Men stink: An interview with a sex worker

According to psychological studies, when a person hears the word ‘sex worker’ they assume that a sex worker is someone who does not do a reputable job. It is assumed that they are supposed to be owned and played with, as if they are a mechanical toy. Devadasi — a term we as Indians are familiar with, is a ritualised form of prostitution wherein the family gives away daughter to the temple. This is done to entertain the upper-class men in society.

Sex work as a profession has been carried forward under different names and forms since a long time.

Every hour four women or girls in India enter the prostitution business, of these, three are ‘forced’ into this hell. There are many reasons that have caused the rise of prostitution, like poverty, physical pleasure, greed and even revenge. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Gwalior are the cities where prostitution rackets are highly active. 

When asked about prostitution, Ravina, aged 23, from Kamathipura in Mumbai says: ‘The body is up for sale. It is dark and the smell of ugly men is a part of our life. There is no love; here only sex and all kinds of sex. At times my clients, ask for sex and only sex and some come here to play, while some come here to have some peace.” She says at times, women in her profession act as counsellors and the clients share their problems and complain that their wives do not have time for them after having children. “The problem arises when a customer becomes permanent. Then he wants your soul ‘that is not for sale’,” says Ravina.

She narrates another story of an aged client. “He comes to me and asks me get dressed up like a bride and all he does is stare at me. He says he sees his dead wife in me. So it’s not always about sex. This parallel world is dark,” she repeats the word, dark, again. Ravina is from Bihar and she came to Mumbai in search of work. Her family believes that she does some other sort of job here at an office but she is in this parallel world where there is no going back, an industry whose history can be traced back to 4,000 years.

The prostitution business is not only driven by physical pleasure; but rather driven by economic and psychological distress. India is one of the biggest market for prostitution in Asia. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, as amended in 1986, provides for the rehabilitation for sex workers. A number of NGOs are working in the area of rehabilitating sex workers. But for a large section of sex workers, help is still far away. Sexually transmitted diseases are a major problem. Ravina talks of men who intentionally wants to pass on the diseases to others. “They want to urinate on our bodies, they want to stub lit cigarettes on our bodies, but we need the money,” Ravina signs off.

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