They Haven바카라�t Sold Their Soul

Founded three years ago, Taaras has helped women like Kushi see the impact their collective voices can make on their lives. 바카라�Earlier, when we went to government offices or police stations on behalf of sex workers, people didn바카라�t bother. Now they are willing to listen,바카라� she says. There are scores of government schemes for women바카라�s welfare, but sex workers usually miss out바카라�either because of a lack of awareness, or due to the stigma. 바카라�That 바카라�we are sex workers바카라� is always on their mind, making them hesitate even when it comes to basic things like identity cards,바카라� says Pushpalatha R., founder director of Swathi Mahila Sangha, a Bangalore-based community organisation that Kushi is associated with and which is part of the Taaras coalition. 바카라�We want to make them realise that they have rights just like everybody else. We try to make sure they get their social entitlements.바카라�

Taaras, meaning rapid progress, takes a pragmatic approach towards sex work. 바카라�We don바카라�t say that being a sex worker is right, nor do we say it is wrong. That바카라�s because we realised that every person has her own unique circumstances influencing what she does and the problems she has to face,바카라� says G. Kallana Gowda, chief impact officer at Swasti, a nonprofit in the health sector, which partners with Taaras. 바카라�Our focus is on vulnerability-reduction. The National AIDS Control Organisation바카라�s targeted intervention programme is one of the best in the world, but there are challenges beyond reducing risk.바카라�

For instance, a Taaras member points out that sometimes clients offer more money for sex without condoms. So the intervention includes collective focus on ensuring sex workers get access to government-subsidised foodgrain or direct cash transfers so that they are not forced to compromise on the use of condoms in order to feed their family. 바카라�Today, 92 per cent of Taaras members have Jan Dhan Yojana accounts,바카라� says Gowda.

바카라�We act as a bridge so government welfare schemes can reach these people effectively,바카라� says Pushpalatha. In Karnataka, for instance, under the Chetana project, female sex workers can avail loans to set up small enterprises. 바카라�This means we don바카라�t need to tell them to leave the profession. Viable alternative livelihood options would automatically lead there,바카라� she adds. Recently, about 120 people got housing sites in some north Karnataka districts under a scheme for traditional temple dancers known as devadasis.

Problems vary in different regions. 바카라�In Bangalore, you won바카라�t know whether somebody is a sex worker or not as nobody talks about being one openly, but it is less so in places like Gulbarga and Raichur,바카라� says Pushpalata. According to Gowda, while certain groups see coming out as a sex worker as the first step tow­ards realising their rights, there is no consensus on it across the communities. 바카라�Besides such differences in thought, there are also differences in language and cultural contexts to be dealt with,바카라� says Gowda. That is why Taaras covers a wide range of approaches as the commun­ity-based collectives try to find what suits them best in their own setting.

바카라�At first, women would avoid our peer educators saying, 바카라�The people distributing condoms have come.바카라� But now they eagerly wait for us,바카라� says Helen, a Taaras member. At each of these community organisations, there are regular meetings where problems are discussed. Some, like Swathi Mahila Sangha, which has about 13,000 members in Bangalore, also offer microfinance loans to its members. 바카라�I have learnt a lot since I started working with the community,바카라� says Kushi. 바카라�We have to be there for each other whenever one of us needs help.바카라� She has so far overseen the disbursal of loans amounting to Rs 33 lakh and helped many women avail government schemes.

But the challenges they are tackling are still arduous and ongoing. 바카라�For every woman who quits the profession, there are two entering it due to their circumstances,바카라� says Rathna, a Taaras member. Pushpalatha, however, points out that instances of harassment and violence that sex workers face in their daily lives can be reduced when people are aware of these community organisations. 바카라�It is only through such community organisations that sex workers can hope to make the rest of society treat them as ordinary people like everyone else,바카라� she says.

Last year, Kalai Selvi바카라�s daughter was married after she completed her graduation. Neither her family nor the groom바카라�s kin had any inkling that the 40-year-old mother earned her living through sex work. All they know is that she works for an NGO and is also part of a self-help group (SHG) that engages in small businesses. 바카라�My main inc­ome is from sex work,바카라� says Selvi, who lives in Vellore town. 바카라�Income from selling candles, soap and vegetables through the SHG only supplements it. At times, I feel guilty that my children are unaware of my work. But they take pride in the knowledge that their mother brings in the family바카라�s income, while their father does precious little. That is what keeps me going.바카라�

Does the fear of being found out trouble her? Five years ago, it would have been a scary proposition, but not anymore바카라�now she has the backing of other sex workers in Vellore Pengal Membattu Sangam (VPMS), which is part of the Taaras ­coalition. Taaras has imparted a new sense of direction to women like Selvi. The basic charter is to own up to what they do if necessary even as they make efforts to get out of the profession, help prevent others from entering it and protect fellow workers in trouble.

Kumari, another VPMS member, says she plans to quit sex work in three years, when she hopes her new vegetable trade would have stabilised. 바카라�My income from selling vegetables has gone up gradually, reducing my dependence on sex work,바카라� she explains. According to K. Jeyaganesh, a coordinator with Swasti, more and more women wish to find alternatives to sex work. 바카라�Ever since they formed the community-based organisation and the SHGs, banks are willing to give them small loans to pursue other vocations. For example, many have benefited from Mudra loans,바카라� Jeyaganesh says.

The Taaras intervention has also led to its members rallying behind others in trouble. When an 18-year-old girl was deserted just 10 days after her wedding under the pretext that she suffered from a sexually transmitted ailment like her mother, more than 10 Taaras members came to her aid and dragged the man to the police station. There is a newfound confidence that any sex worker in trouble can hope for help from the group.

Through Swasti, Taaras has helped VPMS focus on four key areas바카라�alternative livelihood, anti-trafficking, legal services, and HIV awareness and prevention. 바카라�We have dissuaded many sex workers from taking their small children along with them,바카라� says Ratnagiri, a Swasti advisor. 바카라�Today바카라�s kids could be tomorrow바카라�s victims, we warn them. Legal intervention has also come in handy as many of these women, when arrested, are not charged for immoral trafficking, but for drug peddling or pick-pocketing.바카라� Now lawyers come to the VPMS office once a week to render assistance. The police are also better sensitised on issues concerning sex workers, though much more needs to be done on that front.

Over the past five years, VPMS members have emerged as seasoned campaigners on HIV awareness and prevention. They also visit prisons to explain about HIV to the inmates.

With 2,300 women under the Taaras umbrella in 11 districts of Tamil Nadu, the long-term challenge is to make them find more acceptance in society.

In the two Telugu states, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Taaras focuses on five major areas바카라�community engagement, social protection, financial security, legal rights and HIV services바카라�through its various arms. 바카라�I have no hesitation or shame in admitting that I chose prostitution for my livelihood over two decades ago to feed my entire family바카라�a sick father, illiterate mother, two sisters and a brother,바카라� says Anuratha (name changed).

Born in a family from the Dommara community, whose main source of livelihood is sex work, Anuratha claims she is leading a more comfortable and dignified life today with her children as Taaras has given her a platform to fight for her rights. Before becoming a member of Taaras, she had never even tried to know about her rights and availed of any government schemes. 바카라�Today, I get utmost respect, especially from the police and the district administration. The officials offer us chairs to sit on when we explain our problem as sex workers,바카라� she says.

It바카라�s not only the Dommara community that is engaged in sex work in these parts. Poverty is a common factor that forces people from other communities to enter the profession. 바카라�We are five siblings and my father was a farm worker. My mother was forced to supplement his income through sex work to run the household,바카라� says Vijayalakshmi (name changed), from the Yadav community in Khammam district. 바카라�Relatives and villagers who came to know about my mother바카라�s work forced her to leave the village. Unable to bear the insult, my father died, leaving the family in the lurch. That forced me to join my mother in sex work to support the family.바카라�

Many members of Taaras groups from both the Telugu states have similar tales to tell. The ­platform has now given them the courage to speak out and seek help from the community. Legal aid is also vital as many sex workers are victims of violence from clients, similar to ­domestic abuse.

By Ajay Sukumaran in Bangalore, G.C. Shekhar in Vellore, M.S. Shanker in Hyderabad