives. The driving force, which pushed them in
the trade, is poverty. In such case, parents and relatives act as traffickers selling them to
dalas, shordarnis and bariwalis.
4. Following their mother path. 42 sex workers (11%) joined the business following their
mother profession. Most of these girls are born and brought up in the brothel. Children of
sex workers hardly have any chance to escape the psychologically choking condition in
brothels. Most of them even are engaged in prostitution at a very early age. Generally, their
mothers who cannot longer sell sex because they have reached the retirement age force
them.
5. Dowry pressure. In despite of the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, which prohibits a
traditional prejudicial practice as the dowry, 40 sex workers (11%) started the business after
a divorce or abandonment due to dowry pressure. Once her husband left them, they decided
to join the brothel because of extreme poverty and lack of alternative source of income.
6. Stepmother tortures. The escape from domestic violence and tortures is another cause,
which force some girls to choose the brothel life. 23 sex workers (6%) left the family unit to
escape the stepmother tortures. Once they found themselves alone and poor, without income
and shelter, they fell in the pimp’s trap or simply preferred to escape a wretched life joining
the sex trade.
7. Rape. 14 sex workers (4%) decided to work in the brothel after having been raped. In
Bangladesh, still today, there is a widespread tendency to blame the victims of rape and to
consider children and women who have been raped to be “spoiled”. This culture of blaming
the victim can sometimes help to push such victims into sex work. Already the victims of
rape and forced prostitution, these girls are penalized a second time with social stigma. Rape
is often an entry ticket into prostitution: a victim of rape would be deemed a “fallen” woman
in the eye of the society and therefore she can become a target for further sexual assault.
Hence, such women and girls prefer to join the brothel to escape such discrimination, sexual
abuse and violence.
2.5 Affidavit: entry ticket in the sex trade
Art. 18 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, which is one of the fundamental
principle of state policy, provides for “The State shall adopt effective measures to prevent
prostitution”.
The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act 1933, the Penal Code 1860, The Children Act 1974 and the
Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act of 2000 provide for the illegality of
brothel-based sex work and children prostitution.
In despite of this, women and girls are recruited into the brothel through the system of affidavit,
which is mistakenly considered by the sex workers as a trade license. On the contrary, no written
law provides for the legality of such document. Affidavit is a tool in the hands of lawyers, notary
public and police officers, to involve underage in forced prostitution and extract considerable
amount of money as bribe.
A first class magistrate or a notary public issues the affidavit and it allows the girl to carry on
prostitution according to three requirements:
¾ Majority. She must be above 18 years
¾ Free choice. She must be not forced by anyone to start the sex trade
¾ Poverty. She must not have other options to survive
16
The girl must only provide a photograph, give her personal data such as name, age, place of birth
and her signature. After the issue of an affidavit, the girl is registered at local thana police and she
can start the brothel trade.
Table 2.4: Information about the affidavit/license
Name of the Brothel
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Marwari Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jhalai Patti
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
CNB Ghat
Doulatdia
Kandapara
Mymensingh
Ranigonj Bazar
Total
Grand Total
Have
Affidavit/license
(Frequency)
Yes
No
5
10
10
3
35
29
31
35
37
37
9
40
22
38
341
2
1
3
344
Sign on it
(Frequency)
Sign only
2
5
5
2
13
15
19
10
37
10
6
32
4
8
168
Fingerprint
3
4
2
1
22
13
11
24
0
27
2
8
17
29
163
344
No Response
1
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
13
As the table highlights, out of 344 sex workers, 341 got their affidavit. Only a sex worker from
Babu Bazar brothel in Jessore and two sex workers from Marwari Mondir are not provided with the
document. Besides, 168 have only signed the document, while 163 sex workers have given also
their thumbprint.
It should be mentioned that, according to the practice, a civil surgeon should also intervene in the
process by checking the effective majority of the girl. This should prevent children from forced
prostitution in case the age is hardly ascertainable. Girls and women are generally not provided with
any certificate of birth. In despite of this, the civil surgeon rarely intervenes.
The business of obtaining a licence and registering a girl with the police is usually handled by
bariwalis/shordarnis, with the assistance of police officers that get considerable amount of money.
Girls are often sold in the brothel and hence police pretend protection money. The presence of the
police or their informers in and around the brothel community ensures that they come to know when
a new girl arrives in the brothel from outside or when a young brothel girl is nearing the age of
induction into sex work.
Affidavit is a profitable instrument to force new girls in prostitution: other persons such as
shordarnis, dalals and bariwalis usually fill out the form, sign the document and affix a photograph
on behalf of a girl. Hence, they generally start the trade when they are still below 18 years old.
17
Table 2.5: Signature of the affidavit in front of Notary Public
Name of the
Brothel
Signed in front of Notary
Public
Yes
No
23
15
17
5
30
6
23
10
15
17
19
10
19
14
17
3
25
8
188
88
Kandapara
Babu Bazar
C & B Ghat
Marwari Mondir
Rothkhola
Jhalai Patti
Puranabzar
Mymensing
Ranigonj
Total
No Response
2
8
1
4
5
2
2
2
5
31
Out of 307 sex workers, 188 (61%) signed the affidavit before a notary public while 88 /29%) did
not appear before him to give their consent to join the brothel. A 10% refused to reveal informations
about the affidavit, but it has been deemed that they did not go before the notary public.
As mentioned above, other agents, on behalf of the sex workers, got the so-called license.
Diagram 4: percentage of signing the affidavit in front of the Notary public
10%
29%
61%
Yes
No
No Response
18
2.6 Age of entrance into the Sex Trade
Tab. 2.6: age of entrance into the sex trade
Name of
Brothels
Below9
9-12 Year
(Frequency)
13-15
Year
16-17
Year
18+
Year
Not
mentioned
(Frequency)
(Frequency)
(Frequency)
(Frequency)
Total
(Frequency)
(Frequency
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jhalaipatti
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
C & B Ghat
Doulatdia
Kandapara
Mymensing
Ranigonj
Total
-
1
3
1
1
7
2
4
11
1
3
2
9
1
2
3
2
9
2
1
5
10
10
3
37
2
1
1
4
6
6
5
7
11
2
12
2
8
72
10
8
15
12
12
4
15
9
13
115
5
6
6
6
3
1
7
3
4
56
7
11
9
12
10
1
5
8
11
91
1
1
1
6
30
31
35
37
37
9
40
22
38
344
According to the sample, 2% of the sex workers had started working below 9 years old.
21% of the total respondent joined the business in an age included between 9 and 12 years old..
34%, the highest percentages of the sex workers were involved in this profession at the age of 13-15
years old. 16% of the total sex workers started their profession between 16-17. And finally 26% sex
workers said they were engaged in this profession when they were above 18 years. It is interesting
to find out that 73% of total respondent started their trade when they were below eighteen.
Diagram 5 : Age of entrance into the sex trade
2%1%
21%
26%
Below-9
9-12 Year
13-15 Year
16-17 Year
18+ Year
Not mentioned
16%
34%
19
2.7 Chukri: duration of bondage
Inside the brothel, chukris are the bonded girls. Chukris are difficult to approach and they keep all
the brothel secrets.
According to the survey, there are around 800 chukris in the 14th Bangladeshi brothels. In
Kandapara brothel, out of 763 brothel-based women and girls, 300 are chukris. In Mymensing
brothel, out of 344 sex workers, 109 live in bondage.
Mostly all the sex workers started to work in the brothel as chukris. Generally, they are bought and
sold to a shordarni who initiates them into the trade when they are well below 18 years old. It is a
sort of apprenticeship and they play a fictive mother/daughter relationship with their shordarni.
It should be highlighted that the brothel culture explicitly recognizes the rights of a shordani over
her chukris: such exploitative relationship hardly ever is questioned. It is a vicious circle, which
belongs to brothel rules and customs.
The survey team relied especially on the past experience in bondage of bharatias. The interviewed
chukris were quite reluctant to answer sincerely the questions because their owners constantly
watched them.
During this period of bondage, chukris face several impositions, tortures and violence. They are
treated badly, confined in rooms. The food ration often depends on what they are able to earn.
If they get pregnant, they usually are forced to abort: a pregnant chukri means a lower income for
her owner.
Chukris usually spend all their day between the rooms and the entrance of the brothel. Here they
can attract customers by their young appearance. They are forced to serve many customers per day
regardless their physical and health conditions. They owe a debt toward their owners that is both
financial and moral. They have to pay back all the money that their shordarni have invested: in
exchange they get shelter, food, clothes and sometimes jewelleries. Meantime, they are also forced
to use drugs and alcohol which make them uninhibited with the clients. They are sexually and
economical exploited and they suffer for slavery-like practices such as forced prostitution and debt
bondage.
Sooner or later these girls get their freedom from the shordarni. Chukris can pay their debt back or
generally run away from the brothel either alone, with another chukri or with the help of a lover
(babu). Hence, women who control all their movement always watch them all the day. Indeed,
chukris are not free to leave the brothel.
Once a chukri obtains freedom, she generally does not return to her families but work in the same
brothel or join another one as bharatia.
Table 2.7: Duration of Chukri Bondage
Duration of Chukri Bondage
Name of the
Brothel
Puranbazar
C & B Ghat
Rothkhola
Kandapara
Marwari
Mandir
Babu Bazar
Mymensing
Jhalai Patti
Ranigonj
Total
0-6
Months
2
9
12
4
2
1 year
2 year
3 year
4 year
2
3
3
1
5 year
above
3
4
6
5
10 year
above
1
1
1
2
3
3
4
4
2
10
2
3
6
3
1
6
2
2
6
5
7
49
9
1
1
5
32
1
1
3
5
34
3
2
4
2
20
No response
14
18
14
10
20
1
2
3
15
5
3
1
2
29
1
1
2
9
8
8
15
12
119
20
According to the brothel survey, out of 307 sex workers 49 lived in bondage for a period of almost
6 months (16%). However, 119 (39%) refused to answer the query. Some of them do not exactly
remember the amount of time; others are shordarnis and bharatias who were not comfortable with
the issue of chukris.
Besides, 34 were kept in slavery for 2 year (11%) and 32 for 1 year (10%). On the contrary, 29
chukris (9%) lived under a shordarni for more than 5 years.
Diagram 6: Duration of chukri bondage
16%
0-6 Months
1 year
39%
10%
2 year
3 year
4 year
11%
3%
7%
9%
5 year above
10 year above
No response
5%
2.8 Children of the sex workers
Notwithstanding several NGOs are running projects inside the brothels setting up drop-in centre for
the children of sex workers, many of them are still living inside.
The brothel is an unhealthy environment for children. They are witness of illegal and harmful
activities, which affect their physical, mental, social and moral development. Besides, they can get
involved in several bad activities such as drinking, gambling, drugs and tobacco use. The brothel
represents a danger for children who can be involved in prostitution and be affected by sexual
abuse/exploitation at tender age.
At present, there are around 1492 children of sex workers in the 14th brothels. Doulatdia, Kandapara
and Puranbazar brothels house the more considerable number of children with respectively 369, 287
and 235.
641 children are between few months and 5 years old; 443 are between 6 and 10 years; 313 are
between 11 and 15 and 95 between 16 and 18. Hence, the highest percentage (43%) of children
living in the brothel is within 5 years old and between 6 and 10 years old (30%).
As mentioned above, this is due to NGOs drop-in centre that provide for their shelter, non-formal
education, health care, etc.
Most of the children, who are between few months and 5 years old, live with their mothers. The
brothel-based sex workers do not have much time to spend with them. These children are generally
kept under the bed when their mothers are entertaining customers, or they sit outside the room or
simply a mashi looks after them. Some workers entrust their child to the care of people living in
nearby villages, but they have to pay such facilities.
21
Table 2.8: Children of sex workers living in the brothel
Name of the
Brothel
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jhalai Patti
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
C&B Ghat
Doulatdia
Kandapara
Mymensingh
Ranigonj
Total
Age group
0-5
Years
21
16
35
6
11
6-10
Years
12
14
20
4
1
11-15
Years
6
4
13
7
0
16-18
Years
3
2
0
0
0
12
1
25
105
81
135
138
26
29
641
5
0
25
50
45
160
62
17
28
443
5
0
25
75
35
74
43
8
18
313
3
0
25
5
13
0
44
0
0
95
TOTAL
(Frequency
)
42
36
68
17
12
25
1
100
235
174
369
287
51
75
1492
According to the survey, the 51% of the brothel-based sex workers are mothers, but only the 42% of
the children live with them inside the brothel. Around the 29% live outside with relatives
(especially grandmothers and maternal aunties) of the sex workers. The 11% live in safe homes run
by NGOs in proximity of the brothel. The 8% live with their fathers and generally they do not have
any relationships with their mothers because they parents are separated. In such cases, their fathers
do not allow them to meet their mother because of their profession.
Diagram 7: Place where children of sex workers live
Mother
11%
1%1%
Father
5%
3%
42%
Relatives
independent
Foster mother
Safe home
29%
8%
Hostel
No answer
A 3% of the children live independently earning their own living. These are generally between 16
and 18 years old.
22
FATHERS
Children of sex workers face disruption of the family unit.
Most of the time children are born in the brothel without any acknowledged father. But according to
the brothel customs, many children have a fictive father who is generally their mother’s fixed
customer also known in brothel slang as babu or so called husband. He is the mother’s lover and he
can run some businesses inside the brothel or just have his own wife and children outside. Inside the
brothel he has the role of the husband and father. In order to protect his reputation, the children
generally address him as kaka, or uncle, rather than baba that is father. He sometimes provides for
the sex worker’s main expenditures, otherwise he is just a danger for the younger daughters whom
he would like to involve in the prostitution business.
In a patriarchal society such as the Bangladeshi one, the lack of a real father figure in the lives of
brothel children has a deeply negative effect on their emotional development and well being.
Furthermore, they need the name of their father to get admitted in public schools.
Diagram 8: Fathers of brothel children
37%
40%
Sexworker’s husband
Badha Babu
Customer
23%
According to the survey, in 40% of the cases the father of a brothel children is a customer; the 37%
have a Badha Babu as father and the 37 % of the sex workers had a children with their husbands
who generally left them for dowry.
Besides, even if they have a real father, mostly all the times children do not have any kind of
relationship with them. Their fathers are ashamed of their mother’s profession and hence they prefer
to break off all the relations.
Indeed, the 73% of the children do not meet their father. Furthermore, the 75% do not provide for
any expenditure for their children, and only a 6% take responsibility for their children expenditures.
EDUCATION AND HEALTH
Children of sex workers are still deprived of their right to education. Few of them are enrolled at
government schools. The main reason is that they are born without any acknowledged father.
Furthermore, they are discriminated because of their mother’s profession.
23
Generally children of sex workers study at NGOs schools. In Jessore, 40% of the children of sex
workers of Babu Bazar brothel go to the NGO Jagorani Chakra School, while around the 30% are
enrolled at private schools. In Marwari Mondir brothel, 10 children have been admitted to
government school. In Mymensing, brothel children go to government and private school (Mukul
Niketon High School). In Jamalpur, the 25% of children of Ranigonji brothel have been admitted to
government school, while the 75% are enrolled at local NGOs schools. In Kandapara brothel, the
60% of the children do not go to school. In Doulatdia brothel, 353 children go to NGOs school
KKS. In Potuakhali brothel, three-fourth of the children go to school hiding their identity. The same
happens in Puranzabar brothel. In Banishanta brothel, most all the children go to the school set up
by the local mission. In Bagerhat and Pulthala brothels, children go to government and local Brac
school. In Rothkhola brothel, 40% of the children do not go to school.
Generally only the sex workers, who saved money, such as shordarnis and some bharatias, can
afford the children school expenditures. Almost all the sex workers are now aware of the
importance of their children education.
According to the survey, the 49% of the children of the sex workers do not go to school.
Diagram 9: Education status of children
9%
42%
Yes
No
No answer
49%
Concerning their health care, children of the sex workers are now more easily admitted at public
hospitals to get treatment. Nevertheless, children of sex workers mainly depend on NGOs clinic and
private doctors. According to the survey, only a 15% of the sex workers benefits from public health
care to cure their children. Their mothers are still reluctant to get treatment at government hospitals
because they are afraid to be immediately recognized as sex workers. Besides, they usually bring
their children to local clinic only when the disease is in advanced status. In such regard, the
awareness raising campaign by NGOs seemed to be not sufficient.
24
Case Studies
1. Name Beauty Akther
Brothel: Potuakhali
Status: Bharatia
Beauty Akther is 20 years old. She was born at Modhupur in Tangail. She started this profession for
the first time at Poutakhali Brothel. She has been staying this Brothel for 1 year. Her parent died.
But stepmother was in house. She did not go to school for poverty. Her stepmother sent her to a
house as housemaid. At that time she was 13 years old and a woman who worked near house took
her at a hotel in Barisal and tempted her to join this profession by giving word to manage a job. She
has never met with that woman again. She has a License, She had signed on it in front of Notary
Public.
Actually that woman sold her to that Hotel. She was not a Chukri. Her condition was good at that
time. She had to work from morning 5a.m to at night 10p.m hours. Her living place was in Hotel.
She got enough time to take rest but that woman took her income. She could not save her income at
that time. She had to take at least 10 customers per day at that time. She fled away from the woman
with a Rickshaw puller took her at Mirpur Majar, who promised to marry her but did not so. Then
she went to search for other job but she was sexually harassed many times on the road. So finding
no other way she again wished join in this profession and after then a woman took her to
Poutakhali.
Now she claims herself as a Bharatia. She used to takes 1 to 2 customers in a day. Her daily income
is 50 to 100 taka only. Her daily expenditure is 125 taka only. She does not send money for her
family. She has no savings.
She wants to be good. She also wants a new job to live. If anybody trains her with technical work
she will leave this place.
2. Name: Aakhi
Brothel: Kandapara
Status: Bharatia
Aakhi was born in Comilla and is 33 years old. She is a sex worker and lives at Kandapara Brothel
in Tangail. She is the youngest among the 5 brothers and sisters. All of her brothers and sisters are
married. When Aakhi was 13 years old her father remarried. Stepmother used to torture her a lot.
But she couldn’t protest because of fear. At that time a man used to entice her with the promise of a
job. One day she ran away with that man and stayed for several days in his house. Later that man
sold her to Kandapara. She had no idea that where she was sold.
Like all other girls she was captivated for the first few days. She couldn’t understand where she was
and what they were going to do with her. After a few days she started to recognize that it was not a
good place. One day Shordarni brought a middle aged man in her room and said that “take this
man”. She was totally clueless, how she could take that man. The Shordarni screamed- “I have
25
bought you at 1000 taka, I cannot allow you to just sit and take food. You are not a princess and you
have to work. Just do as the man tells you to.” From that day her suffering started. Consequently
she started as a Chukri. For the first two and half years she couldn’t enjoy the money she earned.
Additionally she was tortured and beaten at that period. In search for happiness she married her
Badha Babu and came out of the brothel. But luck did not favor her. After marriage, her Badha
Babu did not provide her food and clothing. In depression she tried to commit suicide, but failed.
She came back to Brothel with broken heart, but this time as a Bharatia.
At present, Aakhi is the founder chairman of Nari Mukti Shongho. Now she doesn’t take any
customer. She used to get customers of different ages- from 14 to 60 years. All kinds of people used
to come to her like- students, service holders, police, drivers, married, unmarried- of all types and
age. She did not felt any urge to know their identity because it was her work- it was her business.
Aakhi’s world has spread to different dimensions. Now she is working to improve the lives of the
sex workers. As a sex worker she has seen and suffered all the miseries a girl can experience in her
life. She has observed them closely. She has seen how police, Mastans, and Bariwala’s take
subscriptions from the sex workers. If any body becomes self sufficient, she is harassed by the
Mastans. The mastans and police trap her by prosecuting her in false cases, like drugs and
trafficking.
When she was free, she fell in love with a boy. Aakhi left every thing to get married with him. But
again she was deceived. The boy took her money and pressured her to bring more. When she didn’t,
he tortured her. He even scolded her by calling her a prostitute. Again heart broken and deceived
she came back to brothel.
After so much suffering she recognizes that it is a bad place. Here one sex worker tortures another
sex worker, police tortures another sex worker, Shordarni tortures Chukries, and Bariwalas tortures
Bharatias. It is always like stronger oppresses the weaker. There will be no solution. No end of
these never-ending miseries.
Aakhi had no intension to conceive child. But she is now the proud mother of a boy and a girl. They
are her dream. She wants to bring them up as true human beings. In which profession she is now for
her livelihood, she does not want her children to be near to this profession. That is why she is
saving money. She also had built a house in Comilla. Her children’s father is Badha babu.
Though Aakhi is a sex worker she is very conscious about sexually transmitted diseases. That is
why she didn’t work without contraceptive. She used to test blood regularly. She did not go to
government hospitals before, because in the past they did not treated well, but now they are very
helpful.
When Aakhi was attached into this profession she experienced the sufferings of the sex-workers.
She used to take customers against her will, tolerate the torturing of customers politely.
Aakhi feels that they are the inseparable part of the society. But the people of the society have made
them paralyze by torturing and suppressing them. She thinks that one day they will be recognized in
the society, it is only a matter of time. She thinks that this profession is far better than any other
nasty professions. But the entrance of the new girls into this profession should be stopped. Those
who are already here should be occupied properly.
26
Aakhi is now well. But she feels that there is some lack in her life. She always dreamt of a beautiful
home. Now she has established Nari Mukti Shongho. She wants the girls of brothel to become
aware of their rights. So that they can themselves understand their rights and become independent.
3. Name: Kulsum:
Brothel: Doulatdia
Status: Bharatia
Kulsum is 47 years old. She was born in Pabna. She started this profession for the first time at
Doulatdia Brothel. She has been staying in this Brothel for thirty-two years. Her parents died at her
childhood. She had never been to School. Though she had no parents she maintained her life by
doing household work.
When she was five years old one of her step uncle takes her to Doulatdia and sold her. She has
never met with that step uncle again. She had a License, She had signed on it in front of Notary
Public
She was Chukri for 15 years. Her condition was not good at that time. She was afraid and felt
nervous and shouted at the time of first contact with the customer. She was tortured if failed to
attract customer. She had no time limitation of her work. She got good food and her accommodation
was also good. She was given permission to go to sleep after 10 pm at night. She could not save her
income at that time. She could not go outside the brothel on her own wish. She had many diseases
or physical problem at that time; she had Fever, cough, syphilis, Bagi etc. She did not work at time
of sickness. She had to take 15 to 20 customers when she was Chukri. Customers beat and
Shordarni also tortured her.
Now she claims herself as a Bharatia. She takes one customer regularly. Her daily income is 10/- to
20/-(ten to twenty) taka only. Her daily expenditure is 110/- taka. She does not send money to her
family. She has no savings. At present she works at M.M.S. Her future plan is to go out from this
Brothel but she is not getting this chance.
4. Name: Ruji
Brothel: Poutakhali
Status: Bharatia
Ruji is about 18 years old and she was born at Mymensing. She has been in this brothel for 4 years.
Her father dead and her mother didn’t know about her work. She lived in her uncle’s house and has
no education. She is a divorcee. She had 5 months old child and her husband didn’t meet with her
baby. Somehow she left her uncle’s house and arranged a work in the garments factory. She lived in
a house with other girls but suddenly many of them left the house without paying their rent. As a
result the house owner pressured her for the house-rent. She had no other way but to leave that
house. Eventually she came into this brothel, heard about this profession from other people. She
was 16 years of old when she first engaged in this profession.
She stayed with the Pimps when she had to work from about 8’ O clock in the morning to 7’o clock
in the night, with one hour for rent. She had to take 6-7 people everyday although she went off if
she was sick. She had no physical problem at that time and she was not allowed to go out alone. At
27
that time all of her earnings went to the pocket of the pimps. At that period local boys made her to
suffer. They used to come up straight away and beat the pimps and her; they used to snatch all
money from them.
After 3 years she along with 2 girls first went to Chittagong and from there they finally came into
this brothel and became free. Now she is a licensed Bharatia sex-worker with having income of
100-200 taka daily while her daily expenditure is 35-70 taka. She used to send money for her boy.
After starting work independently, she felt better. But she doesn’t want to remain in this profession
forever in order to make a good future for her child.
She has been using condom for 3 years to prevent disease. And whoever doesn’t want to use the
condom she doesn’t make deal with him. According to her, Syphilis, AIDS, gonorrhea is the most
common diseases these one might be affected while doing sex without condom, she heard that at
past. The local boys inside the brothel used to torture sex workers. Supply of water, shops and
drainage system are needed to improve the brothel as a living place. She wanted her child to be a
good human being. She wanted him to be educated. She used to save money for her child.
5. Name: Helena
Brothel: Bagerhat
Status: Bharatia
Helena is 25 years old. Her birthplace is Barisal. She has been living in Bagherhat brothel for 11/12
years. Because of poverty she couldn’t go to school. Her father is alive. She is a divorcee and she
has a daughter and her age is 4 years 2 months. When she was Chukri she conceived once but the
shordarni did the abortion. Her daughter stays with her. The father of her daughter is a customer and
he comes here to meet with her. Her daughter is still under 5 years so she doesn’t go to school.
Helena came in this profession when she was 12 years only. Because of poverty she came in this
profession. A girl took her to this brothel and Shordarni tempted her to join this profession. Then
she began to work here. At first she worked as a Chukri for one year. Then she was young and had
to take many customers and her financial condition was good. At that time she had to work all day
long. She had shelter, food but no time to take rest. Then she had to take 25-40 customers per day.
She couldn’t keep any money; Shordarni took all the money. She couldn’t save. At that time she
had not the right to go outside freely. But she had no serious physical sickness at that time but if she
got sick then she could take leave. The Shordarni tortured her, even if she argued with her. At first
when she dealt the customer she had problems. Customers behaved badly with her. Mastans also
tortured her. Then she felt very bad.
Now she is a Bharatia. She gets at least one customer in a day. Her daily income 30-100 taka. Her
house rent is 30 taka and have to give 30 taka for food and 20 taka for daily expenses. For that she
cannot save.
They have to face too much discrimination as a sex worker. The administration controls them. They
cannot go outside wearing shoes. Police tell them to bring the shoes by holding it in the mouth
when they go outside wearing shoes. But she thinks that she has right as a human being. She has the
right to cast vote and as well maintain a better life.
She thinks this profession is bad. She doesn’t like this profession and she doesn’t want to see her
daughter in this profession. She wants to leave the brothel but the society hates them and she has no
alternatives. Moreover she has some loans and she cannot leave without repaying the loan.
28
6. Case Study of Aleya
Brothel: Rothkhola
Status: Shordarni and President of the brothel
My name is Aleya Begum. I am 36 years old. Madaripur is my home district and Thana as well and
Munshir Char is my village. The condition of our house was good. We had lots of land and we had
a very big house. I have brothers and I am the only sister of my brothers. Three of my brothers are
older than me and another is younger to me. Our house was near to the river. Gradually the river
grabbed our lands. Then we became poor. Then my father started onion business. I came to brothel
when I was 10 years old. I never went to school.
One day my mother scolded me and she also slapped me. Then I became angry and left my house
with an intention to go far away from my house. Then I came to the launch terminal. I was crying
there. A man named Dulal came to me and asked me the reason of my weeping. I told him that I left
my house. Then Dulal proposed me to go with him and I agreed. I said him that after staying the
night I will go back to my home in the morning. Then he took me to the house of a sex worker at
Madaripur brothel. At that time I had no idea about brothel. That girl served me rice with hilsa fish.
Then she took me to the cinema hall for watching movie. She behaved very nicely with me. Later I
asked her what I would do there. She suggested me to do the same as them. I disagreed. Then she
told me that I will be habituated with the passing of time “Just stay here; you will be able to do.”
Then they started to keep me in secret places, because already my parents had started to search for
me. At last my mother found me. But I disagreed to go with my mother. I found fun here. Because I
got those foods whatever I wanted, as well they took me to cinema hall. That’s why at that time I
told my own mother that I don’t know her. Then my mother went to the Thana. Then my family
with the help of the local police took me back to my home.
After coming home I always tried to find out the chance to escape. One night I ran away from my
house telling them that I am going to the toilet. Then I went to my Shordarni again. But then she
refused to keep me with her. Then another woman kept me with her. As I was good looking that
woman kept me with her. She thought that if I stay there my parents would come again that’s why
she sent me to Faridpur. Then I came to Faridpur from Madaripur alone. A rickshaw driver took me
to the C&B Ghat brothel from Faridpur bus stand. There I went to a Bariwali. Her named Golay.
Then bariwali taught me how to register the name in the Thana. Then I registered my name in the
Thana. But I did not started to take customers at that time. Then bariwali told me to get intimated
with a guy named Rafique, who was drunk. But I couldn’t understand. I didn’t deal the customers
for quite a long time. Bariwali and that boy guided me.
After one year my menstruation started. As I couldn’t understand, I became scared. Then bariwali
told me that not to worry. Then I tried to deal the customers. But I couldn’t for many days. There
was a Mastan, and he wanted to come to my room. His big eyes, hair all made me scared. One day
he entered to my room frequently. After doing sex he told me not to go outside from my home. He
also punched me and it started bleeding from my nose but I didn’t seek for the help, as I was so
scared. Then bariwali came to my room and found me unconscious and brought a doctor for my
treatment. Then I felt bad there. Different Mastans came and disturbed me. Then I thought why I
left my house. Then closing the door I cried in my room. Then I tried to go to my house. Escaping
from there I went to my house and disclosed everything to my relatives. Then my parents told me
that if I stay there village people will blame me and also told me that if you can get married then
you will be able to stay here. Then I came back here again as I had no alternatives.
29
Again the Mastans started to disturb me. After staying in the brothel for two years I left the brothel
with a man. I had taken all my ornaments with me.
He had a shop. He was good looking and promised me to marry. One day he took me to the Majar.
Then he made me understand that that Majar is our wedding place and after that he took me to his
house. I found his mother in his house who was so good. She asked me whether we married or not. I
couldn’t understand, I told her that we got married in the Majar. Then she told me that we are not
married and also told me that his son deceived me. Then that woman told me that she would look
after me even if his son left me. He had another wife who often tried to attack me. But I didn’t
protest. One day my husband came and told me that the financial condition of his shop is not good
and wanted an ornament from me, told me that his profit is my profit. After some days he demanded
again. Then I told him that this was the last I will not give him again. He agreed but after few days
he again begged another. As I didn’t want to give he came to bit me. Being scared I gave him and in
this way I finished all. At last I had only one earring. When he wanted the last piece I told it to his
mother. His mother scolded him but he also bit his mother. After staying there for three years I went
to Jessore. I was in Jessore for about 5/6 years. I was free there. In Jessore I allowed a police officer
to come to my room. He was the second officer of the Thana. He usually came to my house and in
some occasion he sent someone to bring me to him. One day he sent a habilder to take me by his
motorcycle and a journalist saw this and flashed it in the newspaper. Then the Police officer started
torturing me. He bit me and did burn my cheek with cigarette. But he gave me much money. The
non-stop writing of the journalists at last enforced me to go Faridpur from Jessore.
I made this building here with my money. I keep 1/ 2 girls here. At past police and mastans created
too many problems but now we are facing very few problems. I am a smoker. I had friends who
taught me to smoke. Except this I have no addiction. Many customers and Mastans forced me to
take drugs but I denied. Here my daily expenditure is 300-500 taka. I have girls and from them I get
money. I also work in the N.G.O SHAPLA and I get 2900 taka (monthly) from there.
At present I am the president of the sex workers of this Rothkhola brothel. Here our organization
looks after the different problems of the girls.
7. Name: Razia
Brothel: Baniashanta
Status: Bharatia and Shordarni
Razia is 29 years old. She was born at Bagerhat. But for last 17 years she was working as a sex
worker in Baniashanta, Khulna. She has relationship with her parents and husband. They regularly
visit her and know about her occupation. Her only daughter, who is only one and half year old, lives
with her father. Razia has studied up to class one. According to her they were very poor and she
had to work for living from her childhood. She joined this profession when she was 13/14 years old.
Now she has a license of her work and lives in the brothel as a Bharatia and Shordarni. She does not
take customers now. Her daily expenditure is 100/150 takas. She does not help her family regularly
but only in times of problem. She says that she does not save money because she has no earning
now.
Razia started as a Chukri and for one year, she worked like that. At that time she couldn’t keep her
earnings. She had to give all the money to the Shordarni under whom she resided. She had to work
for 24 hours then. The condition of the room was good and Shordarni also gave her proper food.
But she did not have any time to rest. She had to take 10 to 20 customers a day. And as the
30
Shodarni kept all the money she could not save anything for her own. Even she had no mobility
then.
Mastans used to torture her most. They used to have sex with her without paying money and used
to torture her physically. Mastans also took drugs in her room. After one year the local
administration separated her from Shordarni. She had to give cashier 1500 taka. The Shordarni took
nothing. After being separated she did not leave the brothel. She thought that she has already
become a sex worker; now no one in the society will accept her, so she decided to reside here and
carry on with her profession. At that time a Daroga became her Badha Babu. He used to lock her up
in the room when he was not around. She did not have the permission of her Babu to go out side. At
that time she thought that she would collect some money and go out side and marry. But she did not
try to run away.
She felt very bad with her first customer and did not willingly work with him. After she got
freedom from her Shordarni, she felt good. Now the situation is not very pleasant for her. As she
grew old she kept a Chukri to work for her. But the Chukri ran away. Now she doesn’t have any
earning. So she is thinking of going out of brothel.
8. Name: Shahthi
Brothel: Baniashanta
Status: Chukri
Shahthi is twenty years old and lives in Baniashanta Brothel for last one year as a Chukri. Her
birthplace is Rangpur. Her father is alive and mother left her when she was little. That is why she
did not go to school, and worked in the household. Shathi is pregnant for 7 months now. Her father
sold her in to this brothel, when she was 19 years old. Shathi have a license now and she has signed
to get it.
Shathi works as a Chukri and takes 2 customers every day. She earns 50/100-taka everyday. She has
no expenditure, and does not send money to her family. She does not save also. She started as a
Chukri and still is in the same position. She tells that she works whole day and have limited time to
get rest. But Shordarni takes all the income from her. She cannot go out freely. And she has no
physical problem presently. She does not work at times of illness. Shathi says that no one tortures
here. She does not know what they do if Chukries conceive or abort the child. Shathi recalls her first
experience with customer was good.
Now she says that she likes her job because she is already in this profession and has no other place
to go. Shathi says that Shordarni has promised her that she will make her future, give marriage to
her and help her go outside. She will not remain in this brothel for a long time. Shathi does not
know how a new girl is engaged in this profession. If a new Chukri runs away some search for them
some don’t. The daughters of the sex workers are also called Chukri and if any mother wants back
her daughter she is returned. Shathi doesn’t know about the torture inside and outside brothel.
Shathi doesn’t know about the rights and deprivations.
According to Shathi electricity, good toilet and good housing is needed to improve the condition of
brothel. Taking credit is very normal in the brothel. She does not know what happens when a sex
worker dies. When they grow old they beg or work in others house.
31
Shathi knows about all the diseases that can contaminate through sexual work. She uses condom
from the very first. Customers also want to use it and if they don’t she keeps the money and asks
him to leave. Fever and cough are the most common illnesses inside the brothel. She doesn’t have
any physical problem. She sometimes goes to see a doctor. Doctors come inside brothel from JJS.
She does not go to government hospital, and buys medicine from JJS. She eats good food after she
conceives. And go to doctors. If she needs to abort child she goes to doctors inside brothel.
Shathi says that she already has become bad so right now she does not want to go outside, but will
prefer to go later.
32
CHAPTER 3 – BROTHEL-BASED SEX WORKERS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
3.1 Education background
Most of the times, the sex workers entered the brothel trade when they are of tender years. The
average age is 13 or 14 years. Almost all of them are not provided with social capital in terms of
marketable skills and education. Pimps and traffickers usually take advantage of their poor living
conditions and lack of education by deceiving and coercing them into the business. Furthermore,
such lack of education increases the sex workers vulnerability and their condition of powerless
towards brothel landlords, managers as well as the mainstream society.
The literacy rate is very low among the sex workers. According to the survey, out of 341 sex
workers, who have been interviewed, 231 did not attend any kind of school (68%). Out of 110 who
are provided with basic education, 28 can only sign their name (25%), while 56 studied up to class
V (51%) and 23 up to class X (21%).
Table 3.1: Literacy rate of the sex-workers
Literate
Level of Education
Brothel
Yes
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jhalai Patti
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
CNB Ghat
Doulatdia
Kandapara
Mymensingh
Ranigonj
Bazar
Total
Grand Total
No
Up to
Class V
Class
V-X
2
2
1
4
No response
about literacy
1
1
1
1
1
S.S.C.
&
above
2
1
4
5
6
3
16
1
5
4
20
Can
Sign
only
1
2
4
2
9
10
7
10
11
7
3
15
5
8
19
24
25
25
30
6
25
17
30
2
3
1
1
2
1
7
3
5
6
6
2
10
2
6
1
1
5
3
1
5
1
1
1
-
1
1
-
110
231
28
56
23
3
3
3
341
110
Marwari Mondir brothel of Jessore shows one of the highest literacy rates with almost 50% of the
sex workers who can at least sign their name or have basic education. Most them learnt such basic
knowledge at local NGOs schools.
33
It should be mentioned that most of the sex workers were not provided at all with education or they
left the school after the marriage because they lost interest in study. Others left the school because
they start to work at tender age in garments factories or in households as maid. Poverty is the main
reason for such dropout high rate.
3.2 Income
The sex work represents a profitable business compared to other professions such as garment
worker or housemaid. Nevertheless, the sex workers cannot benefit from at least in appearance look
like remunerative work. They are economical exploited by a large group of the society such as
police, brothel landlords, sordarnis, bariwalis, babus, shopkeepers, doctors, mastans, hawkers, etc.
The room rent, household’s facilities such as water and electricity, the price of goods and
necessaries are very high compared to the common outside rate. Sex workers as well customers
have to pay the police some money (400/500 taka) if they want to spend the night together. The
local thana police usually shut down the brothels at 10 o’clock p.m.
Generally the sex workers rely only on the proceeds of their sex trade. Few of them were able to
save money and invest it in other profitable activities such as grocery or tailoring shops. They are
generally shordarnis or bariwalis.
Diagram 9: Daily income per age group
100%
90%
80%
70%
Tk. 334+
60%
Tk. 167-333
50%
Tk. 101-166
Tk. 67-100
40%
Tk 34-66
30%
Below tk - 33
20%
10%
0%
Below 18
years (%)
18-25 years 25 to 35 years 35+ years (%)
(%)
(%)
The income of a brothel-based sex worker depends on her age and beauty. The younger brothel
dwellers get more customers than the older ones. Chukris is the brothel group that entertains more
clients with highest rate for intercourse. They are forced by their owners to get more customers as
possible. The average number is 15/20 customers per day.
According to the survey, their income per day is around 1246 taka and their rate per customer can
vary from 100 taka to 1500 taka. However, such income lines their shordarni’s pockets.
34
The rate of income, which is very high when they are below 18 years old, falls sharply when they
are above 25 years old.
The average income of a bharatia is 345 taka per day and they used to get 3 or 4 customers per day.
Most of the times they are between 18 and 25 years old. After them, it is interesting to highlight that
the second highest income category gathers those who are above 35 years old. Indeed, they are
shordarnis or bariwalis and hence they benefit from their bonded girls income. However, few sex
workers can become shordarni and most of the times they need a considerable amount of money
and powerful liaisons with police administration and mastans.
3.3 Main expenditures
Sex workers have to cope with several expenditures. As mentioned above the room rent as well as
household facilities such as water and electricity is very high. Brothel landowners rent out the room
to bariwali who in their turn do the same. Everyone gains his own percentage from the rent. In Babu
Bazar brothel, the local powerful bariwali rents the room from the local landlords for 100 taka and
in her turn she rents out the room to gharwalis and bharatias for 130 taka. Together with the room
rent, the sex workers have to cope with the high price of consumer goods. They often purchase
necessaries from local hawkers at a price, which is double than the outside rate. This is due to their
restricted freedom of movement, which confines them inside the brothel.
108.65
Total
expenditure
27.6
Others
6.5
Children/family
3
Drinks/cigarette
s/drugs
11.7
Water
Toilet
68
Electricity
99
Rent
Food
Table 3.2: Information about the expenditure per day
Expenditure per day (Average)
74.40
234.11
According to the survey, the sex workers spend on average 234 taka per day. The money that they
usually send to their family and children represents the main expenditure, but only a 62.8% of the
sex workers interviewed provide for their family necessities.
The second main expenditure is the food, followed by rent and drugs or alcohol. It should be
mentioned that only the brothel dwellers of Baniashanta, Bagerhat and Potuakhali have to spend
money for the water that they fetch outside. Similarly, there are many sex workers who are not
provided with electricity or it is included in the room rent.
The survey team found some difficulties in order to collect expenditure related data because the
several sex workers are not aware of their daily expenditures.
35
3.4 Loan and savings
Debt is a huge problem inside the brothel. Sex workers usually start their trade with a debt towards
their owners and this plague affects them for a considerable part of their life. Besides, they earn
money but it is not sufficient to cover all their daily expenditures. An agent on behalf of the brothel
landlords come almost every day in order to collect the money. If they are in delay with the rent,
they face the risk of violence, torture and finally eviction.
It should be mentioned that several sex workers, who would like to leave the brothel, couldn’t
because of their debts.
Table 3.3: Information about loan in different brothels
Brothel
Kandapara
Rathkola
Fultola
Mymenshing
C & B Ghat
Marowari
Jamalpur
Jalaipotti
Babubazar
Madaripur
Doulodia
Patuakhali
Banishanta
Bagerhat
Have loan
(%)
80
35
45
86
51
53
61
37
60
-
Don’t have loan
(%)
20
65
55
14
49
47
32
63
40
-
No Answer
(%)
100
100
100
100
100
Out of 344 sex workers, the 58% incur a loan or debt. In Kandapara brothel the 80% of the sex
workers interviewed incurred a loan; in C&B Ghat such percentage is higher (86%).
They borrow money from other sex workers inside the brothel such as shordarnis and bariwalis or
from the local people outside such as Mahaja or pawnbrokers. Afterwards, they have to pay high
interest rates for the money they have borrowed. Usury represents a big concern in the sex workers
life. In such regard, older and former sex workers who cannot afford their living expenditures such
as food, medicines and rent represent the most affected group.
Another common way to incur a loan is the purchase of girls.
Because of their huge expenditures, it is very hard for a sex worker to save money.
According to the survey, only a 41 % was able to put money aside. In Doulodia brothel, out of 344
sex workers, the 89% saved some money. This depends mainly on their status: as mentioned before,
shordarnis and some independent tenants are quite wealthy. In Banishanta and Bagerhat brothel,
mostly the 50% of them saved some money.
On the contrary, in Jhalaipatti brothel, which is very poor and crumbling, only a 16% were able to
make economies.
Several Ngos are making the sex workers aware of the importance of saving money. They started to
create their own cooperative. Otherwise, it is hard for them to leave the brothel.
36
Some sex workers have also bank accounts, but they told the survey team that there are several
problems when they want to put down a bank deposit. They cannot often go to the bank and some
bank officers are still reluctant to give them credibility. Hence, many sex workers were able to open
a bank account through their babu, but several times he deceived them stealing all their money.
Table 3.4: Information about Savings in different brothels
Brothel
Kandapara
Rathkola
Fultola
Mymenshing
C & BGhat
Marwari Mondir
Jamalpur
Jalaipotti
Babubazar
Madaripur
Doulodia
Patuakhali
Banishanta
Bagerhat
Have savings
(%)
47
43
100
41
45
41
34
16
27
34
89
100
50
50
Don’t have
savings (%)
50
57
59
55
59
66
84
73
66
11
50
50
No Answer
(%)
3
-
3.5 Health-related issues
HIV/AIDS
Today, several NGOs are running programmes aimed at preventing the threat of HIV/AIDS spread.
Almost all the sex workers are aware of such epidemic, but they told the survey team that generally
customers do not want to make use of condoms. It should be mentioned that, compared to other
Asian countries, in Bangladesh the sex workers have the highest number of clients and hence they
are at high-risk. Anyway, they are still not completely comfortable with such issue.
Diagram 10: Use of contraceptives inside the brothels
37
Condoms
18%
0%
3% 1%
Female condoms
0%
Pills
IUD
Injection
Others
10%
Nothing
68%
According to the survey, out of 435 sex workers, 294 make use of condoms and 43 of female
condoms. They represent the 78% of the sample. The other sex workers make use of pills,
injections, etc., which are only aimed at preventing undesired pregnancy but without protecting
from HIV/AIDS and STD. Consequently, the percentage of women and girls, who do not make use
of prevention measures (22%), is still very high.
Furthermore, among the sex workers, who used to protect themselves, some of them owned up to
not use condoms if a customer offer them more money. This is especially the case of sex workers
who earn little sum of money. Besides, they generally do not use protecting measures with their
fixed customers such as Badha babu.
The case of chukris is also worrying, because they depend on their shordarni’s will and they do not
have the power to safeguard themselves.
Tab. 3.4: Use of contraceptives
Brothel
Condoms Female
Condoms
4
0
7
0
9
0
2
0
30
1
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
6
Jhalai Patti
28
Puranbazar
33
Rothkhola
35
C&B Ghat
35
Doulatdia
7
Kandapara
40
Mymensingh
31
Ranigonj
37
Bazar
Total
294
23
1
1
3
4
0
4
2
4
43
Type of contraceptive
Pills
IUD
Injection Others
Total
Nothing
0
4
2
0
9
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
4
14
11
3
41
10
6
14
3
4
1
9
9
8
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
3
0
1
0
0
0
3
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
43
35
48
42
43
10
56
33
51
79
1
12
4
2
435
38
ABORTION/MISCARRIAGE
Abortion is very common inside the brothel. Out 344 sex workers, 126 had one or more abortions in
their lifetime. They represent the 37% of the sample. This percentage is quite indicative of the
effective use of contraceptives inside the brothel.
However, sex workers were quite reluctant to afford such kind of issue. Indeed, the 50% of the
sample refused to answer the question about their abortion.
Where
Others
Local midwives
Hospital
Local/
inside the
NGO
brothel
clinic
Potuakhali
1
4
1
Bagerhat
4
6
4
Baniashanta
7
3
3
2
2
Phultala
1
2
1
Marwari Mondir
12
25
2
1
9
Babu Bazar
9
21
3
3
3
Jhalaipatti
9
22
1
3
5
Puranbazar
13
22
6
3
4
Rothkhola
14
23
1
2
11
C& B Ghat
11
26
11
Doulatdia
3
6
1
1
1
Kandapara
25
15
4
7
6
8
Mymensing
6
16
5
1
Ranigonj Bazar
11
27
4
2
1
4
Total
126
218
30
22
11
63
Grand total
344
126
In Khandapara brothel, out of 40 sex workers interviewed, 25 have aborted.
In Bangladesh, abortion can be carried out in the first three months of pregnancy, unless some
complications intervene during the pregnancy. On the contrary, sex workers often used to abort
when they are at the 4th or 5th of pregnancy.
Midwives generally make in private clinics or in NGOs clinic abortion by doctors or in the brothel.
The 24% of the sample aborted at local hospitals; the 17% at local NGOs clinic and the 9% with the
help of midwives.
According to the sample interviewed, unhealthy and dangerous practices are used to carry out an
abortion. One of these is called MR: a pipe is inserted inside the vagina in order to suck the foetus
out. Hence, the risk of sexual infections and hemorrhagic is very high.
Besides, sex workers have a lot of expenditures and therefore, after the abortion, they come back to
work in few days.
Brothel
Abortion/ MR
Yes
No
Table 3.5: Informations on abortion/MR
Diagram 11: Where abortion is carried out
39
24%
Hospital
Local/NGO Clinic
Local midwives
50%
17%
Others
9%
Abortion is hardly a free choice for a sex worker. They are forced by poor living conditions, lack of
fathers for their child and many times by other sex workers such as shordarnis or bariwalis.
If a bharatia can at least think about the possibility of keeping or not the child, chukris are often
forced to get abortion by their owners. A pregnant chukri represents a lower income for her
shordarni and hence just a burden to feed. Besides, they are generally forced to come back to work
as soon as possible.
According to the survey, out of 126 sex workers, who carried out an abortion, for 80 (63%) it was
an own choice. 13 sex workers answered that they were forced by their shordarnis (10%), while
other 2% were forced by other people such as their Badha babu or common customers. Other 24
(19%) decided to abort for several reasons such as their young age or because they already had
children.
Diagram 12: Reasons for abortion
19%
2%
10%
1%
5%
Free choice
Forced by Shordarni
63%
Accident
Forced by someone else
Forced by Pimps
Others
TREATMENT FACILITES
40
Sex workers suffer for several diseases such as STD, urinary tract infections, vaginal and ovarian
infections, irregular menstruations, skin diseases, gastric problems due to unsafe water and food,
etc. Commonly they subject themselves to a treatment only when their disease is in such advanced
stage that they cannot work. The result is that their disease becomes worse.
Sex workers are very reluctant to benefit from public health care. The main reasons are the high
cost of the government treatment and the fear to be discovered and marked because of their sex
work. Further, they do not enjoy freedom of movement and consequently most of the times they
have to be cured only inside the brothels.
According to data collection, the 41% (152 sex workers) benefit from doctors or clinic of local
NGOs. Here, they are less afraid and they feel themselves comfortable. In Rothkhola and C&B
Ghat brothels, such percentage is higher: out of a sample of 37 sex workers, respectively 28 and 21
sex workers preferred to be cured by NGOs. Similarly, in Kandapara brothel, 22 out of 40 went to a
NGOs clinic.
On the contrary, government hospital facilities are usually avoided. Only 14 sex workers benefit
from public health care: 2 sex workers in Bagerhat brothel, 1 in Phultala, 3 in Babu Bazar brothel of
Jessore, 3 in Puranzabar, 1 in Doulatdia and in Ranigonji brothel of Jamalpur and 2 in Mymensing.
They are only the 4% of the sample.
The second highest percentage (28%) benefit from treatment facilities provided in other place such
as pharmacies inside or outside the brothel. According to them, in such places they receive prompt
medical treatment.
Tab. 3.6: Treatment facilities
Brothel
Govt.
Hospital
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Khulna
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jhalaipatti
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
C & B Ghat
Doulatdia
Kandapara
Mymensing
Ranigonj Bazar
Total
Treatment facilities
Others Don’t Go
NGO
for
Clinic/
treatment
Doctors
3
0
2
1
3
0
6
4
0
0
1
0
Sample
size
0
2
0
1
Clinic
/Private
Doctors
0
5
1
1
0
6
10
15
6
37
3
1
3
0
0
1
0
2
1
14
3
0
9
4
0
7
13
8
7
64
10
13
15
28
21
0
22
6
17
152
9
14
8
4
15
1
6
7
14
101
5
9
5
2
1
0
3
2
1
36
30
31
35
37
37
9
40
22
38
344
5
10
10
3
Besides, only 64 sex workers (17%) went to private clinic or doctors. This percentage is quite high
only in Mymensing brothel (8 out of 22) and in Kandapara (13 out of 40).
41
Diagram 13: Medical treatment places
19%
2%
10%
1%
5%
63%
Free choice
Accident
Forced by Pimps
Forced by Shordarni
Forced by someone else
Others
Brothel
Drug addiction
No
Response
Total
DRUG ADDICTION
The use of alcohol, drugs
and
cigarettes
is
th
w
idespread
in
all
the
14
Potuakhali
2
2
1
5
brothels.
Bagerhat
5
5
10
According to the survey,
Baniashanta
6
4
10
the 30% (103) of the
Phultala
3
3
sample of 344 sex workers
Marwari
9
26
2
37
use regularly drugs and
Mondir
alcohol.
Babu Bazar
9
15
6
30
The 64% is not addicted,
Jhalaipatti
3
25
3
31
but it has been deemed
Puranbazar
5
30
35
that a considerable number
Rothkhola
7
26
4
37
of sex workers, who make
C & B Ghat
9
27
1
37
use only irregularly of
Doulatdia
5
4
9
noxious
substances,
Kandapara
24
14
2
40
preferred to deny such
Mymensing
4
17
1
22
abuse.
Ranigonj
12
26
38
A
widespread
Total
103
221
20
344
stigmatization, hardships
and other several problems end up by bringing about their low-self esteem and turning drugs and
alcohol into a way out from a wretched life.
A high abuse of drugs has been found in Kandapara brothel (24 out of 40), in Ranigonji brothel (12
out of 38) and in Babu Bazar (9 out of 30).
Yes
No
Tab. 3.7: Drug Addiction
42
Diagram 14: Percentage of drug addiction
Torturing
Brothel
6%
64%
Potuakhali
Bagerhat
Baniashanta
Phultala
Marwari
Mondir
Babu Bazar
Jhalai Patti
Puranbazar
Rothkhola
C&B Ghat
Doulatdia
Kandapara
Mymensingh
Ranigonj
Total
Grand total
3
2
3
5
1
3
31
Addicted
No Answer
No
Yes
30%
Not addicted
No response
2
8
6
1
3.6 Violence and torture
Brothel-based sex workers used to face several abuses,
harassments and violence, especially by police, local
mastans and shordarnis. Police who have a regular access
5
23
2
into the brothel generally subjects them to extortion. In
2
28
1
many brothels, police allow customers to spend the night
10
21
4
inside only on demand of bribe. Many sex workers told the
13
20
4
survey team that at patrolling officers raid the brothel and
6
29
2
if they find some customers, they are forced to pay as well
6
3
as the sex workers. Besides, they can take them to custody,
24
9
7
too. In Doulatdia brothel, no customers can enter the
4
18
brothel after 9 p.m. without taking a ticket from police.
7
29
2
Besides, some police officers forcefully enjoy sex with
90
212
42
them. It should be mentioned that mostly the sex workers
344
reported at least one forceful intercourse, but they do not
have a clear idea about rape as crime. When they were asked if they were raped, they generally
denied such violence, but afterwards they admitted to be several times forced to have sex. That
means rape. Similarly, they kept from filing a complaint against their rapier, because they did not
know that he committed an offence.
Tab. 3.8: Torture in the brothels
43
According to the survey, out of a sample of 344 sex workers, 90 (26%) faced some tortures during
their brothel-based work.
The 12% refused to answer. However, as several sex workers reported, torture and violence are
reducing in some brothels because of the presence of NGOs.
Kandapara brothel turned out to be one of the most violent places. Here, out of 40 sex workers, 24
faced some torture.
Also, Puranzabar and Rothkhola brothels show the highest percentage of violence. On the contrary,
the situation in the brothels of Jessore seems to be better.
Diagram 15: Torture in the brothels
12%
26%
Yes
No
No Answer
62%
Referring to the source of violence, out of 144 sex workers, who were tortured al least once in their
lifetime, 34 of them were harassed by police (24%).
Local mastans represents a further and constant threat to the sex workers. They are the main
problem for the sex worker. They have an easy access to the brothels. Mainly, they enjoy sex
without any payment and they ask for money. 50 sex workers (34%) were abused by them,
especially in Rothkhola and Kandapara brothels.
Sex workers of Phultala brothel reported that the local mastans come constantly to the brothel and
they enjoy sex as many times as they want. If they complain, the risk violence and beating up.
In Rothkhola brothel, at the entrance mastans harrass customers, too. In Madaripur brothel, mastans
forced the sex workers to buy and use drugs.
Tab. 3.9: Source of violence
44
Others
people
Community
Local
Workers
Other Sex
Pimps
Mastan
Police
Brothel
Shordarni
Source of violence
Potuakhali
2
1
Bagerhat
1
1
Baniashanta
2
1
1
Phultala
Marwari
2
1
2
Mondir
Babu Bazar
1
4
1
Jhalai Patti
2
Puranbazar
2
8
6
1
2
Rothkhola
9
12
3
1
3
2
C&B Ghat
1
1
1
Doulatdia
1
3
1
1
Kandapara
11
18
1
10
1
5
3
33
Mymensingh
3
3
1
1
sex
Ranigonj
1
4
1
1
wor
Total
34
50
1
33
4
13
9
kers
(23%) were tortured by their shordarnis when they were working as chukris. This figure is deemed
to be higher, because some sex workers were afraid of tell about their shordarni violence for fear of
possible retaliation. As mentioned previously, during the interview session chukris were constantly
watched out by their owners. Therefore, they were afraid to speak up.
According to the sex workers, shordanis used to torture the chukris when they do not earn, as they
want or if they refuse to take customers because they are tired or sick. Sometimes chukris want also
to refuse some pervert customers, but their shordarni forces to entertain them. Moreover, shordarnis
used to force them to abort when they are pregnant. Chukris have only to work and if they are
pregnant, they can earn less money. Some sex workers referred also that when a chukri tries to get
away from the brothel, she is generally recaptured and afterwards her owner tortures her.
Most of the times, Badha babu and customers are a source of violence, too.
Furthermore, the sex workers complain especially about their restricted freedom of movement,
discrimination as well as a constant teasing when they are outside the brothel. They think that this is
violence, too. Besides, their children do not have the father’s identity and they are not socially
accepted.
Diagram 16: Source of torture
45
3%
9%
6%
Police
24%
Mastan
Pimps
Shordarni
Other sex-worker
23%
1%
34%
Local Community
Others
3.7 Future plans
According to the survey, the 71% of the sample interviewed have some plans about the future.
Several of them are born inside the brothel or they are living here since many years, sometimes 10
and more. They dream to leave and live like all the other people. They dream to live with their
children and family and run other business. Many sex workers want to save a sufficient sum of
money, buy a shop or a piece of land and run their own business.
A bharatia in Ranigonji brothel of Jamalpur said: “I want to save money, leave this place, buy some
land, build my own house and let my children grow up in a good environment”.
Another sex workers of C&B Ghat said: “ I want to deposit some money, come back to my village,
buy a poultry and goats, and live there with my brother and mother”.
Among the youngest sex workers, the dream is to get married and live with the family of the
mainstream society. A sex workers of Mymensing told the survey team: ”I would like to meet a
kind man, marry him.... otherwise I will stay here”.
Diagram 17: Future plans
Go outside brothel
13%
9%
Don’t go outside the
brothel
Have no plan
7%
71%
Didn’t give answer
46
Another sex worker of Puranzabar brothel said: “ I will leave this place and settle somewhere to
bring up and educate my child as a good man. Afterwards, I will set a poultry farm and a handicraft
business”
Several sex workers would like to learn a job such as handicrafts. They ask the NGOs to provide
them such training.
Besides, a 13% of the sample did not give any answer. Similarly, the 9% have no plan about the
future and the 7% decided to live inside the brothel forever. Many sex workers do not know how
the life is outside the brothel. They spent almost all their life inside. They think that there is no hope
for them: the society stigmatises and scorns them. According to them, there is no place for a sex
worker outside the brothel. It is not only the society, which considers them as spoiled, but they start
to believe in their immoral and fallen status. They have low-self esteem. A sex worker of
Kandapara brothel said: “ I passed all my life in misery and there is no reason behind these men
who look at us with such contempt. The society will not accept us and that is why I want to live
here”. A sex worker in Rothkola brothel has reasserted this: “I do not have any plan. We are noti
(prostitute) and we will always remain noti. We cannot have any kind of plan”.
47
Appendix I – NGOs interviewed for the survey and main problems in
the brothels
Brothel
Location
NGOs
Potuakhali Brothel
Potuakhali
KAJUS (CARE)
Bagerhat Brothel
Bagerhat
JJS, HELP
Baniashanta Brothel
Mongla
JJS, World Vision
Phultala Brothel
Khulna
Marie Steps Clinic
Mondir Jessore
Jagorani Chakra
(Tdh-Italy),
AKLAB (UNDP),
SAVIER,
PKS,
Ghorony,
Salvation Army.
Marwari
Brothel
Babu Bazar Brothel
Jessore
Jhalai Patti Brothel
Jessore
Puranbazar Brothel
Madaripur
Jagorani Chakra
(Tdh-Italy),
AKLAB (UNDP),
SAVIER,
PKS,
Ghorony,
Salvation Army.
Jagorani Chakra
(Tdh-Italy),
AKLAB,
SAVIER,
PKS,
Ghorony,
Salvation Army.
Surokkha/ Social
Marketing
Company, Shapla.
Major needs/problems
inside
the
brothel
addressed by NGOs
Drainage, drinking water,
poor environment,
eviction
Low number of customers,
Dirty environment,
Administrative problem.
River erosion, Income has
been reduced for lack of
ships in the port.
Moreover, during rainy
season, number of
customers deceases and
income falls more.
Educations, Banks do not
accept the sex-workers to
provide service,
Graveyard, Alternative
profession, Neglected by
the society.
Lack of education &
awareness, sex-workers
are not organized, Number
of customers are
decreasing for the bad
behavior of the sexworkers.
Diseases, Lack of
Customers, Prohibition of
keeping new girls.
Lack of customers,
Prohibition of keeping
new girls.
Hated and neglected by
the society.
48
Rothkhola Brothel
Faridpur
Shapla
Mohila
Sangstha, FPAP,
BRAC, Surokkha,
VFW.
CNB Ghat Brothel
Faridpur
Shapla
Mohila
Sangstha, BRAC,
FPAB, Surokkha.
Doulatdia Brothel,
Rajbari
Kandapara Brothel
Tangail
KKS,
Mukti
Mohila
Somity,
VPKA,
PIACT
Bangladesh,
FPAB,
Nari
Odhikar
Bastobayan
Sonstha, Ujjiboon
Unnoyon Sonstha.
SSS, CARE, Nari
Mukti, RASDO,
Shikha, Work for
all.
Mymensingh Brothel
Mymensingh
Ranigonj Brothel
Jamalpur
Harassment by the police,
Badha Babu and local
Mastans (muscle-man),
Lack of graveyard for the
sex-workers, hated and
neglected by the society.
Harassment by the police
and local Mastans
(muscle-man), Lack of
graveyard for the sexworkers, hated and
neglected by the society.
Lack of treatment
facilities, Conflict with
Bariwali, Harassment by
the police and local
Mastans (muscle-man),
Violence.
Lack of awareness/health
awareness, Not
understanding their own
problems, Sex-workers
deceived by the Badha
Babu, Harassment by the
police.
Schools for child
education, Promotion of
Adult education, Health
facilitation, Graveyard for
the sex-workers.
Sukhtara Kallan
Sonstha
(A
Voluntary
organization), No
other
NGOs
(World Vision is
going to start
working
here
soon)
Lack of customers,
Aparayejo
Bangladesh (Tdh- Harassment by the police
and local Mastans
Italy), Surokkha.
(muscle-man), lack of
awareness, addiction,
Chukries are dependent &
deprived, Graveyard for
the sex-workers.
49
PART 2
A Study on
Street based-Sex Workers
In 4 major Cities of Bangladesh
Their Demographic, Socio-economic and Human Rights Status
by
Natasha Ahmad
The Researchers: Priscilla Raj and Rehana
Tabulators: Sony and Jahid
50
Introduction:
“Sex-work is legal; soliciting is not. Sex-work is legal; running a brothel is not…”
This is the law of this land. With these kind of contradictory laws ‘illegal’ sex-workers are ‘legally’
exploited, tortured, abused and harassed by the law enforcement agencies, local mastaans and also
by the clients on a regular basis.
Sex workers in Bangladesh, like in many other developing countries are the most underprivileged,
tortured, abused and exploited group of people. They face extortion, rape, physical torture and
discrimination every day. It is very unfortunate that the law enforcement agencies commit the worst
crimes against the sex workers. While in otherwise violent country like Bangladesh, lawlessness is
regularly reported in the mainstream media; the torture and exploitation faced by the sex workers
are mostly never reported. Since the mainstream media and the society ignore the sex workers, the
sex workers themselves are coming out to tell their stories.
The reasons behind entering the sex trade are very common for women working in the brothels or
on the streets of Bangladesh. The situation of the floating sex workers is much more vulnerable than
the women living in the relative protection of a brothel. Women in the streets are engaged in an
illegal activity and they are regularly harassed. Though, running a brothel is also illegal, the owners
of these brothels are never punished. The women who live in these brothels, though, are harassed
and live in continual fear of eviction. The human rights of all sex workers are grossly violated and
they do not have a voice in society. The voices that are heard are always against them and come
from the mouths of people who regularly enjoy their services.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to know about the human rights status and the socio-economic
condition of female sex workers working in the streets of some selected cities of Bangladesh.
Leaving aside the hotel based sex workers and transvestites, this study also aims to look into the
plight of the under-aged girls in this trade.
The study presents,
51
ƒ
description of the cities visited together with demographic information on the street/floating
based sex workers
ƒ
reasons behind leaving home and joining this work, duration in this profession
ƒ
the socio-economic condition of the sex workers
ƒ
their Health and Human Rights situation
ƒ
the needs and expectation (and contradiction) among the sex workers
Methodology:
A team comprising two female researchers conducted the study in the months of end FebruaryMarch 2005. One of the researchers was a street based sex worker while the other is a freelance
journalist and researcher. It should be mentioned here that this is for the first time that sex workers
were included in such a study. They are members of Durjoy Nari Sangho, an organization of streetbased sex workers. Durjoy works with street-based sex workers all over Bangladesh. The team
spent between 3 and 4 days at each site talking to women in the sex-trade and also with the
representatives of organizations working with these women.
The first step was to develop a questionnaire (done in English, later translated into Bangla), which
was then shared with the team before going to the field. The questionnaire was long and it took a
long time to finish an interview. The interviews were conducted in the areas where sex workers
operate. It was inconvenient to fill in the answers while simultaneously conducting the interview.
However, the sex workers were patient and the research team was able to get the needed
information and also created a good rapport with the interviewees. The team spent 3 days each in
Chittagong, Sylhet, Jessore and Dhaka and was helped by local NGO’s. The questionnaire was
modified to enable us to finish an interview “quickly” since most sex-workers could not spare
enough time to complete the original questionnaire. Both the members of the research team
conducted interviews and that helped to build a better understanding among them.
We took permission from the sex workers to record their interviews on tape and fill in the
questionnaire simultaneously. This was done to double check the information collected by the
research team. We were able to tape-record most of the interviews, which were transcribed later.
52
After completing the work in Dhaka, the team left for Jessore and subsequently for Chittagong and
Sylhet. In each place the team interviewed 8-10 floating sex workers (we also have few unfinished
interviews which we did not use in this study) and 1-2 development workers carrying out different
programs for the street-based sex workers living in these cities.
Strength and Limitations of the Study:
•
The team member - coming from a different socio-cultural background - felt that it was very
helpful to have a sex worker in the team. It was easy for the freelance journalist to identify street
based sex workers of the different areas of Chittagong, Dhaka, Jessore and Sylhet.
•
The non-sex worker member of the team did not have any problem talking to the street based
sex worker in the field or at the DIC (Drop-in Center) - could talk freely with them. But when
she went to interview them at their work place it was a problem and a lot of the sex workers did
not give time to finish the whole questionnaire. So we have not been able to fulfill our target (of
40 interviews).
•
On the other hand, the composition of such a team boosted the confidence of the sex workers interviewee and interviewed sex workers. The interviewer sex worker (of the study team) felt
‘important’ being a part of a research project. And after doing this study, a couple of sex
workers have been included in other study groups too. Over the years they have often worked
with different NGO’s on projects involving HIV/AIDS, promoting condom us and in other
field-surveys. But a socio-economic study was some thing that they were doing for the first
time. The floating, especially the street-based (we did not include the hotel based sex workers)
sex workers, on the other hand, were comfortable with the study team as they found people from
their own profession amongst them.
•
The NGO’s working in these 4 areas helped the research team with information and provided
logistical support. We have been able to build up an excellent rapport with the NGO workers –
which not only helped to conduct the study smoothly but also helped to gain confidence of the
floating sex workers who were known to the NGO workers from before.
53
•
A number of organizations are conducting research on sex workers. Being the subject of
research made a few sex workers quite reluctant to cooperate by answering to the questions.
Some were apathetic to the whole program of study. Some also badmouthed the researchers,
especially the sex worker.
•
The work of these women in the sex trade requires them to be “on the move” and it was very
difficult to do structured interviews.
•
It was good having a mixed group because of the attitude of the “educated” team member
helped the sex worker to be confident and there was a good balance among them and they were
able to collect quality information.
•
The team was to visit and collect information from 4 cities of Chittagong, Sylhet, Jessore and
Dhaka by interviewing floating sex workers working in these cities. Time is a big factor and it
would have been better if we could have got some more time in hand so that we could go back
to the interviewee for clarification of some data. The present political situation also caused
delays.
•
With each location differing from the other with regards to culture of the area, types of
customers, accessibility and police interference, we strongly feel that this study must continue.
We need to know the situation in all the cities in Bangladesh as the number of floating sex
workers is increasing. The most vulnerable are the underage girls who are joining this trade in
an alarming rate. The entry of people with learning disabilities in this area is another issue of
concern. One should design and initiate a study to understand the trends and situation better in
near future.
54
The Research Findings:
Information on the Cities Visited:
So far, 4 cities were visited for this study. Before doing this study another similar study was carried
out (following the same questionnaire) in all 14 “registered brothels”. We chose Chittagong: it is
the second largest city of Bangladesh, it is well-known seaport and it is known to be the business
city of Bangladesh. The people of this city are very religious and conventional. The city has a beach
within city limits. And there are no brothels here. The sex workers hang around places like the
cinema halls, railway stations, and walk the streets of commercial areas where there are lots of
cheap hotels. These floating sex workers also go out to Cox’s Bazaar, Dhaka with their clients.
Besides they go to “parties” and at private homes. They also get foreigners as customer.
According to YPSA (Young Power in Social Action) there are about 1500 (one thousand five
hundred) floating sex workers in Chittagong city. Through the Drop-in Center’s run by YPSA, a
total of 1000 sex workers are availing the services of DIC.
Sylhet is another important city, famous for its tea gardens. The people of Sylhet have made a name
for themselves in the restaurant business in England. They are very out going as well as enterprising
while, at the same time, being very religious and conservative. There is a formal border with India
and a lot of truck drivers come to this area too. There are no brothels here in this city but this city
gets a lot of tourists and immigrants from abroad. Places like the cinema halls, parks, hotels, lowrange hotels (commonly known as “boarding”), the railway stations and floating sex workers use
the area under two bridges in the city. They are also taken to private houses for parties.
According to the survey carried out by SSKS in 2004 there are an estimated 1600 floating sex
workers in Sylhet town. Through the Drop-in Center, SSKS has been able to provide its services to
1100 floating sex workers.
Jessore is a border district (with West Bengal, India) and has a formal land border with India.
Through this border the export-import business takes place with India. A lot of “trafficking in
55
persons” happens across this border. There are 3 brothels as well as a large number of street-based
and hotel-based sex workers working in the city. In Jessore, the sex workers get their clients from
the bus-stand, market places, railway station, the court area and from cinema halls. The sex workers
in Jessore get a lot of Indian customers too.
In 2001, CARE conducted a survey and estimated that about 125-130 floating sex workers walked
the streets of Jessore. At present there is no organization working directly with the floating sex
workers. Jagarani Chakra is running a home for the children of sex workers and caters to the needs
of the children of a few sex workers. Presently (2005), there are an estimated 250-300 floating sex
workers in Jessore city.
Dhaka is the capital city and all the brothels have been evicted from Dhaka and its neighboring
areas. As a result, a lot of the sex workers are now out on the streets of the capital city. Besides,
there are lots of women who came and joined this trade as street based sex workers. The floating
sex workers can be found in each and every important place in Dhaka. They usually roam around
the commercial areas such as whole-sale market places, industrial areas, office areas, posh
residential areas such as Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Dhanmondi, Uttora, the Parliament area, the
river port of Dhaka, the old town intra-country bus-stands, intra-country truck terminals, railway
stations, city cinema halls, parks, from low to mid range hotels, private run guest houses and the
court area.
In 1997, CARE Bangladesh conducted a survey and estimated the number of floating sex workers
to be about 4500. The police authority carried out a survey in 1992 and according to them the
estimated number was between 15000 and 20000. According to Durjoi, an organization of floating
sex workers, the number of floating sex workers in Dhaka city is now around 10,000. They feel that
after the forced closure of the brothels, a lot of the sex workers are now working as floating sex
workers on the streets of Dhaka.
56
Map of Bangladesh highlighting the 4 districts
57
Back ground of the Floating sex workers:
(Demographic Characteristics)
Place of Origin of Respondents:
For the study we have interviewed a total of 38 street based-sex workers (Table1). These sex
workers working in 4 cities have come from far away villages and sometimes from neighboring
districts.
Like in Chittagong, out of 10 there are 4 respondents who came from Comilla, 5 came from greater
Chittagong division and 1 woman came from Sherpur (a far away district).
Among the 9 respondents in Sylhet there are 7 who are from greater Sylhet division and 1 each
from Comilla and Kishorgonj.
In Jessore, among the 11 respondents, there are 8 from greater Jessore and 1 each from Norail and
Khulna.
In Dhaka city, among the 8 respondents, 1 each hail from Faridpur, Kisorgong, Mymensing and
Rangpur while the rest are from villages of the greater Dhaka division.
Table 1. Number of Interviewee
Name of Cities
Chittagong
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
Sex Workers
10
8
11
9
38
Out reach
worker/NGO staff
3
2
2
2
9
58
A total of 9 NGO representatives and outreach workers who have been working with the sex
workers on different projects have been interviewed. The NGO representatives provided the number
of sex workers working in the area and gave information on the socio-economic situation of these
women and talked about their programmes.
The out reach workers providing information and insight about the working conditions and
problems faced by the floating sex workers on a regular basis. They also shared with us their
experience and how the work of NGO’s changed their life. And told us about the problems all of
them are facing after closing down of the programs without proper notice.
Age of the Respondents:
Age and looks are important assets of the sex workers. Unlike the brothel based sex workers the
street based or the floating sex workers often do not use heavy make-up. But they dress up very
smartly. Usually they have a different body language to inform the probable clients and walk
around or roam around on a rickshaw in areas where there is a demand for their service.
In this section I am talking about their present age only (it is frightening to see the age of joining
this trade, which will be discussed later). Among the 38 respondents, there were about 42% (16/38)
who are in their mid 20s. There are 18.5% (7/38) who are in their mid 30’s.
Like the underage brothel sex worker, underage floating sex worker also try their best to show that
they are over 18years of age. They do not use heavy make-ups like the brothel based sex workers. It
was very easy to identify young girls who were under 18years. There are about 30% (11/38)
respondents who are in their teens, among these 11, there are 63.6% (7/11) of them between 1217years of age and 36.4% are in their late teens. The youngest interviewee was not even in her teens
- she was only 12 years old. Mentally she is in a very bad shape and this girl is working in the
streets to support her husband who is in his 20’s and is a drug addict.
On the other hand, sex workers who are in their late 30s feels that they are too old to be in the
profession because their younger colleagues have a better prospects than a sex worker who is her
30s or even mid 20s. Among the respondents there are 10.5% (4/38) who are in their 40s. In fact,
people here do not keep track of one’s age and the girls are always trying to hide their age. For them
59
keeping a record of or calculating of ones age is not at all important and we had to spend a lot of
time for all of them to respond to this.
It was interesting to see that the sex workers who are in their 20’s to 30’s tried to hide their actual
age and pretended that they have just crossed 18years. And one will hardly meet someone who is in
her late 40’s.
Table 2: Present age of the respondents
Name of the
City
Below 18
Upto 25
Upto 35
40 and
above
Total
4
4
2
-
10
3
2
2
11 (29%)
4
4
4
16 (42.1%)
3
2
7 (18.4%)
1
2
1
4 (10.5%)
8
11
9
38
Chittagong
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
Educational Status of the Respondents:
Most of the interviewed floating sex workers came from poor households. Among the total of 38
respondents a total of 12 were reluctant to give us any information in this regard. Except 9 of the
respondents the rest 17 interviewed sex workers can read and write. There are 4 sex workers who
studied till secondary level (from class VI to VIII). A total of 6 respondents studied till the primary
level and there are 7 sex workers who can only sign their names.
Table 3: Educational status of respondents
Name of
the City
Illiterate
%
Can Sign %
Chittagong
3
30
2
20
-
-
-
-
5
50
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
1
2
3
9
12.5
18.2
33.3
23.7
1
2
2
7
12.5
18.2
22.2
18.4
3
2
1
6
37.5
18.2
11.2
15.8
1
3
4
12.5
33.3
10.5
2
5
12
25
45.4
31.6
Till Primary
%
Secondary
%
No response
%
Marital Status of the Respondents:
Among 38 respondents, there are 77% floating sex workers who are married. It is very interesting to
see that these sex workers were married very young - in their early teens. As we can see in the
following diagram, there are little more than 25% respondents who got married when they were
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within the age of 10-12 years. Almost 35 % were married at the age of 13-16 years. 15% of the
respondents did not mention anything about their age during marriage. It should be mentioned that
there are 13% who are still unmarried.
Age At Marriage
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
10-12 Years
13-16
17-19
20-23
NR
*** N.B. There are 5 respondents who are unmarried.
Table 4: Present Marital Status of Respondents
District
Chittagon
g
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
Percenta
ge
Married
Once
More
than
once
3
3
Deserted
Own
Husband
-
3
4
3
13
34%
1
1
3%
1
3
7
18%
Widow
Divorce
d
Unmarrie
d
NR
1
-
-
2
1
3
4
11%
1
2
3
8%
1
1
3%
2
1
5
13%
1
2
4
10%
Around 21% married sex workers are presently living with their husbands. And the rest of the
married sex workers live alone. There are some who have got married for the 2nd or 3rd time too.
And often they would say, “…not this present husband, the original husband when I was a good
woman…”
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There are only 5 who said that they are unmarried and they are in their early teens. Their husbands
have deserted a lot of their co-workers of the same age and adult women and this was a reason for
them to take up this life on the streets. However this fact does not have any impact on these young
girls as they all dream that they too would get married some time in future and have a happy family
life.
There are some women who said that they are in this profession because they need to give money to
their husbands to look after their children. And some of their present husbands are drug addicts and
they have to give the money to buy drugs.
Respondent’s Family: Children/Parents/Siblings:
Though a number of sex workers interviewed ran away from their home for various reasons, almost
all of them have been able to re-establish connections with their parents and siblings at home.
Having a home to go back to makes the floating sex workers feel more secure. A lot of them keep
their children with their parents. A few of the interviewed sex worker have some kind of connection
with their husbands and in these case studies we have seen that the husband keeps her children with
him and the woman pays for her child’s upbringing. One or two floating sex workers have been able
to get their children - especially their daughters - married and have a connection with them.
Those who do not have any connection with their family are the ones who face lots of problems.
Their children stay and grow-up with them - most often in the streets. If the child were too young to
be left alone, they would remain with their mother while she worked. When the child was a bit
older, they would ask the dalal to take care of the child or leave her/him to roams around on their
own in the streets.
Both the underage girls and adult sex workers who have contacts with their family feel that they
have a place to go back to and they keep the bond alive by going home to their native village from
time to time. They give money and expensive gifts when they visit the family. Some also buy
agricultural land in their own village and invest in business such as cloth trading, paddy husking etc.
and other seasonal small businesses. There are some cases where the family knows about their work
and are still in touch with them. And when they are in trouble or are kept in the vagrant homes their
family members come and bail them out.
62
On the other hand, those who do not have any contact look lost. They feel that they do not have any
future to look forward to. These women are the most vulnerable ones.
Table 5: Relationship with Original Home
District
Chittagong
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
Relations with home
Yes
No
NR
4
3
3
5
3
5
2
4
4
1
4
18
6
14
47%
16%
37%
Family knows about
their profession
Yes
No
NR
1
4
5
4
4
3
4
4
4
5
4
16
18
11%
42%
47%
Sends money home
Yes
No
NR
2
2
4
1
5
3
1
14
4
36.9% 10.5% 50%
According to this table, there are a total of 47% respondents who said that they have contact with
their home. Among the 38 respondents only 11% said that their family at their native home knows
about their profession, 47% of the respondents said that their family does not know about their
work. In the table we can see that there are a little more than 37% who state that they help their
family monetarily. “Family” may mean their siblings, family or the in-laws or the family where her
child/children is growing up.
63
Reasons for Leaving Home and Joining this Profession:
Why did they leave home?
When answering the question: “What happened that made you leave home and take up this
profession?” all respondents told us the whole story of their lives. After analyzing these life stories
we can find that the reasons for leaving home are different from the reason for which these people
took up sex work or became a sex worker. There are few specific reasons for which the underage
girls left home. The followings are a couple of common reasons (in brief) that had made the sex
workers leave their own home. (Table 6).
The reasons in brief are:
•
Left home after a fight with parents or some other member in the family.
•
Left home after the death of parents (mostly father), as other/older siblings were unwilling to
take care of them.
•
Left home after the death of both the parents with their relatives unwilling to take care of her
and her siblings and also took away their property.
•
Left home because of abusive step-parents (usually the step mother).
•
Left home after the second/third marriage of mother.
•
Left home to get married but instead ended up in the brothel and then came on the streets.
•
Raped by close relative or local goons.
•
Deceived – were offered jobs but were sold into the trade instead. (This is for both children and
adults)
•
Deserted by husband or husbands married other women.
•
Death of husband.
64
•
Mentally challenged women often leave home and no one looks for them. They live at the
mercy of others and men for their “sexual pleasure” also often use them.
Table 6: Reason for Leaving Home
Reasons for leaving home
Left home for various reasons
Number
6
Percentage
(%)
15.8
2
7
2
1
14
1
5.3
18.4
5.3
2.6
36.8
2.6
5
38
13.2
100
(Death of parents, abusive step-parents, multiple
marriage of parents)
Death of husband
In search of jobs
Raped by local goons/close relative
Missing/got lost
Deserted by husband
Followed
profession
No response
Total
the
mother/sister’s
There is 1 sex worker each from the 3 districts who left home for their abusive stepparents. There
are 2 young girls in Jessore whose father left them and they later on joined the profession. Among
9-interviewed sex workers in Sylhet 78% (7 out of 9), were deserted by their husbands and had left
home. Forty percent (4 out of 10) women in Chittagong and 27.3% (3 out of 11) in Jessore were
abandoned by their husbands. Here, 18.2% underage girls said that they left home because their
father had left them. In Dhaka, 25% of the women left home after the death of their husbands.
In Chittagong, 40% (4/10) of the sex workers came to the city looking for jobs.
In Jessore, we came across women who are mentally disabled and men use them as sex workers and
sometimes pay them too. These women live on the roads and do not have any contact with home.
Their husband or family deserted them when they started having mental problems.
A floating sex worker in Jessore told us, “My father got me married to a man who was already
married twice. I was only 12 years of age. I was living in his house… During our marriage he
married 9 other women. By this time my daughter was born. I did not inform my family about his
65
multiple marriages. When my paternal family came to know about this they brought me back. I was
happy but they started pressurizing me to get married again. I did not want to get married because I
did not know what was waiting for me. But my brothers and father kept on asking me to get married
as I needed to be married for my security…Anyway, I fought with my parents and brothers and left
home with my daughter…I came to Jessore and after a while before I could understand anything I
became a sex worker.”
Why did they join this profession?
The following are few common reasons for which the women/girls took up this profession.
Although there are multiple reasons for taking up sex work, the reasons are always similar for both
the underage and adult women in this trade
•
While working as domestic/restaurant/hostel help, they were raped and therefore felt that they
could not return to their families and be a burden on them. They decided to join the sex trade, as
there was “nothing more to loose.” And they would also earn some money.
•
Raped by relatives or goons and ran away from home and later joined the trade.
•
Re-marriage or multiple marriages of their husband or father left the family in distress and they
could not find any other job and therefore took up sex work for survival.
•
Failure to secure jobs in their own area/locality and decided to take up sex work as a profession.
•
Association with a street based-sex worker led them to take up the profession.
•
Because of drug addiction of husband or self
•
Husband failed to support family expenses and the wife took up this as a source of income.
•
Young widow (with a child) often have the sexual urge and slowly take up sex work.
66
•
Followed in the footsteps of a mother or aunt working in the brothels and became a street based
sex worker.
•
Kidnapped and sold to dalal/dalalni and forced into this profession.
•
There are some who joined the trade willfully.
The youngest interviewee told us, “My father is to be blamed for everything. Before he married my
mother he was married twice and after marrying my mother he got married again a few more times.
My mother was asked to leave when the family came to know that she was a sex worker. Anyway we
could not stay with him any more and we came to this city. Now both of us – my mother and I –
work as sex workers. My mother got married again. I am also married. My husband is a drug
addict. He does not have anyone at home and I met him in the streets…I work and run our
expenses. I wanted to go to school. I could not because my father was never there with us. It is all
my fathers fault…Why could he not take care of us?”
Shahida is 13 years old and she joined this “trade” when she was 10 or 11 years old. She had not
had her first menstruation at that time. “My mother and my father had a fight and they separated. I
was very little and I was lost…I was looking for my mother who got married again and heard that
she was working in a city. I followed her to the city but could not trace her and a dalalni got hold of
me. She told me that I should spend some time with the men…I was frightened to see huge men
sitting beside me. I escaped from there and the dalalni beat me…I ran away from her and started
working as a rag picker. After few days, Najma dalalni got hold of me and told me that I would do
what I am doing in the day time and at night if I stayed with her, truck drivers would give me money
and that I should give her the money and she would take care of me. Now I work in the station area.
I do not go for parties. I work in the empty train compartments. And I stay with Najma dalalni, she
looks after me but if I do not want to go to work at night she comes with a blade and has told me
that she would slash my cheeks. I want to go to my mother. I want to sleep in her lap but she cannot
take me because she is married to another man… I do not like this place and I want to live with my
mother.”
67
Different people have different reasons to join the sex trade. An interviewee in Chittagong told us,
“It is my fate! I was very small when we got the news that my father has developed some mental
problem and that he was untraceable. My father used to work in Jessore and came from a landed
family. My mother did not work and we used to live in my father’s home. My mother sold all his
property and left for her father’s village. My mother was also very young and she got married
again. I was growing up when she got married for the 2nd time… during this time, due to some
problems, she left her husband in Comilla and came to Chittagong…I was with her. Here she took
up a job in a bachelor’s mess and got married for the 3rd time to a truck driver. This step-father of
mine wanted to marry me…Can you imagine what a shameful situation I was in…My mother
thought I was having an affair with my step-father…She said, “I do not want my daughter. I want
my husband!” After such an incident how could I live there…I just walked out of that house…Now I
do not have any connection with my mother or her present family. I took up sex work to survive. I
am in this profession for the last 18 years now. I am in this profession just because of my mother
and there is no way for me to return to a “normal” life.”
Reasons for Taking up Sex Work
Peer Pressure
Sold by Husband
Sold by Dalal
Raped
For survival
Followed mother/sister
Willfully
No Response
68
How long have they been working?
At present, all the 38 respondents have been working as floating sex workers for at least 4-6 years.
There are a few who have been in this profession for 7-9 years. We have found 1 woman who has
been in this profession for the last 20-25years. Except very few sex workers, most of the
interviewed floating sex workers seem to earn quite well. Most of them live in rented rooms and
prepare their own food and sometimes they also eat out in restaurants. A lot of them have savings
and often help their immediate family.
The following diagram will give us an idea about the duration of work of our respondents.
less than 1
No response
1-3years
16+ years
10-15years
7-9years
4-6years
69
Socio Economic Status of the Sex workers:
Economic Status of the Respondents:
The failure of existing economic, political and social structures to provide equal, safe and just
opportunities for women to work and live has contributed to the feminization of poverty, which in
turn has led to the feminization of migration, as women leave their homes in search of survival.
(Trafficking in Persons: Trends in SAARC Countries; Natasha Ahmad, 2005)
Most of the interviewees come from poor families. Among them some are very poor though there
are also some (a miniscule percentage) who come from landed families. In this survey, we did not
find any women or children hailing from well-off families. If we looked at the reasons for leaving
home then we could understand the economic situation that forced them to leave their homes.
Among the 38 respondents, 18.4% of the women left their home to look for jobs in the cities, 36.8%
were deserted by their husbands and 5.3% came to the city after the death of their husbands. About
5 % of the underage girls left home after their fathers left. It was interesting to come across one
underage girl who left behind her parents to earn money so that they could repay their loan to
Grameen Bank. Her family was unable to pay the interest on the loan they had taken after the
failures of two successive crops. They were thus displaced from their village and migrated to a new
place (Sylhet) to work and earn money to pay back the loan. While in Sylhet, the girl came in touch
with a woman who offered her a job opportunity… The girls subsequently joined the sex trade.
Income and Expenditure:
We have seen that most of the floating sex workers do not go out to work every night. The rate for
“one shot” is Tk.50 for the middle-aged sex workers and if it is an underage girl, it becomes Tk.100.
Sometimes the client gives them a bit more than the going rate. Those who are young and goodlooking and young can earn between Tk.1200-1800 within 3 days. The ones in their mid 20s-30s
would earn, on an average, between Tk.500-700 in the same time. And then there are some who are
in their late 30’s or 40’s who earn Tk.250-600. Most of the respondents could give us an idea about
their income of the last 3-5days and told us that they work for 15-20 clients during that time. There
70
is only one person in Jessore who is mentally imbalanced and she told us that, “I sleep in the
streets. I do not have a place to go to. I need to sleep a lot otherwise I suffer… I have severe
headaches. I sleep here and take 2/3 customers at night…I earn Tk.60-80 and that is good enough
for me. I need Tk.50-60 for food…I eat at the restaurants. Some times, when I do not have any
money, the restaurant people give me food. Sometimes the police or the night-guards take away
money from me.”
There are some of the sex workers who work with the help of dalals (pimps) and there are a few
underage sex workers who work under dalalni (sort of Sardarni). A sex worker in Chittagong said,
“I work through dalals. They get me the clients and I work. Then we share our income…Often the
share is not done equally, like yesterday I got Tk.500 and my dalal took half of the money. The day
before I got Tk.150 he took 100 and gave me only Tk.50. And the day before that I earned Tk.300
and the dalal gave me only Tk.100…Even then I work with their help. Otherwise I would have to
roam around the city in search of work. The Mayoral Election is near. The situation is very volatile
now and the police is also very active…So it is easy and safe for me to work through the dalals.”
Runa is 25 years old and has a 3-month-old child. She said, “I could not work for the last seven
days…I have a small baby to look after…Yesterday I went to the garden in front of the Court. The
police came and told me to find some other place. The client whom I got with difficulty left me and
took someone else instead. The day before yesterday, I got one client who gave me Tk.30 and
around 8pm, when I was about to take another customer for Tk.50, the police came and shouted at
me and the client went away. The day before that a few mastaans came and asked me to go with
them…I said no because I did not have a place to leave my child and go to work…After a while
those boys came back and ran over me with their motorcycle. I fell down and hurt myself. A fellow
sex worker helped me to get up and took care of my baby and me. I do not know what to do.” It
should be mentioned that Runa also seemed to be mentally ill.
Expenditure:
A respondent in Chittagong responded philosophically: “This money that I earn now will never stay
with me. This money came from the streets and this will go back to the streets. Hard earned money
has its own value and is different from easy money… It is spent before you know what you have
earned. I do not care how I spend my easy money but when I work very hard I will be very
conscious while spending it.”
71
Most of the respondents feel that this money that they are earning by doing sex work is “impure”
and it does not have much value to them. So it is often splurged. They eat out at restaurants with
friends and often buy expensive clothes.
But when asked about the future, many of them said that they are saving money. They would like to
work for 5/6 years, which will help them to save a lot and will facilitate their return home and allow
them to settle down comfortably. So there are contradictions about what they actually do with this
money.
Almost all floating sex workers rent houses or share rooms with women from the same profession
in the city slums. The landlords do not charge them extra until they know what their tenants do for
living. Many of the sex workers leave home early in the morning and sleep in the streets to show
their landlord and neighbors that they work in a garments factory. The one who return home in the
morning say that they work in the clinics and now many sex workers say that they work as an “outreach” worker with an NGO.
Debts and Savings:
All most all sex workers at the beginning of their working life earn a handsome amount of money.
But most of them loose the money very fast. Only a handful can save money and invest it for their
future. What follows is the story of a respondent in Dhaka, is in her late 40’s - with her only child
she came to Dhaka after the death of her husband. She started working in a bachelor Mess as a cook
but later on she joined sex work. She is in the sex trade for the last 25 years now. “I was young and
very attractive. I started working in a Mess and after a while I started receiving offers. I accepted
the offers and after a while I got involved in this trade. I used to earn a lot. I saved my money and
my family in the village assumed that I work in a mess. I started investing in small seasonal
businesses, bought some land and raised some poultry. When my daughter was 10 years old, I took
her back to my village and she stayed with my brother, studied and now she is married with two
kids. My daughter is very happy with her husband and children. They do not know what I do. They
believe that I work in a hospital or clinic and that my duty hours are during the night. I regularly go
to my village and stay there for few months, look after my home, land and small business. I need to
72
earn some more money to have savings in the bank and to start a business”. She however has not
decided on the type of business to invest in next …she does not know.
During our interview we learnt that respondents who have contact with home have been able to save
money. Those who have children (24/38) also save money.
Many of these floating sex workers have lost money. Earlier, floating sex workers could not open
bank accounts and used to keep heir savings with the owners of roadside cigarette stands or with a
local medicine shop. But most of these women who were saving in such fashion have lost control
over their hard earned money. Almost everybody told us that they have not been able to get their
money back. After the emergence of sex worker’s organization, many of the interviewed sex
workers have been able to open bank accounts and few of them have their own savings group. As a
result, some are able to save money.
An underage sex worker of Dhaka, who earns an average of Tk.1200 a week, has helped another
underage sex worker who is now in an advanced stage of pregnancy. The pregnant girl had no place
to go to and this girl has taken responsibility for all her needs. She told us “I was very sad after I
saw her all alone in the streets. I asked her to come and stay with me. My land lord told me that the
child cannot be delivered in this house…I will sort that out when the time comes…Let her stay in
peace for a while at least…I thought that I might also face similar problems. I will get help then if I
help her now.”
Table 7: Savings
Savings
Where in /what form
Yes
No
NR
Bank
Shop
Land/gold
Village
NR
14
36.84%
11
28.95%
13
34.21%
5
35.71%
2
14.28%
3
21.43%
1
7.14%
3
21.43%
It is interesting to see that about 37% respondents have savings. There are 29% respondents who
said that they do not have any savings. And there are about 34% respondents who did not say
anything in this regard. And it is also interesting to know that these floating sex workers are not in
debt bondage like the women working in the brothels.
Among the total 38 respondents, 18.42% said that they used to keep their money with shop owners
that they visited often: shops like general grocery, jewelers and pharmacies - all located near their
73
work zones/spots but they have lost everything. Parul of Sylhet is in her mid 30’s. She used to have
girls working under her but after she began working as an out-reach worker, she has not kept any
girls. Now she works in the organization and occasionally do sex work. She said, “I have bank
accounts with Janata bank, this one is in Sylhet town and the other one is with Sonali bank and that
is in the village I come from. My cousin’s husband works in Janata Bank and she helped me to open
this account. I have bad experience as I lost money earlier. Now I go and save Tk.100-1000
whatever I can. I check my account at the village bank when I visit home once every 3 to 4 months.”
The rest of the respondents who have savings maintain it in different ways. Some still keep their
money at local shops; some save in the form of gold jewelry; some have bought land in their native
village. The ones who have bank accounts told us that the people at the Drop-in Center (DIC)
helped them open an account. But it was interesting to note that the women who were helped by the
DIC’s did not trust them with their money. Amongst sex workers, there is a belief that the people
running the DIC - the ones that maintain the savings scheme - are not trustworthy and that they
might close their programme leave without any notice and without returning the money deposited
with them.
74
Social Standing of the Respondent vis a vis the Clients, Mastaans and
the Police
The clients:
While going through the case studies one can guess that the brothel based sex workers are better off
than floating sex workers. The former live and work among many people while the latter may live
collectively but when they go out to work they are all by themselves. And often they do not know
where they will be taken to work with their clients.
Table 8: Harassment/torture by the Clients/customer
Pay
less
money
Have
sex
without
money
Hide
actual
No.
Client
Refuse
condom
Stabbed/
Threat
to stab
Forced
sex
Harass/
beat
Chittagong
1
-
3
1
2
-
1
Dhaka
Sylhet
2
3
3
3
-
1
3
2
1
3
1
2
-
1
3
1
Total
9
3
9
5
5
5
District
Jessore
Snatch
clients
money
Fixed
client
NR
1
3
1
2
1
-
1
3
1
2
2
-
4
2
7
5
Floating sex workers often get raped, harassed and abused by their clients and they cannot say
anything about it. (Table8). On the other hand, the brothel based sex workers can protest if their
clients harass or abuse them. The street based sex workers often do not have any fixed place to go
to. They work in empty train compartments (commonly known as dabba), in the parks, inside the
government office buildings such as the courtyards, on the verandas of offices and other such public
places. These sex workers do “shot trips”.
There are some who stand in the commercial areas, city centers, business areas, bus-stands, railway
stations and cinema/theater halls etc. - places where there is an influx of people from different
places within/outside the country. The floating sex workers take their clients to low and mid range
hotels (depending on the client’s budget). This practice is commonly known as “boarding”.
75
Smartly dressed up and good looking street-based sex workers often hang around posh residential
neighborhoods, diplomatic areas, or around privately run “guest houses”. Here, they get picked up
by clients (usually foreigners) who come in their cars. Often, the drivers do the soliciting. The girls
often go to private homes or to “parties” where there can be more that 5 to 7 customers. These girls
earn a lot. These parties however are always not very “safe”, as they mislead the sex workers about
the number of clients. They are often not paid the promised amount and some times get brutally
raped and abused. There are incidents where the floating sex workers were badly beaten up and
there are cases of them being stabbed. For all such reasons the floating sex workers usually do not
want to leave the place she usually stands in for clients.
In our case studies we have found that some of the sex workers also have “fixed” or regular clients.
These sex workers rarely roam around the city looking for clients. They face less harassment from
their clients and the police.
A lot of the floating sex workers resort to fraud and deceive the clients. They take their fees in
advance and then they inform the police. The police then come and harass the client and the client
needs to bribe the police to avoid arrest. We have found that there are incidents where the client
came back to take “revenge” for such an act and have physically assaulted the sex worker.
The sex workers in Jessore told us that they get lots of young customers who are in their teens. A
thirty-seven year old floating sex worker said, “I do not go with rickshaw pullers. I go with the
traders. But off late, there are lots of young boys, aged between 15 and 16…I do not take them at
all. These young boys come in a group and they then tug and pull… Most of the middle-aged sex
workers just do not like entertaining these boys.”
The mastaans/goons:
The floating sex workers of the four cities fear the local mastaans as they are often the most abusive
and violent. The local goons physically hurt them, slash them with blades and also take away their
money. The street-based sex workers are often brutally raped by these gangs. These men forcefully
pick them up and, in a few cases, the girls have been murdered. There are a few sex workers who
said, “It did not happen in front of me but I have heard that a girl like us did not want to go with the
goons. She was beaten up and was forced to go with them. We did not see her for a while. After a
few days we heard that she was found dead. I saw her dead body.”
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Some respondents said that these people are so strong that the police cannot do anything to protect
the girls from them. The mastaans follow the sex workers to their homes and force them to serve
them or they threat to expose their identity.
A sex worker in Sylhet said," I have an adolescent girl at home and I am very worried. The local
goons are very bad and they often threaten me that they will kidnap my daughter. I cannot do
anything since nobody will listen to me because of my profession.”
The sex workers do not want to get into any trouble with these men and quietly accept whatever
they demand.
Amazingly almost all the respondents have deep cuts and slash marks on their face or around their
necks and they said that they have been “marked” as sex workers by the mastaans and sometimes
even by fellow sex workers. Wherever they go, these marks advertise their profession. The brothel
based sex workers also have deep cuts in their forearms and hands but not on their faces. The ones
who do not have any slash marks fear that the mastaans will slash them and then they will not be
able to leave this profession ever.
The police:
The floating sex workers have a very interesting relationship with the men on duty – the police.
There are few sex workers who feel that if they “allow” the police to have free sex with them, give
them some bribe when demanded and keep them in good humor, and then they can work better and
work undisturbed, without any fear.
Our respondents from Chittagong, Dhaka, Jessore and Sylhet said that there are some policemen
who are very kind to them and help them when they are in trouble with their clients. Then there are
some who are very rough and beat them up indiscriminately, they also would come and pick them
up from the streets. Some times they are sent off to the vagrant homes or kept in the police station
overnight and then they are produced in the court. The policemen tell them what should be told in
front of the judge.
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They are made to stand up inside the stand without their shoes on and beg for forgiveness by joining
their palms together. The “good” policemen and muhuri (court officials) would then do the needful
and they are set free.
The policemen, when in a bad mood, beat the sex workers for no reason. The sex workers cannot
protest and it makes them feel very humiliated. The policemen on duty often have sex without
paying or by giving them a very nominal sum of money. And they often do it without condoms.
There was one respondent from Chittagong who told us that she used to work as an informer for the
local police station. But the local goons found out and her life was under threat. She had to leave the
job. She was also trained to use a gun and she would have the gun with her when going for
assignments and had to give it back after returning from work at the police station. This very
respondent committed a murder when she was ditched by her lover.
A floating sex worker of Dhaka said, “Friendly policemen told me that I should not run if I see the
policemen in black. If I run then they might gun me down. They are here to catch the criminals and
not the sex workers…Now I do not run away and they are also nice people as they often ask me if I
had been able to earn some money that night.”
A sex worker in Chittagong said, “The police are no better than the mastaans. If we do not help
them “arrest” a customer then they would come and beat us up and not let us stand in our usual
place or say that they do not want to see us in this locality. On the 10th of this month (February,
2005) the police pick-up van arrived here. The new O.C. got down from his car and started chasing
us. But the old one has stopped harassing us… After the office and DIC began their operations
here, I think the situation is improving. I think they spoke to the police officials and at least they are
not beating us like they used to before. ”
Another respondent in Jessore said, “These policemen… I don’t know what to say about them…I
had a wristwatch. That Aftab (a policeman) stopped me when I was on my way backhoe. He told me
that the wristwatch would look nice on his daughter’s hand and wouldn’t I like to give it for his
daughter? I did not have any choice but to give it to him!”
A very young floating sex worker of Dhaka added, “These police men, they never let you live in
peace… They are always looking for a chance… If they cannot have sex they will touch my body
and grope my breasts….”
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Table 9: Police Harassment/Torture
District
Physical
Abuse /
Beating
Verbal
Abuse
Extortion
Rape
Sex
without
money
Pay
less for
sex
Forced to
snatch
money
from
clients
Encouraged
to join
profession
Rando
m
Arrest
Fear
of
police
Chittagong
6
2
1
2
3
4
3
3
1
1
1
1
5
1
Jessore
4
1
1
1
1
1
7
1
Sylhet
7
3
1
1
4
3
Total
8
5
1
20
3
3
1
7
2
20
%
2.6%
52.6 21
7.9 13.1%
7.9
2.6
18.4
5.3
52.6
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
NB: A single person has been tortured a multiple number of times and in different ways
Dhaka
NR
1
1
2
1
5
13.1
%
The society:
“Our work is not acceptable. In the morning we are not allowed to stand in front of any shop as we
bring bad luck! No one will give us a free meal. But at night? We become “queens” for a while
because they need us only for a few minutes!” opined a street-based sex worker in Jessore.
A sex worker in Dhaka said “We hide our identity while taking a house on rent…If the landlord
knows about our work then the rate goes up and he even bothers us. If we are unable to pay the rent
on time, our belongings would be taken away from us and we will be thrown out on the streets.”
Another floating 16 year-old sex worker in Sylhet said, “After coming to Sylhet I used to work as a
laborer - ploughing and digging soil - and with that money I could barely survive. There was a lady
- my neighbour - who told me that I could earn a lot if I sell sex on the streets. The girls with whom
I shared a room worked as sex workers. I thought about it and took up this work. I also work as a
cook in a mess. People know that I work as a cook and with this identity, people in my society do
not disturb me at all and they protect me from the thugs and goons.”
A sex worker in Jessore told us “The night guards are very rough with us…I should not
generalize… There are some who are nice and sometimes they help and protect us but most of them
are not. Without any reason they beat us…Like the other day I was going back to my home after
work and it was around 3:30 am and this night guard, who stands in front of Monihar cinema hall,
beat me with his stick. I did not do anything …These days most of the night guards verbally and
physically harass us.”
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Why are you in the streets and not in the brothel?
Almost 70% respondents do not have any idea about the brothels. Only those street based sex
workers, who had followed in the footsteps of their mothers or sisters working in a brothel or those
who grew-up near a red-light area, knew about brothels. The other floating sex workers did not
know anything about brothels. Interestingly, if a floating sex worker wants to go and work inside a
brothel they are not welcomed by its inmates. According to the brothel inmates, the floating sex
workers (mostly street-based) have no shame as they have sex on the streets like mongrels. The
brothel-based sex workers feel that they possess “dignity” since they do not solicit in open public
places viz., roads, parks and cinema halls, but work inside a place where there are other people
involved in the same trade.
The street based sex workers on the other hand feel that they have much more freedom on the
streets. They work when they feel like working. There is no one to force them to take customers.
They often are their own bosses. And they work at night and then in the morning they go back and
mingle with other members of the society. It is “hard” to identify them as sex workers, unless they
have been slashed, of course.
Among the 38 respondents only 2 followed their mother or sister and joined the sex trade. Among
the outreach workers there is only one who worked in the brothels and also as a floating sex
worker. When asked why don’t you work from the brothel? Her reply was, “Here I am free. I work
only if I feel like working. There is no one to force me to work and take in customers. And when I
am out, people do not point their fingers at me saying that I am from the para (Bangla term meaning
‘neighborhood’, used in this context to mean a ‘brothel’)… I do not have a tag attached to me,” (I
do not need to wear a burkha, or walk with bare feet).
A 27 year old out-reach worker in Dhaka who has been working as a floating sex worker for the last
20-odd years said, “I was very young when my parents died. My Nani (maternal grand-mother)
used to look after me. We were very poor and used to live with my maternal aunt and-uncle. My
uncle raped me. When I told my aunt about it she asked me to leave her house. So I did not have any
option and left home. I was from Adamjee (a jute mill area in Narayangonj). So I crossed the river
and came to the old town area in Dhaka. There I got friendly with the girls who used to collect
scrap papers. While hanging around with these girls and collecting scrap papers I was picked up by
the police and was sent to the vagrant home. Here in the vagrant home there was one person (an
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officer) who used to regularly abuse me and one day I was raped by him. In the vagrant home I got
friendly with sex workers. When I got out of the home I decided to work as a sex worker. I used to
work in the streets but had a room rented in the English Road brothel. The brothel inmates used to
taunt us: “You have no shame, you are from the streets, no one respects you.” I stayed at English
Road, Dowladia and also at the Tangail brothel. But I still feel that in the street we have freedom
and in the brothel there are these sardarnis who torture the sex workers working under her and
take away their money and allow no freedom of movement…The streets are okay but the police and
the mastaans bother us a lot…I was severely beaten up by the police and decided to stop working as
a sex worker…Now I want to get plastic surgery done to remove the slash marks I have on my face
after which I will lead a “normal” life.
It is interesting to see that the income scale of the brothel based sex workers is higher than the
floating sex workers. But the expenditure for a brothel based sex worker is also high, as they have
to pay for everything on a per-day basis. On the other hand, floating sex workers do not need to
spend such high amounts for food, house rent, and other charges for water, use of toilets and gas.
On the other hand, the brothel-based sex workers still end up saving more than a floating sex
worker.
The other important thing is that the floating sex workers face harassment and are abused by their
clients or fellow sex worker but, in the brothels, the clients cannot abuse them; they cannot leave
without paying; they cannot physically abuse hurt them either.
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Differentiating a Floating Sex worker:
The Scars on their Faces:
Among the 38 respondents everyone talked about the slash marks on their face and neck. The others
who do not have it yet fear that they might get slashed anytime by the mastaans or clients or by
fellow sex workers. A 13-year-old girl working on the streets of Dhaka said, “I am afraid of my
Dalalni. She is nice but if I do not listen to her and go out to work, she will come with a blade to
slash my cheeks. I listen to her…She is nice with me but she also often threatens me …I need to do
this otherwise I cannot survive…I come from a very poor family and I also support my mother…My
Dalalni protects me from the mastaans and also from the clients….”
It was noticed that women and underage girls working in the sec trade feel that once they have this
mark there is no way for them to return. In Chittagong, a sex worker in her 20’s said, “I was raped
by local goons and I felt that I should not go back to my family as I felt impure. I came to the city of
Chittagong and got a job in a garments factory. In the factory I became friends with girls who used
to work, on the side, as sex workers. After a while I followed them and was earning well. I was
saving money and there were times I could send some money home to my mother and also to my
brother’s family who are very poor. I wanted to go back to my village but I could not. I have a mark
on my cheek…I was slashed by my client, as I did not want to go with him. Only bad girls working
as sex workers have these slash marks. I just cannot go back to my family with this mark on my
cheek. I do not have any way to go back to my village…People in my village will immediately know
that I worked in the sex-trade and not in a garment factory.”
The respondents in Sylhet did not talk about this much. But for respondents of Dhaka, Chittagong
and Jessore this is an issue of concern. An out-reach worker in Dhaka who has a slash mark on her
cheek told us that “I am saving money as I would like to do a plastic surgery to remove this
mark…I cannot mix with the mainstream society for this mark…I am marked as a sex worker
although I have stopped working as a sex worker for the last few years. However, as far as society
is concerned, I am still stuck in that time because a “good women” usually will not have such
marks”.
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Vagrant Home:
Like the mark on their face, the floating sex workers fear going to the Government run vagrant
homes. Barring a few respondents from Sylhet and Chittagong, almost all the floating sex workers
have been to vagrant homes more than once. There are a few who have spent 4 to 5 years in vagrant
homes. These vagrant homes are commonly known as “Fokir Khana” (home for the beggars),
Longor Khana (a home where free food is available) or bhoboghuray (vagrant home).
All the respondents told us that the last place they want to be is in the vagrant homes. An underage
girl who was raped in the city when she came looking for a job with a fellow villager said that she
was taken and kept in the “safe custody” of the police as she was the witness of the rape case. She
spent 2 years in the Central Jail and then was shifted to the vagrant home. Here she met a lot of sex
workers. She was physically harassed and abused by an official there and later on she decided that
there was no other life for her and she got involved in the sex trade. The sex workers she met in the
home helped her in the beginning.
Everyone complained that the food that is served in the vagrant home is often rotten and the quality
of food is very low. There are not enough toilets or bathrooms for the inmates. Water is a problem.
And the inmates who are old or staying there for a long time force the younger girls to perform
“sexual acts” (lesbian relationships) on them or else they are beaten up by their gangs. The officials
are not good at all. Most of the male officials allure the inmates by telling them that they would get
good food, good marks which will help them to get out of the homes early and pressurize the young,
good looking girls to have sex with them. A sex worker said, “Vagrant homes are sex worker
making factories… The corrupt officials transform good women and girls into sex workers.”
The brothel based and street based sex workers are kept in vagrant homes and the sex workers often
raise the question, “Are we beggars… We are not… We have our home and family then why are we
kept in the vagrant homes? Government should stop the police from arresting us and sending us to
the fokir khana”. We did find one exception. A women hailing from Chittagong who has spent 14
years in the vagrant home in Dhaka had good things to say about the place. According to her the
inmates are taught different skills like weaving, embroidery, tailoring, mora making, etc.; they also
have opportunity to read and write. Only those inmates who involve themselves in lesbian acts get
harsh punishment from the authorities.
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Affidavit: What is that?
A brothel based sex worker of any age would have a “license” which is nothing but an “affidavit”
and the Sardarni (madams) will help new girls to get such a “license”. Often, this money spent for
the “license”, becomes a tool for the Sardarni’s (madams) to control the new entrants as she falls
into the vicious circle of debt bondage. It was interesting to know that none of the 38 respondents
have this “license” or “affidavit”. The women who followed their relatives into this trade have
heard about this “license”. But street based sex workers who do not have any connection with the
brothel based sex workers have not heard of such a thing.
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Health Status of the Respondents:
HIV/AIDS, STDs and Condom Use:
Almost all of the respondents feel that now they have better access to health care services. The sex
workers working in the streets and in hotels are now being made aware about HIV/AIDS and most
of them now use condoms. Many of the respondents told us that when the CARE project was on,
they used to collect condoms free of charge from the DIC (Drop in Center) but after the closure of
that project they are facing problems. If they go out to buy condoms from local medicine shops the
people often ask them uncomfortable and offensive questions: “Condom? You want to buy a
condom? Why? Where is your husband? Ask him to buy it for you. Good women don’t need
condoms, why do you need it? Are you a bad woman?”
Most of the sex workers now can negotiate better and also educate their clients about the risk of
having HIV/AIDS. But these women in the sex trade often have customers who are reluctant to use
condoms.
Information on Sexual Diseases
Yes
Cured
No
No Response
A lot of the floating sex workers said that the police often do not listen to them and have sex
without a condom. Among these floating sex workers, especially the underage girls do not have the
bargaining power and they cannot make the customer use condoms. A 12-year old floating sex
worker in Dhaka remarked, “I know about HIV/AIDS and I know that we should use condoms. But I
get a lot of customers who do not use them. If I tell them to use a condom they say, you think you
85
are too smart… What do you know about condoms? Just keep quiet… I know what to do.’ I keep
shut and cannot say anything.”
There are some floating sex workers who only care about money for survival. It is they who are not
willing to pursue customers to use condoms.
Contraceptive use:
There were a few sex workers who had abortions and a few of them do not use any contraceptives.
Then there are a number of sex workers who, besides using condoms, take other contraceptives to
be on the safe side.
Table 10: Contraceptive Use among the Respondents
Use of Condom and Contraceptives
District
Chittagong
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
No Mention
of
Injection
type/name
%
%
No
Respons
e
%
Condom
%
Pills
%
5
6
5
3
2
1
1
5
2
6
2
19 50%
2
5.3%
1 2.6%
1 2.6%
15
39.5%
There are a handful of underage girls who are yet to menstruate and do not use any contraceptives.
We did not get clear information regarding abortion. Almost all the respondents (except the
mentally challenged women) knew where an MR is done and have helped fellow sex workers get
abortions at NGO-run clinics or family planning clinics run by the government. Few sex workers
interviewed have gone through an abortion and said that they had done it at the government hospital
or at places run by NGO’s that offer MR services. Some opt for an induced abortion.
It is interesting to note that the sex worker’s who are in their late 30’s or mid 40’s and who have
eligible daughters provide information regarding contraception to them. Kulsum Begum in her late
86
30’s recently got her daughter married. She said, “Now, after the work of NGO’s, we not only know
about HIV/AIDS and condom use but we also get information regarding safe motherhood and
contraception. My daughter got married recently. I educated her and she can read. I gave her
reading materials on contraception and safe motherhood… Before entering this trade, I used to
take birth control pills and later on I got to learn about condom use and sexual diseases. But how
can a mother discuss these issues with her daughter? These are very important issues and I gave
her leaflets and she will know what is good for her and how to take care of herself.”
Mental Health Care:
In our survey we have interviewed 3 women who are mentally or physically challenged. It was very
difficult to interview them but the research team felt that this is an area where we lack information.
The team saw a large number (about 20 to 25 in number) of such sex workers in Jessore, Sylhet,
Chittagong and also in Dhaka. In Jessore they saw the most, and all our 3 cases are from Jessore.
One is in her mid 50’s and then the other two are in their early 30’s.
Runa is probably autistic and stays at the railway station. She just had a child and is unable to take
care of the baby. One day, people at a government office heard a baby crying and found, to their
amazement, that Runa had delivered a baby in the garden within the office. They then helped her to
get admitted in the local hospital and when we met her she had just been discharged. The people of
the locality gave clothes for Runa’s child and also helped her in the beginning. Now she is on her
own. The people working in the government office have asked Runa to stay in the veranda of the
office, as she does not have a place to go to.
Our team saw Runa’s child wrapped in rags abandoned on the veranda. A fellow sex worker told us
“a few days ago I rescued Runa’s baby from the street dogs. Runa did not have any money to eat as
none of her clients paid her. She had gone looking for clients in the early hours of the day leaving
the child alone in the office veranda. A fellow sex worker saw a dog tugging at the rags and rescued
the child”. The team spoke to Runa and heard that she was taken to the police station and jailed
often. A few days ago she was attacked by the local mastaans as she did not want to go with them.
She said that these same mastaans did not allow her to stand in the streets when she was pregnant.
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There is a lawyer who helps her to get out of the jail, and has done so several times because he has
made her his ‘sister’ and she pays him (whatever money) for his services in return!
Salma, now in her early 30s, was married but her husband deserted her when he found out that
Salma was “not normal”. Salma said, “I was married but I used to go through these spells of
abnormality and my husband had asked me to leave his home. I came back to my father’s place but
my sister-in-laws were very bad and they used to be very cruel to me. I left home one day when I
went wrong in my head. I came to the city. Here I was arrested by the police and was sent to Pabna
Mental Hospital. On my way to the hospital, the two police who were accompanying me had sex
with me…It was good. Then, after few months, I was released and went back to my father’s house
again. But when I started having problems again my father could not keep me at home and I came
to the railway station. Here people take me to different places and, after work, sometimes give me
money. It feels good as I also have the urge to sleep with men.
Salma continues, “the people in the market place specially the food stalls, just don’t let me stand in
front of their stalls in the morning…I do not ask for free food but even then I have to come later
when there are few or no customers at all. I find it very hard to live on an empty stomach. I get very
bad headaches and some times the medicine shops give me medicine. I was fine when I was in
Pabna. I can go back there if my father sends me again.”
“The police and those boys, who hang around the road side shops, always chase me. They do not
let me sleep in peace. Yesterday there were 3 men they gave me Tk.20. I had asked for more but
they just walked away. The other day a young boy came. He could not do it properly and slapped
me instead! I do not understand why can’t those people be a bit more nicer!”
These two respondents represent the people who are mentally challenged. Many of them - men and
women - are out there in the streets without care and treatment. It is a serious issue but without
more information about them and the lack of a proper primary health care in the country, it is
difficult to provide support, care and treatment to these people.
General Health Care:
There is lack of knowledge about a healthy diet and living conditions in the people working in this
sector. As it is, Bangladesh has a very poor primary healthcare system and when we look at this
specific group, their condition is among the worst of all people in the country.
88
There seemed to be no major health problems among the respondents. Many of them complained
only of headaches and fever for which the local doctor was consulted.
They do not frequent the government hospitals or private clinics - all believe that hospitals are to be
visited only to treat major illnesses. They also said that if they go to the government hospital with
an STD then some doctors and nurses refuse to treat them. But there are good people too who
provide them with treatment.
One or two respondents mentioned that they had spent many days in the hospital after having had
accidents. One woman (mentioned earlier) had to be administered a stomach wash after having
consumed 30 sleeping pills along with some alcohol. The local boys took this particular woman to
the hospital.
Drug addiction:
Drug use among the young people, especially those from the low-income group, is on the rise in
Bangladesh. Using injective drugs is also a concern for all organizations working to combat
HIV/AIDS.
A 16 year-old girl said, “I have a son. He is only 4 months old. His father came and took him away
from me a few days ago…I did not take any drugs for the last one year…I was also living a
“decent” life with my husband. But after the birth of my son my husband left me…I started selling
sex again…Just a few days ago he came and took my child away from me…I could not bear the
pain…I had some pills and also drank some alcohol and cried for a long time…Yes, I cannot live
without my son, I take pills to cope with the pain.”
When we went to a Drop-in Center (DIC) in Chittagong we met Kakoli. She is 23 years old and has
been working in the streets of Chittagong for the last 4 to 5 years. When we interviewed her, she
was drugged and told us her story: “I was in love with a boy from my village in Cox’s Bazaar. But
my parents got me married to another man whom I could not stand at all. He doped me and had sex
with me… After that incident, I left my husband’s home and came to my parent’s home. But they
were forcing me to go back to my husband. I was a tomboy and used to fight a lot with my friends
and was also very ill tempered. I could not take their nagging and left home to fend for myself. I
came to Chittagong city and got a job in a garments factory. Here I met my boyfriend and we got
89
married. I did not know that he was already married with children. I was heart broken again. I
could not take it…I left him too and decided to join the sex trade”.
“I get a lot of customers”, continued Kakoli. “People say I am very beautiful…I get all “hifi”(rich) customers. I started taking drugs with my clients. I take pills, I take heroin, marijuana,
alcohol…I take everything. Once, I was almost dead… I had mixed up the drugs and had 30
sleeping pills in one go…I was taken to the hospital and they washed my stomach. I just cannot
think of myself without drugs. I spend almost Tk.300-500 on drugs everyday. When I take drugs I
forget everything and I get the strength to fight. I beat up people if I see or hear anything bad. I also
worked as a police informer and I almost killed a client whom I used to like but who had deceived
me. He had taken me to Cox’s Bazaar. I was told that only the two of us would be there, but I found
him with eight of his friends and he wanted me to work with all of them. I slashed his wrist with a
blade. I should let you in this…I am very good at picking pockets…I often pick the pockets of people
in the street and I get money…All I want is money to help me buy my strength! ”
The sex workers regularly use injections, sleeping pills, LSD, marijuana, heroin et.al when they are
with their partners and also with their clients. According to the sex workers, they use drugs to forget
their pain and to cope with the hard realities of life. They use drugs to dull their senses - it helps
them forget the abuse and harsh treatment that they confront on a regular basis.
Among our 38 respondents, 18.42% of the women said that they take drugs regularly. Around 82%
of the women did not want to respond, but the researchers noticed that most of the respondents in
Chittagong and Sylhet were on drugs while giving the interview. The respondents in Dhaka and
Jessore talked about their addiction but they were not on drugs when the interview was being taken.
There were 4 to 5 cases where the women told us that they took up this job because their husbands
are drug addicts and are unable to support the family.
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Human Rights Status of the Respondents:
After going through the interviews and the information provided by the interviewees it might occur
to one that a sex worker working in the streets has the right to decide if she wants to go out for work
or not. They are also becoming informed about the health risks and can hide their sex worker
identity to the government run hospitals for treatment or go to the NGO run clinics. But these sex
workers often do not have a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear and many of their children are
not going to school. Their basic human rights are not fulfilled. But, do they have job security? Are
they treated equally in front of law? Do they have freedom of movement? Can the children of the
sex workers attend government schools easily with the identity of their mothers known to the school
authorities? Do they feel confident to go to a government hospital for treatment without hiding their
true identity? Are they treated like normal citizens of this country? These are the questions that need
to be answered in order to know the state of the sex workers in Bangladesh as regards Human
Rights.
When asked, “Do you know about your rights?”
Answer: Rights? What is that?’
Right to Livelihood
The sex workers are earning a lot of money, dressing up, eating whatever they wish to eat and some
times they go out willingly but what is not visible is the constant fear among the sex workers of
Bangladesh. Sex work is not illegal but “prostitution” is discouraged. To solicit in the streets and to
run a brothel is totally illegal. As a result the sex workers do not have any livelihood security and
they are haunted by the fear of random arrest by the law enforcement agencies. The sex workers
also feel that once their work identity is disclosed they will not get a proper burial. They feel that
they should be treated like normal human beings and should have the right to a proper burial after
their death.
The floating sex workers also feel that they have their families, permanent address and they are not
vagrants. Most of the floating sex workers are arrested under the Vagrant Act and are sent to the
vagrant homes. They also want an end to this random arrest and demand that they have a right to
live and work with dignity and that they should not be criminalized for their work.
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Right to Justice/ Equality before Law: Arbitrary arrests/Detention:
According to the law of Bangladesh, the profession of sex work is discouraged and there are laws
that criminalize the sex workers. The street based-sex workers can be arrested under Section-54 of
the Metropolitan Act and also under Sections 74 and 76, which says that their movement was
‘suspicious’ or had a ‘bad body language.’ They cannot be arrested for being sex-workers. They are
often physically and mentally harassed and abused only because they are into sex work. Sex
workers are not treated equally in front of the law and they often do not get justice.
The police coming on rounds often beat the floating sex workers or just pick them up and keep them
in the lock ups. They need to bribe the law enforcing authorities to get out and if they are unable to
pay, they go to jail for a couple of months. The interviewed street based sex workers have been to
the police station and to jail several times. There are times when they have been arrested twice in a
week. A few of them told us, “I stopped counting a long time ago… I just cannot keep track of the
records.” The inmate of the jail would taunt them by saying, “I am sure you do not get to eat on the
streets, that’s why you are back so early!”
Freedom from Slavery: Right to Independent Living:
Like the sex workers working inside the brothel as chukri’s (the bonded workers of the sardarni or
the bariwali), there are “chukris” working under a “dalalni” in the streets too. Apparently the
freedom of street-based sex workers is illusory since the dalalni’s live off the earnings of these
young girls working on the streets. 2 underage girls in Dhaka told us that they work under a dalalni
and she keeps whatever they earn. In return, these girls get to stay and eat “free of charge”. The
girls look after the dalalni’s children and also help with household chores
Freedom from Torture, Inhuman/Degrading Treatment:
A lot of the floating sex workers have been to “fokir khana” or “bhoboghuray” (the vagrant
homes) not once but several times. There was one sex worker who was raped and used as witness of
a rape case and she spent 3 years in jail under “safe custody” and then 2 years in a vagrant home,
where she was treated like a common convict. After returning, she went back to her native home but
the villagers started picking on her. The family was harassed too. After a few days time, she left
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home and came over to Dhaka. Here she started working as a domestic help. She was raped, left
that job and met her friends from the vagrant home. After a few days she decided to take up the
work of a floating sex worker”.
Most of the respondents in Dhaka said that they are often picked up, kept in the police station and
later on are sent to the jail or in the vagrant homes. Those who are lucky are let off after taking a
huge sum in bribes from the sex worker or their family or the dalal/dalalni or from a fellow sex
worker.
Respondents who went to the vagrant home said, “Why are we termed as vagrant? Whenever we
are picked up from the streets we are beaten up brutally and we are forced to stay in the vagrant
home? Why? Am I a vagrant?” One respondent from Dhaka who was there under safe custody said,
“And the situation in vagrant homes is inhuman. We are made to eat rotten food”. She had to buy
food from outside and she spent all her money that she earned by working in the vagrant home, on
food.
A respondent in Jessore told us that “Those men in black caught hold of me and they had beaten me
severely…my fault…why did I run? I was told by my friends that these men in black are there to
stop crime and violence…I did not do anything…I was standing in front of the bus station and when
I saw them coming I thought it was a police van with that new officer inside…so I ran because this
new officer is very bad. He is an expert in beating people without any reason.”
In the lock ups they are treated badly, often they are raped, beaten up brutally - their only fault is
that they are sex workers. Their human rights are grossly violated while they are in custody.
Freedom of Movement, Assembly:
Unlike the brothel based sex workers who do not get a chance to mix with mainstream society and
see the world outside their own without hiding their sex worker identity, these floating sex workers
are free to roam around the city. They move from one place to another looking for clients.
“The dalal’s do not like the DIC’s or floating sex workers groups and organizations. They say that
those places make you people much more smart. Now you do not take customers if they refuse to
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wear condoms and that is not nice for us to carry out our business,” said Lisa in Dhaka. “After the
floating sex workers organizations surfaced, we know that we also have our rights and we have our
needs and we also have self respect. We have a right to hold meetings, move from one place to
another. And we should not be in any bondage like in the brothels. Before becoming a member of
this group I did not know if I had any rights or not. Now I know that police cannot come and pick
me up whenever they want to.”
Right to Organize:
The sex workers are now forming groups of their own to fight for their rights. They have proper
elections and they elect their own leaders. The leaders help them when they are in trouble. These
organizations do not allow underage girls to become their members as they are also against
underage prostitution. But otherwise, the adult women support the young girls. Women in sex trade
have now understood the importance of organizing themselves in groups. A 14-year old underage
girl “working” in the streets of Chittagong said, “I came in contact with Mamota, an organization
of floating sex workers. We saw a lot of girls are forced into this profession and the mastaans and
dalals kidnap girls, rape them and just leave. The mastaans torture us too. A few months ago in a
meeting we decided that we should form a group to protect ourselves and we had formed 4/5 groups
of between 15 and 20 girls. We would roam around the spots as if we are there for customers but
we know that we could also come together to fight, if necessary. A few weeks ago we saw a group of
5 to 7 mastaans get hold of a girl. She was tied up and her mouth was gagged with a cloth. We used
our code language, got the group together and started arguing. The police was near by and they
came and with their help we could rescue the girl. Later, in the morning, we were able to send the
girl back to her parents. I feel it is important for us to form groups and that it will change our life.”
Right to Vote:
Sex workers interviewed by us knew that, as a citizen of Bangladesh, they have the right to vote in
national, municipal and ward elections. Most of the sex workers said that they have voted during the
elections. A few said that they are old enough to vote. Each and every respondent said that the
nominated representatives of different political parties come to them before the election. They listen
to them; assure them that, if or when elected, they would look into their matter. But the inmates
only see them right before the next election.
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The Situation of Underage Girls in the Sex Trade:
The involvement of underage girls in sex work is a serious issue. There is a great demand for
underage girls and more young girls (some are yet to attain puberty) are descending onto the streets
and entering the brothels of Bangladesh. People and organizations working with brothel inmates are
concerned at the way these underage girls are forced to work and are exploited by their madams and
dalals. The situation of the underage girls working on the streets is even worse. They are the most
vulnerable ones and do not know how to protect themselves. They often work under a dalalni or
dalal and some are fending for themselves all alone.
In our survey, we have found a total of 11 underage floating girls and all this at a time when there is
a very active campaign about HIV/AIDS. The stories of these underage girls are horrifying and
heartbreaking.
Table 11: Age Pattern of the Respondents
Districts
Chittagong
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
10-12 years
13-15years
1
1
3
1
1
5
16-17years
2
1
3
Just 18 years
1
1
2
Total
Respondents
10
8
11
9
38
Among our respondents there is one girl who is only 12 years old; 5 respondents are between the
ages of 13-15 years of age; 3 respondents had specifically said that they were 13 years of age; 3
respondents were in the age group of 16-17; and 2 respondents claimed that they were 18 years old
(but their looks hinted they were younger and hence they are included in this section). Of the 11
respondents, 81.8% (9) of them are within the age group 12-16 and have joined the profession when
they were barely 10-11 years of age.
Our main objective is to stop underage prostitution in the brothels and in the streets. It is somehow
easy to make the brothel free from underage “workers” as they all live in a “confined” place, but the
scenario of the street is different. Here the persons involved in sex trade are scattered, but each and
every one involved has specific areas from where they carry out their business. It is essential to
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locate these spots and identify underage girls and boys in this trade and take steps to reintegrate
them in the society.
Are we ready to stop the entry of underage girls as street-based, hotel-based and floating “sex
workers”? It is very unfortunate that the young children in Bangladesh have to work to feed
themselves for survival while in other developing countries children work for their “pocket money”.
Hundreds of underage girls and boys come to the cities everyday to look for jobs. We development workers and policy makers - need to be very careful while making plans to make the
streets free of underage children. We should not take harsh steps such as eradicating child labour
from the garment factories since they would end up on the streets and in a far worse situation.
Just because there is a demand does not mean that the young underage girls need to be in this trade.
We should be able to address why such a demand exists, whom have these need and why. An
aggressive media campaign against the demand side is also very important. We need to work on the
clients who come seeking the “services” of underage girls. Our plans to eradicate child
“prostitution” should be done in such a way results are tangible. Effort should be made to ensure
that child prostitution is eradicated and not just forced “underground” and out of sight. A lot of the
children involved in the “sex trade” are here merely for survival and unfortunately, before getting in
this trade, each of them had been a victim of torture and abuse. Child labour is not to be
encouraged, but children need to work in Bangladesh as most of our children are from poor families
and have to work for survival often to support their whole family. And as long as they do so there is
a need to make the work environment safe and economically viable. Child-friendly work
opportunities and places and vocational training for the children are what are most needed.
Table 12: Situation of Eleven (11) Underage Girls
Jail/
Drug
District Raped Slashed Vagrant
Chittago
ng
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
Home
Murder
Case
Addiction
STD’s
Fixed
Client/
Dalalni
Marriage
Children
2
1
-
2
1
4
1
1
4
2
4
2
3
27.2
%
1
5
45.4
%
1
2
18.1%
2
1
1
5
45.4%
3
1
1
9
81.1
%
36.3%
4
2
1
1
2
1
9
5
81.1% 45.4%
2
1
3
27.2
%
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As discussed earlier, the situation of the underage girls working in the streets of Chittagong, Dhaka,
Jessore and Sylhet is not good at all. The respondents were raped – either after, or just before
joining the trade. After joining this trade almost all of them went to jail and 2 have specific murder
cases against them. There are young girls with slash marks on their cheek and neck, which render a
return to a normal life next to impossible. Table 12 is indicative of their situation.
The reason for these girls to leave home is quite common: there are 3 girls whose parents died; 1
from a family whose father had left them; 2 fled their homes after they were treated very badly by
family members; 4 were raped - 2 by local thugs; 3 respondents had abusive step-parents. The
respondents who fled home told us that it took some time to “choose and decide their profession”.
There are not many jobs for young people. According to one underage girl, “…in the cities we can
sell flowers and sweetmeats, collect scrap paper or, if one is lucky, one can get a job in a house as
a domestic help or a job in a garments factory (only if you have good connections with the gate man
and let him touch your body!)”. After sleeping on the roads or while working as a domestic help the
young girls are often abused and raped and that force them too leave. After a visit to a vagrant
home, you come in contact with street-based sex workers and then sex work becomes the only
option.
According to Table 12, the underage girls have STDs and some could be HIV positive. We do not
know for sure because they have not had blood tests. Among the underage girls, there is a tendency
to show that they are “mature” and they often take hormonal pills or steroids and some of the sex
workers told us that they often take medicines that are administered to cows to make them (the
young girls) fat. These medicines are very popular among underage girls who usually work on their
own in the streets. They also told us that they have no access to condoms or other contraceptives.
They cannot buy them over the counter as they face a lot of questions from the chemist.
Almost all of these girls often take drugs. 2 girls are regularly taking pills as their husbands have
recently taken their children away from them. They told us that by taking drugs they could forget
the pain that they are in. These 2 respondents spend Tk.250-500 each day to buy drugs.
Ruby is only 13 years old and works in Chittagong. She said, “I love to sing and dance. I know a lot
of songs. I wish I could dance. No. I do not want to talk about my past…How I came to this line…It
will make me feel bad…I am working in this profession for the last 3 years. The last few months, I
did not work. I had an accident and I was admitted to the government hospital. I used to save with
YPSA and I came here to collect the money for my treatment.
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“I used to go to parties,” said Ruby “I was in love with a man. He had asked me to go out with him.
When I went with him I saw his friends there too. They were all huge men and there were 8-10 of
them. I was mad when I saw them and I decided to kill him. I refused to do anything and I started
drinking. Then when I calmed down he came and sat beside me. I had mixed sleeping pill with
alcohol and offered him that drink. When he was drugged I slashed his wrist and he died. I was
arrested but I told the judge what had happened and the he let me go free.”
While talking to respondents we have heard of sad incidents, which forced them to take up sex work
as the only means to survive. Rani is only 12 and is married (but hardly talked about her husband).
Her mother was forced to leave her father’s (it should be mentioned that Rani’s mother was the 3rd
wife of his father and after that he got married 9 times) house because she used to be a sex worker.
After Rani’s mother was kicked out she joined the sex trade again to earn a living for herself and
her daughter. Rani used to hang around with her mother all the time and saw how she was treated.
Even knowing the status of the sex workers, Rani joined sex work to support herself and her drugaddicted husband. This is the only work she knows that is available to her. She was also stigmatized
because of her mother’s work and never had a chance to grow up in a “healthy” environment.
When asked who is to be blamed for your present situation, she replies promptly: “My father. He
should be blamed for every thing”. Rani is going through depression. She is always very quiet and
avoids talking to people. She has been to the jail a couple of times. She earns about Tk.300-400 and
goes to the cinema hall with her “clients”. She has some “fixed clients” who give her Tk.500-1000
whenever they come for the whole night. She wears a burka and has a specific place to stand and
entertains only her “fixed clients”.
Among the 11 underage girls, there are 2/3 girls who work under dalalni’s. They give what ever
they earn to the dalalni and in return the dalalni provide them with food and shelter. The dalalni
some times give the girl’s family some gifts and money. Others (2/3) who work on their own have
fixed clients and one may not see them roam around the city looking for clients.
Except those who work under dalalni others, mostly in Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong, share rented
rooms with other girls involved in similar kind of work. These girls go for “shot trip” or for parties.
Almost all girls in Jessore live at the railway station or on the footpaths.
An underage girl said, “Police often chase us and pick us up from the streets. If we do not help them
to identify clients they harass us or abuse us. They some times force us to have sex with them. The
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mastaans and clients also beat us up. They too harass and abuse us. We do not want to go for
parties with unknown clients as we fear of bring killed or physically harmed.”
Underage girls working in the streets of Chittagong, Sylhet and Dhaka felt that the DIC’s are good
as they have a place to sleep. Earlier they used to be sleeping in the streets, as they could not get out
of their house all dressed up for the night. They used to get dressed in the parks for the night. Now
they can come to the DIC and take a bath and a nap before they start work. They also feel that
through the DIC’s they have been able to know about STD’s and HIV/AIDS and the importance of
condom use. The underage girls also get counseling and advice from the adult sex workers on ways
to protect themselves and where to go for help when they are in trouble and other related
information.
A few of the underage girls who frequent the homes/shelters provided by NGO’s working with
street children have said that the NGO staff should be nice to them, give them love, care and they
should not just “discipline” them by scolding. There are girls who were taken to the shelters but
they ran away because these sensitive young children did not get affection or love. They have also
said that there is some NGO staff that abuses them also. There is a girl, Nodi, who just turned 18
said “I grew up in a shelter home for street children run by a NGO. There were very few bhai
(brother) and apa (sister) who were nice to us. Most of them used to make faces and always after
us……but there were good bhai and apa too. I stayed there because I did not like roaming around
the city all the time collecting scrap papers and go through people’s bad behaviour. When I used to
go out to work I did came across floating sex workers and I did received offers to join them. But I
did not go. Anyway, when I turned 18 years old I was sent to the girls hostel run by the same NGO.
In this hostel, the inmates used to work in different places and stayed here. After a while I got a job
in a garment factory too. I was doing fine but a friend of mine……what a friend! Anyway, one day
she told me to go out with her. I agreed to her proposal, as that was my holiday too. She took me to
a boarding (low cost hotel) and there she asked me to sit in a room with her friend. Well I did not
know what was going on and I was sitting inside the room for a long time. When I got up to go look
for my friend I found out that the door was locked from outside. I started shouting but I was told
that I have been sold by my friend and my job is to make the parties happy”. Nodi goes on “I
thought of getting out but now I am known as a sex worker and I cannot go out as a “normal”
woman and work……I have lost every thing and this is what was written in my fate!”
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Many of the underage girls have connections with their family back at “home” and there are some
who do not have any connection at all (because they have scarred faces or have been raped). A girl
in Sylhet says, “I come from a very poor family. I worked in Chittagong in a garment factory and
came looking for a better job in Sylhet. Here I came in contact with a sex worker who gave her
ideas of this “work”. I went with her a couple of times and now I am on my own. I earn quite a lot
but I spend a lot too. I am also saving money and I send money to support my mother who lives with
my brother. I dream of getting married sometime time soon. I will get married to a man from my
own village because I want to be sure of his attitude and I can also get hold of him if he leaves me.”
Those who were married and had children (who have since been taken away by their “husbands”)
feel that there is noting else left for them. They will work in this area and earn money to buy drugs
to help them forget their pain. Besides, those who are married without a child feel lost and
depressed and have no plan for the future.
All unmarried, underage girls dream to get out of this work and get married to a nice, sensitive man,
build a house, buy some land and start a business or find a good job after a few years. Till then
these few years, they would like to work in the streets to create some savings, which would give her
financial clout (with her husband) and establish them as a successful married couple.
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Drop-in Centers:
After the floating sex workers started organizing themselves into groups, organizations working
with them opened Drop-in Centers (DIC) where floating sex workers could rest, bathe, cook a meal,
sleep, wash their cloths etc. Through these DIC’s the NGO’s also provided them with regular health
check-ups, educated them about the STD’s and informed them about the risks of HIV/AIDS. The
NGO’s conducted campaign programs to motivate the sex workers to use condoms. They helped
them open bank accounts and also arranged for non-formal education for the women in this trade. In
addition to this, counseling programs conducted by these NGOs, help sex workers cope with the
day-to-day violence that they face. At times, they provide legal assistance to the sex-workers.
Most of the sex workers are becoming aware of their rights as citizens. These DIC’s have been able
to create a space for these women in the sex trade. On the other hand, sex workers groups do not
allow an underage girl to join. At the DIC, however, the adult and responsible sex workers council
the underage girls and encourage them to search for other avenues to earn a living.
The sex workers (24/38) who have children feel that the NGO’s working with them should provide
a space where they can leave their children and go to work. Most of the sex workers do not have
any one to look after their children. Neither do they have a place where someone would look after
their children since none of the respondents live in the same neighbourhood that they work in.
The sex workers in Chittagong, Sylhet and Dhaka feel that the DIC should be open on Fridays and
they should be open for them to sleep at night also. After their work at night, seldom can the
average sex worker return home and they do not have a place to spend rest of the night.
The floating sex workers in Jessore are going through a bad time. NGO’s who used to help them by
providing health care and other services have closed due to lack of funds and the sex workers in
Chittagong are told that the only surviving organization may have to curb their activities, as they
too are short on funding.
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Future: Expectations and Needs
Among the 38 respondents, 57.9% (22/38) respondents have a future plan; 31.6 % (12/38)
respondents did not reply and 10.5% (4/38) of the respondents clearly said that there is no plan for
the future.
Most of the women have a dream to save some money and go back to their village, build a house,
buy some land and start a business with the savings. These women, who have future plans, told us,
“this work is not good… We are doing it because we have not found anything else to do and one
cannot carry on in this profession for long. If I get a good job with the NGO’s or can start a
business, I will leave this life. Life in the streets is very risky…I need some peace in life and need
some time where I do not have to be in fear. I am in touch with my family and they do not know
what I do for a living. I know that I can go back…before that I need to save some more money so
that I can settle down properly.”
There is another girl in Dhaka who said, “I will work for 5 to 6 years and then will find a good man
and get married.” Another underage girl in Dhaka said, “I need to work because I have to arrange
marriage for my 2 younger sisters and I have to help them to build their future. I cannot let them
come in this profession and suffer the way I am suffering.”
The sex workers in Jessore appear very lost and disturbed. Most of them do not have a future plan
and they did not say anything in this regard. Most of them told us, “Future? I have not thought
about my future yet.” Another sex worker said, “There is no future plan for me…what can I do? I
do not have anything to do in the future. Life will go on as it is now”. Another sex worker said, “I
want a job… a respectable job so that I can bring up my daughter properly and with dignity”.
Sex workers in Sylhet seem to be more organized as 7 out of 9 respondents have made plans for
their future. The ones who are unmarried would like to get married and are saving money so that
they can fulfill their dreams. The ones with children dream to raise them properly; to educate them
and get them married. All of them have bought land in their village so that they can go back home
soon. One woman said that she would like to organize the floating sex workers so that would have
one voice to demand their rights.
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Evidently, all the sex workers interviewed live in a constant fear of their identities becoming known
– an immediate consequence if they are evicted from their homes. They lack livelihood security and
there is a need for a better, healthier and more secure work environment. Often floating sex workers
with scars on their faces cannot go back to their original villages because they are identified as
“prostitutes” and the whole family is then victimized and ostracized.
All sex workers look down upon their profession. When asked what they thought about their
profession, the answer inevitably was “Kharap kaj”- It is a bad work.” The reply was almost the
same everywhere. All of them said, “Once you are in this profession, be it in the brothel or in the
streets, you just cannot get out. Society will find out about my work. How? Because I walk
differently, I talk differently, I dress up differently! You see there is a ‘stamp’ on my body. If I get
out of the street now, I will not get any work. I will not be accepted into mainstream society. Sex
workers organizations are trying to fight for our rights.”
The respondents do not want their children to join this profession. And those who have young girls
and boys try to keep them away. The children of the sex workers are victimized because of their
mother’s profession. Although the mother is the main bread-earner, they need a father’s name. The
respondents want their children to have free access to education like any other children. All the
respondents with children told us that the NGO’s who are running DIC’s should provide child care
and run homes for their children where they will have a chance to grow up in a safe and healthy
environment.
The interviewed sex workers hope that the law enforcing authorities would stop harassing them and
extorting their hard-earned money.
They should not be looked down upon because of their profession. The underage girls who are in
this trade often do not see a way to revert to a “normal” life. Organizations should also carry out
programmes to understand the needs of these children and try to find out how to support them and
make plans to help them to live independently and with dignity.
The programmes for sex workers carried out by different development, human rights, women rights,
legal aid NGO’s and the workings of the Drop-in Centers have given the sex workers an awareness
amongst them that there are other works besides “prostitution” which they can do. This aspect needs
to be given due importance and the DICs should continue with the on going programmes.
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The NGO staff who, will be dealing with the underage girls should have special training so that they
can deal with them with love and affection so that they feel at home. The NGO’s should motivate
and help to make a bright future for these sensitive young people.
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Conclusion:
Sex workers, whether they are working in a brothel or on the streets, are a reality that society has to
accept. It is therefore imperative that they be treated as any other (working) citizen of the country
and that their basic and fundamental human rights are not violated.
The abolition of “prostitution” by evicting the inmates from the brothels is not a solution for
discouraging “prostitution”. Rather, such steps have increased the number of floating sex workers,
making these women more vulnerable and places them in a situation where they have no rights at
all. The number of underage girls entering this profession (both in the streets and in brothels) is very
high and they are the most vulnerable since they cannot “protect” themselves. Neither do they have
any bargaining power.
The women who are mentally challenged do not have anyone to care for them. They become the
burden of the family and often end up in the streets without care. The team saw lot of women who
are mentally challenged in all 4 cities. These women roam aimlessly, live on the streets, are abused
and harassed by the men and some times they get money for “sex work” which helps them to buy
food. The ones who have children live at the mercy of others. Who should be held responsible for
such women? The state and concerned NGO’s should take steps to help mentally challenged women
and provide them with food, shelter, treatment and care.
This “profession”, whether we accept it or not, will continue to exist – at least into the foreseeable
future. So let us try to improve the environment. Instead of attempting to sweep them under the
carpet, the existence of sex workers in society should be acknowledged. The atmosphere of their
work place needs to be opened up and regular health check-ups, a self-regulatory committee to
check the entry of young girls should be made mandatory to prevent crime and abuse among the sex
workers. Only this may help lessen the crimes that take place among those associated with
“prostitution”. Illegal activities like underage prostitution, rape, deception, kidnapping, trafficking,
dealing with drugs, sheltering criminals and the like, may decrease.
The role of the law enforcing agencies, specifically the police, as far as the floating sex workers are
concerned needs to be clearly defined. It has been observed that their clients and goons regularly
beat up floating sex workers but these incidents are not reported in brothels. A few policemen on
duty “protect” them while most others do not and even harass the sex workers.
105
Under the contradictory laws of the country (while “sex work” is not illegal, soliciting and running
a brothel is) sex workers are being exploited, tortured, harassed and abused – legally, all in the
name of the law.
We should remember that the total number of sex workers is estimated to be around 150,000. This
is a debatable statistic - most experts admit that it could well be “higher”. There are thousands of
women living in unbearable conditions and not everyone chose this profession willingly. The
women of indigenous communities are rarely seen in this profession at all. Recognizing the
existence of sex workers is the first step to ensuring that they have a right to live a normal life like
any other human being. They have a right to life and livelihood. It is therefore imperative, that they
be treated at par with other citizens of the country and ensuring that their fundamental human rights
are not violated. As equal citizens, sex workers and their families must be accorded the entire range
of human rights – the right to education, housing, food and security, association, health, family, and
freedom from violence – all those human rights which every human being is entitled to by virtue of
being human and not conditioned by who he is or what he does.
The sex workers in Bangladesh have a right to live with dignity and have a right to livelihood. Their
children have a right to be brought up in a society free from exploitation and squalor. In standing
beside the sex workers in their just struggle for human rights, we, the rest of society, are not doing
them a favour; we would merely be doing our duty as holders of rights and as citizens of this
country.
106
Appendix II – Comparison between brothel-based and floating sex workers
Table 1 : Age at join this profession in brothel.
Below9
9-12
Year
13-15
Year
16-17
Year
18+
Year
Not
mentioned
Total
Frequency
0
7
13
10
7
1
38
Percentage
0
18%
35%
26%
18%
3%
100
Age
Table 2 : Age at join this profession in floating.
Age
Below9
9-12
Year
13-15
Year
16-17
Year
18+
Year
Not
mentioned
Total
Frequency
2
9
7
3
12
5
38
Percentage
5%
24%
18%
8%
32%
13%
100
Diagram 3 : Comparison between age structure at joining the profession
Comparison betwee n ag e structure at jo inin g the
profession
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Below -9
9-12 Year
13-15
16- 17
18+
Not
mentioned
Yellow color= brothel
Green color= floating
107
Table 4: Comparison between torturing situation in brothel and floating
Torture
Brothel
Floating
Police
23%
87%
Mastan
15%
63%
Sardarni/Dalalni Customer
8%
8%
10%
100%
Diagram 5: Comparison between torturing situation in brothel and floating.
Torturing situation in brothel and floating
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Police
Mastan Sardarni/Dalalni Customer
brothel
floating
Table 6: Income brothel per day
Income Range
Frequency
Percentage
Below100
0
0
100-200
200-300
300-400
400-500
8
21%
9
24%
8
21%
6
16%
5001000
3
8%
NR
4
10%
Table 7: Income per day for floating
Income
Range
Frequency
Percentage
Below100
4
11%
100-200
200-300
300-400
400-500
5
13%
6
16%
8
21%
2
5%
5001000
2
5%
NR
11
29%
108
Diagram 8: Brothel and floating income per day
Brothel and floating income per day
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Be
R
N
lo
w
-1
10 00
02
20 00
03
30 00
04
40 00
050 500
010
00
brothel income
floating income
Table 9: Savings brothel
Savings (f)
Where (f)
Yes
No
NR
Total
Bank NGO
23
61%
14
37%
1
38
4
2% 100% 17%
13
58%
Land/gold Post
office
1
1
4%
4%
NR
Total
4
17%
23
100%
Table 10: Savings floating
Savings (f)
NR
(f)
Where (f)
Yes
No
Bank
Shop
Land/gold Village NR
14
11
13
5
2
3
1
3
36.84% 28.95% 34.21% 35.71% 14.28% 21.43%
7.14% 21.43%
109
Diagram 11: Saving comparison
Compare between brothel & floating
70%
60%
50%
40%
brothel
30%
floating
20%
10%
0%
Yes
No
NR
District
Beating/
harassment
Extortion
Have sex
without
money
Verbal
abuse
Snatching
money
NR
Chittagong
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
10
6
5
4
25
65.8%
7
8
3
1
19
50%
5
6
8
2
21
55.2%
10
7
9
26
68.4%
9
8
5
2
24
63.2%
1
2
1
4
10.5%
Table
12:
Tortu
re/Har
assme
nt by
Masta
an.
Table 13: Drop-in- Centre
District
Take service
from centre
CTG
Dhaka
Jessore
Sylhet
Total
Percentage
9
6
4
8
27
71
Don’t
know/take
service
1
5
1
7
18
NR
1
1
2
4
11
110
Diagram 14: Drop-in centre
Drop-in-center
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Series1
Don’t
Take
service know/take
service
from
centre
NR
111
Appendix III - Organizations and persons who has helped for the interviews to
the street sex workers in Dhaka, Chittagong, Jessore & Sylhet
Jessore
1. Md. Abu Nayeem
Project Coordinator, BCHRP
Jagorani Chakra
Head office:
44 Mujib Sarak
Jessore-7400, Bangladesh
Tel: 088-0421-72218
Fax: 088-0421-72243
: jcjsr@bttb.net.bd
Project office:
Arabpur Math Para
Arabpur, Jessore-7400
Tel: 088-0421-61173
Mobile: 0171-584329
E-mail: jcbcrp@bttb.net.bd
2. Taslima Akhter
Chairperson, Banchte Chai Nari Sangha
Contact: Md. Abu Nayeem
(Her grand daughter is a resident student in the Jagorani Chakra home. Her mother's name is Ivy.
To contact Taslima one can keep message for Ivy at the home.)
Chittagong
Organization's name: Young Power in Social Action (YPSA)
Our contact person:
Mohammed Rafiqul Islam
Program Manager
HIV/AIDS
0189-612796
Head Office:
House# F10 (P), Rd# 13
Block-B Chandgaon R/A
Chittagong-4712, Bangladesh
Tel: 88-031-672857, Mobile: 88-018-321432, 0171-825068
e-mail: info@ypsa.org
Field Office:
822/A, Mehedibag, 1st Lane
Dampara, Chittagong
112
Stdaids@ypsa.org
2. Also talked to Sima Datta, working with YPSA, a new job entrant from Ctg Varsity.
Her mobile: 0172-981422. She is young and enthusiastic, is involved with Bangladesh
Samajtantric Dol, can be of helpful in many ways.
3. Concern
Phone: 031-672005, Chittagong
Sylhet
1. Belal Ahmed
General Secretary
SSKS
Probaho-27 (1st floor)
Machudighipar, Taltola
Sylhet 3100
Phone: 0821-721307, 813678
Mobile: 0178-034370
E-mail: ssks@btsnet.net
2. Shameem, Program Manager of the program which is working with the floating sex workers.
Mobile: 0176-159399.
3. Sandhi Nari Sangstha, talked to Farida, the deputy chair person of Sandhi Nari Sangstha and an
outreach worker of SSKS. Could not talk to Parul, the chairperson of Sandhi as she was ill. The
persons can be contacted through SSKS.
In Sylhet DORP is also working with floating sex workers but could not meet them due to time
constraint.
Dhaka
DURJOY (The floating sex workers organization)
122/A P.C Culture Housing Society, Road no. 1
Shaymoli, Dhaka 1209
Mobile: 0189-404850
113
Appendix IV – Organizations of Sex Workers and NGOs working the in
brothels (Source: “Sex workers in Bangladesh. Livelihood at What Price?”, Qurratul-AinTahmina, Shishir Moral, SEHD, 2004)
1. Adhikar Nari Shanga (Sex Workers)
Phultala Brothel
Phultala bazar
Khulna
Working area: Phultala brothel
2. Akshaya Nari Sangha (Sex workers)
C/O: Center Manager
BWHC
17 New Chasara, Narayanganj-1400
Working area: Narayanganj; a major commercial town east of Dhaka.
3. Action Aid Bangladesh
Plot# 1/13, Block-B
Humayun Road, Mohammadpur,
Dhaka-1207
Tel: 8111763, 8118378, 8815991-2
E-mail: nahar@fo.actionaid-bd.org
Working area: Dhaka streets and Tangail brothel.
Major activities: Education for the children of the sex workers.
4. Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK)
26/3 Purana Paltan Line
Dhaka-1000
Tel: 8315851
E-mail: ask@citechco.net
Working area: All over Bangladesh
Major activities: Legal Aid
5. Aparajeyo Bangladesh
2/5 Humayun Road
Block-B Mohammadpur,
Dhaka
Tel: 8115798, 9135969
E-mail: aprjbd@bol-online.com
Working area: Jamalpur brothel and street
Major activities: Drop in center, hostel for the children for sex workers,
Education for the children, HIV/AIDS awareness, and condom promotion
6. Association for Economic Advancement (ASEA)
Hatkhola Road, Jessore
Tel: 0421-62286
Working area: All three brothels in Jessore
Major activities: Creating awareness on HIV/AIDS, micro-credit for the sex
workers
114
7. Banchita Nari O Shishu Unnayan Samiti (regd)
C/O: ASEA
Hatkhola Road
Jessore
Working area: The three brothels in Jessore
8. Bondhon Hijra Sangha (regd)
233/2 Progoti Saroni, Kuril Biswa Road
Dhaka
Working area: Dhaka
Major activities: Trans-gender people as most of the members earn their living
by selling sex in the streets
9. Bangladesh National Women Lawyer’s Associations (BNWLA)
House-60/A
Road- 27 (old)
Dhanmondi
Dhaka-1209
E-mail: bnwla@bdonline.com
Working area: All over Bangladesh
Major activities: Legal aid, rescuing women and children who are victims of
Trafficking and other violence, rescuing and rehabilitating under age girls from
Brothel, shelter home for women and children.
10. Bangladesh Women’s Health Coalition (BWHC)
10/2 Iqbal Road
Mohammadpur
Dhaka-1207
Tel: 8110974-5,8112286-7
E-mail: bwhc@bdonline.com
Working area: Narayanganj and Dhaka streets and Tangail brothel.
Major activities: Reproductive health care services, including legal early
Abortion of fetus, prevention, prevention of HIV/AIDS, helping networking of
sex workers
11. Care Bangladesh
House-66
Road-7/A
Dhanmondi R/A
Dhaka-1209
Tel: 9112315, 9136924, 8123364
E-mail: carebang@bangla.net
Working area: Four brothels-Patuakhali, Faridpur, C & B Ghat and Tangail. Sex
workers working in streets: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal,Sylhet,
Jessore, Bogra, Savar, Benapole, Mymenshing.
Major activities: HIV/AIDS prevention, empowering sex workers, facilitating
self-help organizations of the sex workers
12. CONCERN- Bangladesh
House-7
115
Road-12 (new)
Dhanmondi R/A
Dhaka-1209
Tel: 8112795, 8112796, 8115972
E-mail: info@concernbd.org
Working area: Dhaka, Madaripur, Faridpur, Phultala, Mongla, Bagerhat,
Jessore, Perojpur, sex workers working in streets.
Major activities: Capacity building of sex workers organizations Durjoy Nari
Sangha and Ulka Nari Sangha as a partner, skill development, ALC, literacy,
health service, awareness, rehabilitation by partnership
13. Durjoy Nari Sangha (regd)
122, PC Culture
Road No-1
Block-Ka
Shyamoli
Dhaka-1207
Mob: 0088-0171-060675/ 0171-188912
Working area: Sex workers working in streets began in Dhaka Metropolitan
City area by 2004 had branches in Khulna, Rangpur, and Savar; also working in
Sylhet, Chittaging, Burimari, Benapole, Syadpur, Jessore, Rajshahi, Jamalpur and
Faridpur.
14. Ekota Mohila Unnyan Samiti (sex workers)
PO: Bagerhat
PS: Bagerhat Sadar
Bagerhat
Working area: Bagerhat Brothel
15. Ekotal Nari Sangha (sex workers)
C/O- Momata
Taltola, Bandartila
Chittagong
Working area: Sex workers working in streets; Chittagong
16. Foundation for Human Development (FHD)
78/A Moneswar Road, Zigatala Dhanmondi Dhaka-1209
Tel: 8618979, 9617221
E-mail: fhd@dhaka.agni.com
Working area: Mymensing and Faridpur streets.
Major activities: Drop-in-centres, prevention of HIV/AIDS.
17. Gharany.
PS- Jessore
Dist: Jessore
Working area: Three brothels in Jessore
Major activities: Health treatment, awareness building, training, educational
facilities, and the taking care of sex-worker's child and their education.
18. Gonoshasthya Kendra (GK)
PO: Nayarhat, Dhamrai Dhaka
116
Tel: 7708081-6, 7708024-5
E-mail: gksavar@citechco.net
Working area: Doulatdia brothel and Dhaka streets.
Major activities: STD diagnosis and treatment, general healthcare and
reproductive healthcare services, motivating behavioral changes mainly for
health, condom promotion.
19. HELP
PS-Bagerhat
Dist: Bagerhat
Working area: Bagerhat Brothel
Major activities: Health, HIV, STD
20. INCIDIN-Bangladesh
9/11 Iqbal Road, Mohammadpur
Dhaka-1207
Tel: 8129733
E-mail: incidinb@incidinb.org
Working area: Dhaka; underage sex workers working in streets.
Major activities: Counseling, one drop-in-center only for the day, capacity
building training.
21. Joy Nari Kalyan Samiti
C/O- Tapan Kumar Goswami
Zilla Parisad Market
Goalchamot
Faridpur
Major activities: The bigger of the two brothels in Faridpur
22. Jagorani Chakra (JC)
44 Mujib Sarak
Jessore-7400
Tel: 0421-72218, 72243
E-mail: jcjsr@mail.bol-online.com
Working area: All three brothels in Jessore, Magura streets and Phultala brothel.
Major activities: Day care centers for the children of sex workers creating health
awareness and treatment, advocacy for rights of sex workers, micro-credit,
training, education
23. Jagrata Juba Shangha ( JJS)
96. South Central Road
Khulna-5
Tel: 041-730146
E-mail: jjs@khulna.bangla.net
Working area: Banishanta brothel and Bagerhat brothel, southwestern
Bangladesh
Major activities: Generating awareness on HIV/AIDS, promotion of condoms,
medical camps, education the children of the sex-workers.
24. KAJUS (CARE)
PS-Patukhali
117
District: Patuakhali
Working area: Patuakhali brothel
Major activities: Health, prevention HIV/STD, adult education, savings.
25. Kalikapur Juba Sangsad
Town Kalikapur, Potuakhali
Tel: 0441-63551
Working area: Potuakhali brothel
Major activities: Creating awareness on HIV/AIDS, treatment for STD, condom
promotion.
26. Karmojibi Kallyan Sangstha(KKS)
Goalondo Bazar
PO: Goalondo, Rajbari-7710
Tel: 0641-65544, 65472, 65853
E-mail: fagkks@citechco.net
Working area: Doulatdia brothel
Major activities: Shelter home for the brothel children, creating awareness on
HIV/AIDS, micro-credit for sex workers, savings and adult education.
27. Marie Stopes Clinic Society
House No.6/2, Block-F Lalmatia Housing Estate, Lalmatia Dhaka-1207
Tel: 9121208, 9129022, 8114392, 8114394
E-mail: mscs@citechco.net
Working area: Dhaka, Khulna, Chittagong, Barisal, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur,
Mymensing, Comilla and Brahmanbaria; sex workers working in streets and
Bagerhat brothel.
Major activities: Reproductive health care services, general healthcare services,
health education of sex workers, HIV/AIDS prevention, STD, free medicine.
28. Mukti Mohila Samiti(regd)
PO: Goalondo
PS: Goalondo
Rajbari
Working area: The brothel in Doulatdia Ghat
Major activities: Savings, Adult Education, Sanitation
29. Naripokhho
170 Green Road, Dhaka-1205
Tel: 8119917, 0171-819069
E-mail: doorbar@pradeshta.net
Working area: All over Bangladesh.
Major activities: Advocacy and networking. One of the core organizations
assisting evicted sex workers and their moves for rights.
30. Nari Jagoroni Sangha
PO: Baniashanta Bazar
PS: Dacop
Khulna
Working area: The brothel in Baniashanta.
118
31. Nari Mukti Sangha(regd)
Biswas Betoka (Dhaka Road), Tangail
Tel: (mobile) 0088-1071-220721 / 018-179865
Working area: The brothel in Tangail and also networking in Bogra,
Mymensing and Jamalpur brothels and streets.
32. OXFAM
House-4, Road-3, Block-1
Dhaka-1213
Tel: 8813607-9
E-mail: oxfambd@oxfam.org.uk
Working area: Dhaka and Narayangonj streets and Baniashanta brothel.
Major activities: Advocacy for the rights of the sex workers, providing supports
for the sex workers’ networking.
33. Padma Karmajibi Mohila Samiti
C/O. CARE-Rajshahi
Working area: Rajshahi; sex workers working in streets
34. Padma Nari Sangha
Vill: Tepurakandi
PS: Faridpur Sadar
Faridpur
Working area: The brothel in C & B Ghat, the smaller of the two brothels in
Faridpur
35. PKS (USAID and Pathfinder)
47 South Central Road
Jessore
Working area: Phultala brothel, and Noapara and Shathkhira
Major activities: Working with Floating sex workers, treatment of sexual
diseases, and pregnant women, RPR test, HIV/AIDS prevention, condom
promotion, clinical services and awareness training, and also working with
migrant sex workers.
36. Sandhi Nari Sangha
C/O. CARE- Bangladesh
Sylhet
Working area: Sylhet sex workers working in streets
37. Sanghati
C/O. Nari Pokkho
170, Green Road
Dhaka-1205
Tel: 8119917, 0171-819069
E-mail: doorbar@pradeshta.net
Working area: All over Bangladesh
Major activities: Advocacy and networking. The umbrella organization was
formed during the eviction drive of Tanbazar in 1999. Has been actively
supporting the movement for the rights of the sex workers ever since.
119
38. Save the Children- Australia
Plot No-9 (3rd floor)
Road No-16
Gulshan-1
Dhaka-1212
Tel: 9861690-1, 8814517, 8828118
E-mail: scfa@citechco.net
Working area: Doulatdia brothel
39. Shalpa Mohila Sangstha
Mollabari Sarak
Goal Chamot
Faridpur
Tel: 0631-65640
E-mail: smsch@bttb.netbd
Working area: Faridpur and C & B Ghat brothels and Faridpur streets.
Major activities: Health treatment, micro credit, raising awareness on human
rights, right based approach, prevention of HIV/AIDS, treatment for STD,
schooling of the children of the sex workers which is attended by other children
from the neighborhood, adult education, vocational training for sex workers
40. Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD)
4/4/1-B Third Floor
Block-A, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Tel: 9121385
E-mail: sehd@citechco.net
Working area: All over Bangladesh
Major activities: Research and Documentation.
41. Society for Social Services (SSS)
Palashtali Road
Tangail
Tel: 0921-53195
E-mail: sss@bol-online.com
Working area: Tangail brothel
Major activities: Health (preventive and curative), Human rights, rescue and
rehabilitation, micro credit, training, awareness on HIV/ STD, Saving, Education,
Shelter home for the brothel children, SSS has started buried the sex workers in
their own grave yard.
42. Suraksha
A Project of the NGO social Marketing Company.
180, East Tezturi Bazar, Tejgaon
Dhaka-1215
Tel: mob-0171-582692
Working area: 18 centers across the country, four of which are in Mymensing,
Jamalpur, Faridpur and Madaripur Brothel.
Major activities: awareness, condom promotion and sales, health programs.
120
43. Shuktara kollan Sonstha (A Voluntary Organization)
PS-Mymensingh
Dist: Mymensingh
Working area: Mymensingh brothel
Major activities: Awareness, stipend type activities and mass education
44. Sex workers NetWork of Bangladesh
122 PC Culture
Road No-1, Block-Ka
Shyamoli
Dhaka-1207
Tel: Ulka Nari Sangha’s or Durjoy Nari Sangha’s.
Working area: All over Bangladesh, representing the entire range of
commercial sex workers: street based, brothel based or evicted from brothels,
hotel based and trans-gender.
45. Sourav (regd)
Anwara Mansion, Bagan Bari
Islampur Road,
Jamalpur
Tel: 0981-63988, 018207041
Working area: The brothel in Jamalpur
46. Sourav
C/O: Nari Maitree
Ramesh Sen Road, Mymensing
Working area: Mymensing brothel
47. The Salvation Army
House-96
Road-23
Banani
Dhaka-1213
Tel: 9882836-7
E-mail: bangladesh@ban.salvationarmy.org
Working area: Marwari Mondir brothel
Major activities: Health treatment, literacy for the older people, child
education, formation of savings fund, motivation activities, blood test,
counseling, STD diagnosis and treatment, condom and birth control pills
promotion.
48. Ulka Nari Sangha
445 Mir Hazeerbagh, Ward No-87
Demra, Dhaka-1004
Tel: (mobile) 0088-0171-043226
Working area: Dhaka: sex workers working in streets.
49. UNDP-Govt. Project
Office of the National Project Director
National Social Services Academy Bhaban (2nd floor)
E-8/B-1, Agargaon
121
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207
Tel: 8110619
E-mail: npdcabld@vasdigital.com
Working area: Brothels- Mymensing, Jessore, Daulatdia and Dhaka streets.
Major activities: Advocacy and creating awareness, counseling and
motivational activities for sex workers on gender equality and human rights,
pre-formal and non-formal education for sex workers and their children,
crèche and basic education for the children of sex workers; boarding facilities
for sex workers and their children, providing healthcare and generating
awareness on health issues including STD, HIV/AIDS and on environment;
vocational training for sex workers.
The Programs are implemented by the following NGOs:
¾ Alliance for Cooperation and Legal Aid Bangladesh (ACLAB)
8/13 Block-C, Tajmohol Road
Mohammadpur, Dhaka
Tel: 8129400
E-mail: aclab@accesstel.net
Working area: All three brothels in Jessore and Dhaka streets.
¾ Development organization of the Rural Poor (DORP)
152/ L-1 Green road, Panthapath
Dhaka-1205
Tel: 9130101, 9138695
E-mail: dorp@bangla.net
Working area: Dhaka; sex workers working in streets.
¾ Nari Maitree
393/ B Malibagh Chowdhuri Para
Dhaka-1219
Tel: 7213408
E-mail: nm@bdonline.com
Working area: Mymensing brothels and Dhaka streets.
¾ Nari Unnayan Shakti
823/A Khilgaon
Dhaka-1219
Tel: 7216270
E-mail: afrojnus@bdmail.net
Working area: Dhaka: sex workers working in streets
¾ PIACT-Bangladesh
9/11 Iqbal Road
Mohammadpur
Dhaka-1207
Tel: 8112078, 8118044
E-mail: piactb@bdonline.com
Working area: Doulatdia brothel and Dhaka streets.
50. World Vision of Bangladesh
122
34 Kamal Ataturk Avenue
Banani
Dhaka-1213
Tel: 8813555-7, 8815515-7
E-mail: worldvisionbangladesh@wvi.org
Working area: Khulna and Cox’s Bazar, southwestern and southeastern
Bangladesh respectively, sex workers working in streets.
Major activities: Prevention of HIV/AIDS, Health education.
123
Appendix V – Questionnaire for survey
Brothel national survey
Date:
First section (for leaders and local ngos staff)
Name of the brothel................................................................................................................................
District....................................................................................................................................................
Upazila....................................................................................................................................................
Thana/police station................................................................................................................................
Location (is near a river port or industrial area, business area, etc.)......................................................
How old is this brothel...........................................................................................................................
Total number of sex workers.................................................................................................................
Sex workers age categories:
1. Below 18 years...........................................................................................................................
2. 18-25 years.................................................................................................................................
3. 26-35 years.................................................................................................................................
4. 36-45 years.................................................................................................................................
5. 46 and above...............................................................................................................................
How many
a) Chukris (bonded
girls).....................................................................................................
b) Bharatia (independent sex worker).................................................................................
c) Shordarni (madams)....................................................................................................
d) Pimps (dalal)...................................................................................................................
e) Others (cooks, old sex workers, etc.).............................................................................
Are the sex workers coming from
1. Local district....................................................................................................
2. neighbouring districts......................................................................................
3. far away...........................................................................................................
124
How many sex workers children are living in the brothel
a) 0-5...............................................................................................................................................
b) 6-10.............................................................................................................................................
c) 11-15...........................................................................................................................................
d) 16-18...........................................................................................................................................
What do the children do when their mothers are working.....................................................................
Who looks after the younger children....................................................................................................
Do the children go to school?
1. Government
school......................................................................................................................
2. NGOs school..............................................................................................................................
3. Private schools............................................................................................................................
4. Others.........................................................................................................................................
What is the common disease the sex workers are suffering inside the brothel?
1. ........................................................................................................................................
2. ........................................................................................................................................
3. ........................................................................................................................................
Where do they go for health treatment?
1. Government
hospitals..................................................................................................................
2. Clinics.........................................................................................................................................
3. Ngos
clinics.................................................................................................................................
4. Others.........................................................................................................................................
Do the sex workers have drug addiction/alcohol problems?
Do they know about HIV/STD........................................................................................................?
Total number of houses..........................................................................................................................
How many rooms in the same house......................................................................................................
How many Rooms in the brothel..............................................................................................
How many sex workers in the same room..............................................................................................
How many latrines do they have in the brothel......................................................................................
Where do they fetch water?
1. bath/washes.................................................................................................................................
2. drinking.......................................................................................................................................
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How many tube wells in the brothel.......................................................................................................
Do they have electricity..........................................................................................................................
Is there any proper drainage system.......................................................................................................
How do they keep it clean.....................................................................................................................
Is there any NGOs working in the brothel..............................................................................................
How many are they and what is their name...........................................................................................
From how many years are they working in the brothel..........................................................................
What kind of activities do they carry out........................................................................................
What is the most serious problem for sex workers now?
1. ....................................................................................................................................................
2. ....................................................................................................................................................
3. ....................................................................................................................................................
Do the sex worker have a proper funeral service...................................................................................
Where.....................................................................................................................................................
Why not..................................................................................................................................................
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Second Section (Questionnaire for Sex Workers)
1. Name ………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Age ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Home district/Place of birth.
4. Category (bharatia, chukri or shoardarni) ………………………………………………………
5. How many years did you spend in this brothel: …………………………………………………
6. How old were you when you started this work:
1. 9-12……………………………………………………………………………………………
2. 13-15…………………………………………………………………………………………
3. 16-17+…………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Above 18………………………………………………………………………………………
7. In which brothel did you start the profession
8. Who brought you in this profession:
1. My free choice…………………………………………………………………………………
Where did you get information about this work?……………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Husband………………../parents ……………………..Friend ………………………………
other relatives ………………..people from the village …………… others………………….
How……………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. Did you started as Chukri? ………………………………………………………………………
How long did you work as Chukri? ………………………………………………………………
How much you earned at that time per day? ……………………………………………………
Could you keep your earning with you? …………………………………………………………
What was you condition at that time? ……………………………………………………………
Did you try to get away, what happened then? …………………………………………………
How did you get freedom? ………………………………………………………………………
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10. Do you have an affidavit/license …………………………………………………………………
When did you get the license …………………….from where …………………………………
Did you sign on it ……………………………presence of Notary Public …………..…………..
11. Who are your customers
a.
Profession …………………………………………………………………………………….
b. age ……………………………………………………………………………………………..
c. local or foreign ………………………………………………………………………………..
d. marital status …………………………………………………………………………………..
12. How many customers do you get per day ………………………………………………………...
13. How long each customer stays with you ………………………………………………………….
14. How much do you earn for one customer: Day …………………..night ………………………...
15. How much do you earn: daily ………………… weekly ……………….. monthly ……………...
16. Other sources of income: ………………………………………………………………………….
17. How much do you spend: daily ……………… weekly ………………… monthly ……………..
18. How much do you spend for:
a. Food …………………………………………………………………………………………...
b. Rent ……………………………………………………………………………………………
c. Electricity ……………………………………………………………………………………
d. Toilet …………………………………………………………………………………………..
e. Water …………………………………………………………………………………………
f. Drinks/cigarettes/drugs ………………………………………………………………………..
g. Children/Family ………………………………………………………………………………
h. Others …………………………………………………………………………………………
19. Who do you pay the bribe to and how much per day/week/month …………………….................
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
20. Do you have any savings (money, land, gold) …………………………………………………....
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
21. Do you have any problem in order to save money ……………………………………………......
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
22. Do you have any debts, how much? ………………………To whom …………………………
23. Is it common the debt bondage inside the brothel? If yes, can you explain what sort of debt
bondage is? ………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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24. How new girls are involved in this profession ……………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
25. How much does it costs to buy a girl? How do you fix the price? ………………………………..
a. Pimp …………………………………………………………………………………………..
b. Affidavit by notary public …………………………………………………………………….
c. Thana police …………………………………………………………………………………..
d. Bariwala/Salami ………………………………………………………………………………
e. Others …………………………………………………………………………………………
26. Do you have a Babu or fixed client ………………………………………………………………
27. Do you have any children and how many boys………….………… girls ……………………….
a. How old are they …………………………………………………………………………….
b. Where do they live and with whom …………………………………………………………..
c. Who and where is the father …………………………………………………………………
d. How often do they meet the father …………………………………………………………..
e. Do they go to school (if not why) ……………………………………………………………
f. Do they have any disease ……………………………………………………………………
g. Are they admitted to public hospitals …………………………………………………………
28. Do you know what kind disease you can get for sex worker ……………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
29. Do you have any kind of disease ………………………………………………………………….
30. When did you last go to the doctor and for what …………………………………………………
31. Did you ever examine your blood? When and Why? …………………………………………….
Where did you examine the blood? ……………………………………………………………...
32. Where do you usually meet the doctor
a. Inside the brothel ……………………………………………………………………………...
b. In the government hospital ……………………………………………………………………
c. Medicine shop in the bazaar …………………………………………………………………..
d. NGOs Clinic …………………………………………………………………………………..
e. Others …………………………………………………………………………………………
33. Do you feel comfortable to go to public/government hospital (Why or why not) ………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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34. Do you take drugs/alcohol ………………………………………………………………………...
Who pays for that you or customers …………………………………………………………….
How you became addicted ………………………………………………………………………...
35. Do you use contraceptives (What type)
a. Condoms....................................................................................................................................
b. Female condoms.........................................................................................................................
c. Pills............................................................................................................................................
d. IUD............................................................................................................................................
e. Injection.....................................................................................................................................
f. Others........................................................................................................................................
g. Nothing......................................................................................................................................
36. Do you know the importance of condoms ………………………………………………………...
37. Do the customers want to use condoms? ………………………………………………………….
38. What do you do if they do not want to use it? …………………………………………………….
39. Where do you get contraceptives from ……………………………………………………………
40. Did you have an abortion or MR? if yes where?
a. Hospital ………………………………………………………………………………………
b. Local/NGO clinic ……………………………………………………………………………..
c. Local midwives inside the brothel …………………………………………………………….
d. Others …………………………………………………………………………………………
41. Why did you miscarry:
a. Free choice …………………………………………………………………………………….
b. Incident …………………………………………………………………..................................
c. Forced by pimps/shordarni ……………………………………………………………………
d. Forced by someone else ……………………………………………………………………….
e. Others …………………………………………………………………………………………
42. Are you literate? …………………………………………………………………………………
43. Up to which class did you attend the school ……………………………………………………...
44. Why did you stop going to school ………………………………………………………………...
45. Can you freely go outside the brothel ……………………………………………………………..
Can you ware shoes while going out ……………………………………………………………
46. Is there any kind harassments ……………………………………………………………………..
47. Who harasses you the most
a. Police ………………………………………………………………………………………….
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b. Mastans ………………………………………………………………………………………..
c. Pimps ………………………………………………………………………………………….
d. Shordarni ……………………………………………………………………………………...
e. Other sex workers ……………………………………………………………………………..
f. Local community people ……………………………………………………………………
g. Others …………………………………………………………………………………………
48. Where do you go to ask for help ………………………………………………………………….
49. What kind of help do get ………………………………………………………………………….
50. Are you voter? ………………………… Do you vote? …………………………………………..
51. Do the candidates come to you? …………………………………………………………………..
52. Do you go to public meetings/rallies …………………. NGO meetings …………………………
If not, why ……………………………………………………………………………………….
53. What do you think about sex work ………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
54. Do know about sex workers organisation and their work ………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
55. Do you know which kind of rights you have as human beings …………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
56. What discrimination and human rights violation do you face as a Sex worker in the mainstream
society ……………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………….……………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
57. Did anyone rape you? Did you go to court? Why/not? …………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
58. What would you like to change to make this brothel a better place ………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………...
59. What happen when sex worker gets old
……………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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60. What is your future plan …………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
61. Researchers comments: …………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………
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Researcher’s signature
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