From a dabba business to working at retail stores, these women are now exploring new employment avenues, which was a distant reality till about a few years ago.
Gyrating to boisterous music was the order of the day for them, but not anymore; not after a ban was enforced on dance bars. While a section of these bar girls may now have turned sex workers, some of them left this city in search of livelihood. But some others have found better ways to live here, thanks to the Sanmitra Trust initiative.
From a dabba business to working at retail stores, these women are now exploring new employment avenues, which was a distant reality till about a few years ago.
According to Prabha Desai, a professor at Patkar College who runs the NGO, the initiative was started in 2002, primarily to create awareness on HIV among commercial sex workers.
In 2004, she started a clinic in Malwani to help HIV-infected commercial sex workers. With more than 3,500 sex workers in Malwani alone, Desai said it was a challenging task counseling them. “From June 1 to July 15 in 2004, there were 21 suicides and a murder, and the reason was HIV infection. The people who committed suicide had all tested HIV positive,” she said. A sex worker was killed by her beau after he found out that she had passed on the infection to him.
With the slapping of ban on dance bars in 2004, Desai started getting the bar girls coming to her for counseling on various issues, including job options. “There were around 300 women in Malwani who were employed as bar dancers in the past,” she said.
The first break came when four former bar dancers, who were initially drawn into prostitution, started making dabbas and delivered it to a movie unit. “They soon became famous and now get orders from a number of other clients from the entertainment industry,” said Desai.
Naseem Bano had always dreamt of living a decent life. “I was compelled to work at a dance bar because of financial reasons. With the help of Sanmitra, I decided to start a small cosmetics shop.”
Kiran from West Bengal had worked at dance bars for a few years. She was encouraged by Sanmitra counsellors to do a computer course. She lends a helping hand to other former bar girls and sex workers in carrying out bank work.
Another former bar girl, Kusum, said: “I was 18 when I got into this profession. I always wanted to quit, but had no option to earn money. It was only after I came in touch with Sanmitra, I got my chance.” Kusum works as an office assistant.
Five sex workers have been hired and are paid a monthly stipend of Rs5,000 each to help the NGO in holding seminars and meetings with commercial sex workers in Malwani.
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