A Supreme Court order has legally empowered India's sex workers, but decades of police and societal abuse means ingrained cynicism and fear aren't going go away overnight.
The rescue of a 25-yr-old woman last month has once again brought focus on a centuries-old practice that has morphed into a social evil whose victims suffer deeply.
Petition in SC claimed sex workers have been left out of Covid-19 response because of social stigma and marginalisation, and are in urgent need of support.
Study by Asha Care Trust included 300 respondents in Budhwar Peth, India’s third-largest red-light area housing nearly 3,000 sex workers in around 700 brothels.
Supporters argue that when sex work is legalised, violence against women declines. But skeptics argue that prostitution erodes the moral fabric of society.
From Munir’s point of view, a few bumps here and there is par for the course. He isn’t going to drive his dumper truck to its doom. He wants to use it as a weapon.
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