Over 99% sex workers in Pune look for alternative livelihood, shows study

As the pandemic has brought the world to a screeching halt, 99% of commercial sex workers are now wanting to take up alternative livelihood options, if given an opportunity.

Over the period of lockdown, the demand for sex work has dried down forcing sex workers to borrow loans for survival.

According to a sample survey conducted by Asha Care Trust, a forum that works towards the welfare of sex workers, over 85% of the workers have taken loans and over 98% of them have taken it from their brothel owners, managers, and moneylenders, subjecting themselves to further exploitation.

Budhwar Peth is India’s third-largest red-light area which nearly houses 700 brothels and around 3,000 commercial sex workers. A study of 300 (around 10%) commercial sex workers in Budhwar Peth was conducted for this report.

What is more alarming is that 87% of workers stated that even before the pandemic struck, their incomes were not sufficient to support themselves or their families.

Key factors like lack of education and employable skills compel them to depend on one source of income i.e. earning through the flesh trade and remain trapped in the vicious circle.

The majority of the workers now want to explore alternative sources of livelihood and get away from the flesh trade.

“COVID-19 epidemic has presented us with an opportunity to create a mechanism to rehabilitate sex workers in mainstream society. Our survey suggests that almost all of them are looking at alternative sources of livelihood in the Budhwar Peth region. For the women who opt-out of sex trade, trafficking victim relief funds should be provided to help them pay off their debt and get started with a new chapter,” Sheela Shetty, president of Asha Care Trust.