Sharp rise in sex workers coming to sonagachi to service clients
Sharp rise in sex workers coming to sonagachi to service clients
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Sex workers from different states and West Bengal's small towns and villages have descended in Kolkata to make a quick buck, while the locals are also minting more money.
North Kolkata's red light area Sonagachi, considered Asia's largest, has become the temporary residence of a large number of outstation sex workers.
Every year from Christmas to New Year's Eve, there is a sharp rise in the number of sex workers coming from outside to Kolkata to service the increased customers.
Business is Good: Commercial sex workers in Sonagachi earn an average of Rs 1,500 per day, but during the last week of December their earnings often shoot up four fold. |
"The sex workers from Sonagachi also move to other metros and cities," said an official of Durbar Mahila Samannay Committee, one of the largest NGOs working in the city's red light areas.
During the season, the income of a sex worker in Kolkata goes up by 50 per cent.
Anju (name changed), a commercial sex worker, has come from a remote district in West Bengal to earn more so that she can bring up her three children who are back home in the safe custody of their grandmother.
"Every year during New Year's Eve I come to Kolkata hoping to earn more so that I can bring up my children in a better way. The city has never disappointed me," she said.
50%
The rise in the income of a commercial sex worker around New Year's Eve
10,000
The approximate number of sex workers that live in Sonagachi, North Kolkata
Golden Tree |
Located in North Kolkata, Sonagachi (golden tree) is the largest red-light district in the region. |