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sex workers face both health and financial risk during pandemic
india's sex workers face financial hardship during lockdown, but once the country reopens, work is unlikely to resume quickly.
apr 30 2020
2 minute read
sex workers face both health risk and financial uncertainty. stock/getty
india’s nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of covid-19 is leaving its sex workers jobless and struggling to survive. it’s been a month since the country went into a government mandated lockdown on march 26, which is leaving non-essential activity at a standstill.
the effects of the lockdown have had a widespread effect on millions of workers, and while the government has announced relief programs to help the country’s poor, sex workers are not included, according to the guardian . while sex work isn’t illegal in india, other activities that support sex work including brothels are considered criminal offences.
a 2016 unaids survey found that india had 657,800 sex workers, with that number likely much higher now. many of the workers’ clients receive daily wages, and with the sudden shutdown of the economy, clients have vanished. some non government organizations (ngos) are working hard to make sure that sex workers receive as much support as possible in the meantime, in the form of items like food and access to medication.
“we are raising funds for the sex workers. many people have come forward to help us. we have provided for around 800 sex workers to date, but it will only be sufficient for a few days,” anurag garg of the kat katha non-profit organization told dw.
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amit kumar, director of the all india network of sex workers, also told dw that many sex workers have returned to their villages because of the situation, while those who’ve stayed in areas like delhi are facing a dire outlook.
“many of them have nothing to eat,” kumar said. “the government has made some arrangements for migrant labourers, but nothing has been done [exclusively] to help sex workers.”
while ngos are searching for ways to help sex workers in their communities, authorities have hinted that the country could be opening up soon. it’s so far unclear how this could impact non-essential industries. but for sex workers, social distancing will have a negative impact on their trade once the restrictions lift.
mahasweta mukherjee, director of the non-governmental organization durbar, told dw that sex workers won’t be able to restart their work even after the government ends the lockdown.
“they will have to wait for at least a month to be sure that the pandemic is not spreading. the virus is more likely to transmit in brothels,” mukherjee said. mukerjee added that the government needs to announce an economic package for sex workers so that they can also survive the crisis.
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