Sex workers in Kolkata’s Sonagachi | Only rights can stop the wrongs, says DMSC community
“Only rights can stop the wrong,” reads a poster inside the community centre at the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) office in Sonagachi, Kolkata, West
“Only rights can stop the wrong,” reads a poster inside the community centre at the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) office in Sonagachi, Kolkata, West Bengal’s capital. The poster dates back to 2001; it still carries the weight of an unfinished fight in the red-light area. Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee (DMSC), an organisation working for the rights of sex workers, celebrated 30 years of existence on July 15. DMSC began distributing condoms in 1992 to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Its formation was based on a consensual HIV-AIDS survey by Dr. Samarjit Jana, who was commissioned by the World Health Organisation. At the time, high-risk populations were identified and coerced into testing; Dr. Jana asked for the women’s permission. Over time, DMSC, which includes transgender people, has emerged as a sex workers’ rights organisation, refusing to let people not from their profession speak their truth. Sex workers collective hail Supreme Court verdict over consent for rehabilitation Sonagachi, which translates to golden tree — from the amount of money men spent in these north Kolkata lanes — has no signboard. The area and its people still bear the load of stigma. Historically, sculptors have taken soil from Sonagachi to make the Durga idols but the sex workers are not allowed into regular pandals. In 2013, they tried to start their own Durga Puja celebration but were met with violent resistance from people. They moved the Calcutta High Court and got their rights. Though held indoors, the joy of celebrating their own Durga Puja in their own locality was a victory. About 12,000 women in the area live through the dense, layered history of Sonagachi. There are another 28,000 associated with DMSC across West Bengal. In the folds of the night On a cloudy morning on July 15, about 150 women of Sonagachi have gathered at a neighbourhood park to celebrate their 30-year-old journey. “Gotor khatiye khai; sramiker adhikar chai” (I work hard for my bread; I demand workers’ rights), a song streams in the background as the women prepare to play musical chairs and share a simple community lunch of rice, dal, and vegetable curry. Also read: Supreme Court recognises sex work as a ‘profession’ The women huddle together to catch up on daily gossip. Fatima Begum (name changed), 55, sits towards the back of the gathering that is facing a stage. She is pleasantly surprised to meet a friend from another part of Kolkata after 23 years. “I did everything for my parents, my family; I spent my whole life for them. What do I have left now? I am still alone,” Fatima tells her friend. She is now a field worker for DMSC and stopped sex work after her son got married. “I had to change my lifestyle so he could get social recognition,” she says, adding that it’s something she herself craves even though she has earned her own bread since she was a teenager.
The BriefWire