The life of a sex worker is not only uncertain but shattering. Some have taken up this as their vocation to survive and some have been forced into it.
In sophomore year, interning with CNN News18, my team made a documentary work on the life of a sex worker. We walked into the ‘red light area’ of Kolkata, home to some or more than 10,000 sex workers. We wanted to have a recorded interview knowing it would not be easy to get them to talk candidly on air.
Eventually, we met a woman and I knew, there is a story here.
The tough part about interviewing is civilians hesitate to reveal their identity. It was not easy to make her comfortable, but when she started opening up, she introduced us to her family and we all sat in a common room, doors shut so that we were not disturbed. Commercial sex was the only steady source of income to keep her household going.
When she was twelve years old, her husband sold her into this profession. In an interview, she explained how she handled local law enforcement and goons and worked with her cash flow. There were interruptions including police raids, and clients showing up, but every time our conversation picked up, without losing a beat, from where it had been interrupted.
The documentary turned out great but never stopped thinking about Roomi(name changed), which is exactly what I meant in the introduction. It was not just a documentary I made, a debate I finished second, an article I wrote, it was always the people; it was living more than one life; it was tasting so many colors of life, good and bad, a complete rainbow, a lot like the pride flag itself.
Pausing for a while, there may be so many more Roomi’s and untold stories. There is always a ‘real’ life under the bright sky. A gloomy smile and wrinkle skin speak the daily brokenness these women carry. There may be thousands of women sold in these dark alleys over the years. Big thanks to the NGOs in Kolkata and across India who are fighting against violence and standing with the sex workers in the tough times.
Apart from Sonargachi, which is Kolkata’s ‘Red Spot’, areas near Bow Bazar are actively engaged in this profession. With no income, the challenges faced by sex workers during the lockdown are inevitable. As, a result of lockdown, they failed to visit their families who are residing across the country.
India Today reports, “One source of help during the lockdown was the Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society. In this bank dedicated to sex workers under Durbar, many of them had deposited their savings over the years. The bank remained open during the lockdown and those women with savings were able to help their families during tough times.”
Kolkata is recognized as one of the cities which comprises more than 20,000 sex workers in India. According to ‘Facts and Details’, ‘About 40,000 customers visit the district every day, which means the average prostitute there services five to six customers a day in Sonargachi.
Prostitution has crossed all barriers with Child Prostitution number rising in India, every year. As ‘Facts and Details’ near about 5000-7000 young girls are brought from Nepal and sold in India to become prostitutes. In Kolkata, the many real and untold stories, hidden behind gaudy make-up, colorful clothing, and charismatic lights, obscure the reality of broken motherhood, trapped between apathy and stuck in dingy rooms of backstreet lanes.
Feature image is for representational purposes only.