Demonetisation: How sex workers' 'dhanda' went bust in Mumbai

An NGO member alleged that as the sex workers cannot queue up every day to exchange the money the shopkeepers are extorting them PicSameer MarkandeThe demonetisation has not spared even the oldest profession Sex workers claim their earnings have been affected due to a fall in customers and because some pay them with demonetised notes Many are finding it difficult to earn nowChampa Verma 34 a sex worker at Kamathipura said she used to get at least five customers every day and earned almost Rs 1000 She was born and brought up in Kolkata but after her husbands death she was forced into the trade to feed her family With her hard earned money she admitted her eightyearold child in a private school Everything was going okay until November 8 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notesI charge between Rs 200 and Rs 500 At the end of the day I used to get around Rs 1000 After giving Rs 200 to our madam I could save at least Rs 800 Now I am hardly able to bring home R200 I am now spending from my savings that I have been depositing for my sons education said ChampaMigrants most affectedLike Champa hundreds of sex workers are suffering in the crisis but the most affected are the migrant workers from West Bengal the North East Odisha Uttar Pradesh Karnataka and Bangladesh This migrant group forms 40 per cent of the total population of the sex workers in Kamathipura Most of them have hid their work from their familiesLike Shabana Khan a 23yearold resident of West Bengal She has been working in the city as a sex worker for the past two years Her family consists of her father who is bedridden after a stroke three years back mother and two sistersShe came to the city on the pretext that she had got a job in a call centre Since then she sends money to her family every month from her income I used to charge over R300 from customers My monthly income was more than Rs 30000 But now as I am not getting customers I am unable to save money In the past 10 days I have barely got Rs 5000 I dont have savings as every month I send Rs 15000 home This month I am really scared how I will send the money to my family My father needs medicines worth Rs 5000 every month And both of my sisters are studying They are completely dependent on me If I dont get clients how will I send money asked KhanAs if this is not enough shopkeepers and brokers are adding to their worries To face the crisis the sex workers are accepting old denominations of Rs 500 and R1000 from their customers But when they go to shopkeepers in the area or their pimps to get change they take their share Sunita Kate 45 a sex worker from Karnataka said When we go to buy something or try to get change from our brokers they give us the money after taking their share So for a change of R500 they take R200 per note and for Rs 1000 they give us only Rs 700Considering risky stepFirstly our income has fallen and secondly they take their share It has become impossible for us to survive she added Just to retain customers the sex workers from Kamathipura are now considering going outside the area which makes them vulnerable to rape and sexual violence We normally dont go outside the area as often customers harass us when they take us outside Just last week a sex worker was killed when she went with a man to a hotel outside this area But just to retain our customers and for money we are also contemplating going out said Pramila Sharma a resident of Uttar Pradesh who is working in a brothel for the past five yearsNGO speakThe demonetisation has struck these sex workers badly The flesh trade is dependent on liquid cash Customers knowingly give them old denominations The sex workers cant stand in queues every day to exchange money The local shopkeepers are extorting money by forcibly taking their share from old currencies said Ramdas Ovham Asha Mahila Sangha an NGO which works for sex workers in KamathipuraNames of all sex workers have been changed