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It’s an unlikely place for sex: a rundown concrete building where rats run free in the centre of dusty Faridpur, an ordinary town in rural Bangladesh. Small holes in the walls allow the only supply of natural light and air into the jail-like compound. Fluorescent bulbs hesitate to light up the place, and turn it into the ideal background for a horror blockbuster.
After countless demonstrations that stirred media interest, sexual workers now don’t have to walk barefoot when they leave the brothel, and their bodies can be buried in a separately cemetery. But the war goes to a higher ground: making prostitution legal in a country which Constitution stipulates it’s citizens’ right to choose their profession freely.
In 2010, radical Islamists burned down the whole compound injuring two and leaving most without anything.
In the district of Faridpur in Dhaka, Bangladesh, these women are among nearly 50 sex workers who
reside in one place. This house serves as both home and place of business.
A sex worker relaxing as she waits for her next customer. Competition gets tougher and tougher
everyday when it comes to attracting customers and earning a living.
Sex workers in Bangladesh are treated no better than garbage, deprived of a chance to
change their lives, constantly harassed by radical Islamists, condemned for life.
With the world economy taking a downturn, life in these slums has also taken a turn for the worst.
Prices go up but salaries stay the same. Which means customers spend less. Condoms have
become luxuries. And sex workers get younger and younger.
Rojina used to work as a textile worker. Until she had an affair with a family member. In their rage, she was
nearly stabbed to death and forced out of her family, having to turn to a life as a sex worker to make a
living. To this day, she sends part of her meagre earnings to her family, in hopes of being forgiven.
As younger girls dominate the sex worker industry in Bangladesh, maintaining their youthful looks is
the only guarantee the older women keep earning their living.
Bristi was born at the brothel 15 years ago to a mother who worked there. Now, she too recently
became a sex worker helping her mother and grandmother.
“If I could go to another place, marry someone who would knows nothing about my past, maybe
I could escape this shame that I feel” says Bristi.
20 year old Asha’s first contact with the sex industry was when she was 9, after she was badly
beaten and raped.
The small room from which Asha barely earns between 50 and 150 takas per service (half a U.S. dollar
to 2 US dollar)
After being raped, Lima (15) was forced to work in the prostitution industry. She has 7 to 12 clients
each day and charges 1.3 to 2.5 USD per service.
“I wish that I could get married so I could leave this life. But I know my dreams will never come true.
That’s why I prefer not to think about the future anymore.”
Julie's father was handicapped after a traffic accident. Her father was the sole bread winner. Her
family hasn’t been the same since then. She agreed to work in the brothel to help out. She never
expected the hell she goes through there.
Rita is already 40 years old and earns only half a U.S. per service. With the years passing by, she now has
a difficult time to have stable stream of clients unlike before. Clients demand younger girls.
If the customer demands to have sex without
condoms, sex workers have no choice. 70%
of the girls are infected with some form of
sexually transmitted disease.
Clients demand younger girls. Old sex workers become madames. The never-ending, vicious cycle.
Joy Nani is both a brothel madame and an activist in pursuit of the protection of sex workers’ rights.
Society has forced them to live in darkness while men love them and hate them in equal measure,
demanding their services while trying to get rid of them permanently.
