Urges Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC), an organisation that works for the emancipation and care of sex slaves in Kamathipura. Award-winning London-based photographer Hazel Thompson has shot never-before seen images from Mumbai's red light district for Cageu00a0-- The Horror and Hope, a BTC and Hard Rock International initiative Kamathipura stands a few kilometres away from a police chowkiu00a0-- the bustling hub of illegal flesh trade. The average age of a trafficked sex slave is 12 years and sometimes even as young as seven, it is learnt from a book, which is part of the Stop Sex Slavery (SSS) campaign kicked off by BTC. Trafficked girls are usually imprisoned for three to five years, until they have been "broken," which is how the book got its title. "We've also planned an exhibition and film as a part of this ongoing campaign," says Etienne Coutinho, director of communications, SSS. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/Kamathipura.jpg" border="5" /> Guddi was thrown into the jaws of Kamathipura when she was 11. She escaped the clutches of an exploitative madam and a corrupt cop to run back to her home in Kolkata. But impoverished conditions back home -- a leaking roof and her father being the sole earning member of the family u00a0-- brought her right back to Kamathipura. Guddi borrowed Rs 60,000 to set out on her own without the help of a pimp or a madam. Her creditors fined her if she defaulted on payment, and resorted to physical violence. Guddi has learnt how to defend herself on the mean streets. There are days when her room is buzzing with customers, and on a bad day, Guddi turns to the bottle for solace. She yearns to pay off her loans and return home to set up a small shop to support her parents. "A lot of girls are brought from their villages and their lives are destroyed. I want this to stop. Someone should talk to the police. They should close down this market once and for all," says Guddi. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/Bar-girls.jpg" border="5" /> Several customers are lured inside taxis by pimps. Bar girls fill up taxis and head towards the city's bars. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/Golden-Maya.jpg" border="5" /> BTC has rescued under-age trafficked girls from her brothel and other children neglected under her care <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/1123456789101112131415161718.jpg" border="5" /> During a police raid, the madams will force under-age girls on to the roof after removing some of the tiles. Children are also hidden in concealed rooms with trap doors <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/2123456789101112.jpg" border="5" /> Kamathipura is run by gangstersu00a0-- violence and crime are regular occurrences in the area, as fights and murders break out frequently <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/312345678910111213.jpg" border="5" /> 14th lane at dawn break. An estimated 3,000 women live and work on 14th lane. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/nov/412345678910.jpg" border="5" /> A rescued child praying at the BTC centre; Golden Maya the wealthiest and most powerful madam of Kamathipura. Thompson shot 20,000 photographs over the last five months. It's the children of sex workers who suffer the most, forced into the trade against their will, as their hapless mothers watch on or hand them over to pimps and madams willingly. Rescuing these children trafficked from various parts of India and Nepal became KK Devaraj's life mission. Devaraj set up BTC in 1990. He refers to BTC as a 24x7 ministry to aid the destitute of Kamathipura. Shooting in Kamathipura Thompson's journey with BTC began in 2002 in fact, when she was first invited by Devaraj for a BTC project. "I remember one night, I slept at the night shelter in the centre of Kamathipura," says Thompson in Cage - The Horror and Hope, "I was between two little girls between the ages of 2 and 3, both rescued from a future in sex slavery." Cageu00a0-- The Horror and Hope also tells the story of three other such rescued girlsu00a0-- Guddi, Lata and Rekha.

Urges Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC), an organisation that works for the emancipation and care of sex slaves in Kamathipura. Award-winning London-based photographer Hazel Thompson has shot never-before seen images from Mumbai's red light district for Cage      ufffd The Horror and Hope, a BTC and Hard Rock International initiative

You don't have to put on the red light

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