Prostitutes close ranks against free sex

Prostitutes close ranks against free sex
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

CHITTAGONG, SEPT 21: The growing number of prostitutes on Bangladesh's streets is becoming a major health risk, and reports of police forcing them into free sex has caused a backlash. The women are setting up a rights group to defend themselves.

After making arrests, police reportedly force "free sex" from the women and take bribes from owners of the hotels where they operate. Prostitutes, pimps, hotel owners and waiters have all made such allegations against the police.

In 1978, local Muslim hardliners joined with the administration in throwing several hundred prostitutes out onto the streets after the Sadarghat red light district in Chittagong was raided. The area was razed to the ground to make way for new shops and houses.

The sex trade is not legal in Bangladesh, but prostitutes carry a certificate confirming the person is 18 years old and can take independent decisions. In a court case in March, the High Court said prostitution was "not illegal since they do it to earn a living and they (prostitutes) could only be rehabilitated if they desired. Otherwise, they should not be forced to stop doing their job. The right to livelihood of sex workers is enforceable as a fundamental right," the court said.

However, the Bangladesh constitution says "the state shall adopt effective measures to prevent prostitution and gambling." In the latest raid in February Bangladesh's oldest and largest brothel in Narayanganj, near Dhaka, was shut down on religious grounds by a local ruling party MP. In Islam sex outside marriage is prohibited.

The sex workers were left to fend for themselves following the raid, and are living and working in parks, on the streets and in hotels. Their plight is also worrying health workers.

"These prostitutes are really risky as they can spread contagious venereal disease, skin disease and even Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)," Akhter Hossain, a professor with the Chittagong Medical College, said.

The prostitutes ask for as little as 50 Taka (about one dollar) per client in some cases, social workers said. Akhter said most people using their services were low wage earners such as rickshaw pullers, students and sailors. Increasing the health risk, prostitutes also avoid seeing doctors when they take ill, he said.

A backlash to the latest crackdown has come in the form of a prostitutes' rights group, backed by women and human rights organisations. Social scientist Anupom Sen blamed economic factors and changes in social conditions for the spread of prostitution.

"Erosion of human values, break up of families and poverty linked to natural disasters force many girls into prostitution," he said. He said unless their activities were controlled they could spread disease and cause "social decay." "These prostitutes should be rehabilitated and taught to earn their living by other means," Sen said.

A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "we chase them from their hideouts and sometimes they are arrested during raids on hotels. "When they are sent to court, the pimps or relatives bail them out after paying a fine of 250 Taka (4.6 dollars)," he said, adding that forcing them to quit would not be easy.