A 'Devadasi' turns reformist

This is the story of a brothel-born girl's journey which becomes the hope of liberation for prostitutes elsewhere within the length and breadth of the country.

Mohamed Tanveer Iqbal
Chaturbhujsthan brothel situated in Bihar state is close to the Nepalese border. For centuries, it has been a center for sex trade with human trafficking and forced prostitution. The center is home to about 10,000 women and children all virtually employed, directly or indirectly, in the flesh trade. The whole area is named after the Chaturbhujsthan temple which is located in its inner precincts, and which is essentially one large brothel.

It is said that prostitution here has been passed down from generation to generation as family tradition. The history of this center maybe traced back to its being a hub of Devadasis right up to the period pre-dating the Mughals. During British rule, kings who were the patrons of temples and temple arts became powerless. As a result, the Devadasis were left without their traditional means of support and patronage. They were thus left with little choice but to opt for prostitution as their trade which, in fact, most of them eventually did.

But from that town, a ray of hope has merged in the form of Nasima, the young girl who was adopted by one of the sex-workers. Brought up at a brothel in Chaturbhujsthan brothel, her mother decided to pay and send Nasima away to get educated. After receiving an education, Nasima returned to Chaturbhujsthan and began to educate the other girls and women in the town.

Nasima took a vow to rescue those, who were forcibly dragged into prostitution, and devoted herself voluntarily in the cause of providing a dignified life to the local sex-workers. After forming a voluntary organization called Pracham, Nasima started encouraging the sex-workers to give up the oldest profession in the world and, instead, to choose alternative ways and means to earn their livelihood.

'Pracham' activists at work

Realizing the plight of the sex-workers - most of whom were suffocating in the prevailing atmosphere - 26-year-old Nasima started helping them out by providing them with alternative sources of income. This the hapless women readily accepted, as it also ensured for them a life of dignity. Thus far, Nasima has been able to bring about a sea change in the lives of no less than 50 sex-workers - and their children - who were all born within the brothels of Chaturbhujsthan.

Inspired by Nasima's example and determination, the sex workers are gradually giving up their hated profession to embrace a new, respectful and dignified life. Despite facing a lot of obstacles from various quarters at the beginning of her pioneering work, she has arranged various vocational training programmes for the sex-workers in a small rented room near the town's red light area. Encouraged by her efforts, and in their own desperation to quit the profession, slowly but steadily a large number of sex-workers have taken to the new training courses offered in stitching, knitting, screen-printing and other alternative jobs. Apart from arranging reading and writing lessons, Nasima has also started a small library for lending books and magazines to sex-workers free of cost. These former sex-workers have now formed several cultural and drama groups and, with her help, they even organize street dramas and small public performances in the red light areas to motivate their former co-workers to give up prostitution.

A copy of handwriiten magazine - Jugnu

As may well be imagined, not everybody is pleased with Nasima's efforts, though. Pimps and other locals who depend solely on this trade to make an effortless living are irked because of the initiatives taken up by Nasima. However, Nasima has remained undeterred.

At least 20 young girls have returned after being imported as sex-workers. Moreover, the story of the town and the plight of its women are becoming public, thanks to Nasima's efforts to produce a monthly magazine. The magazine - entitled Jugnuand begun in 2002 - is a collection of stories about people's lives, their dreams, aspirations, and questions. It is becoming quite popular in the area. The magazine is special in the sense that everyone associated with it is the daughter of a sex-worker.

Nikhat, one of the founding members, and now an editor of Jugnu, said that though their lot is now being accepted in society, they had to face tough resistance initially. A simple, four-page magazine when it started out, Jugnu is now produced as a 32-page booklet in black-and-white format every month. The magazine is a handwritten one, with photocopies of the same being circulated to readers and others interested in the message that it carries across.

The girls engaged in the production of the magazine feel that it is exactly this association which has enabled them to overcome their fear of society. In addition, Jugnu's employees further emphasize the fact that they are no longer afraid of their identities.

"It feels very nice as we want our work to speak for us. We wanted that society should not look down upon us. Earlier, we were afraid to speak openly about our identities; but we are not afraid anymore," said Rinky, a volunteer at the NGO. "Everywhere we go, we openly say that we are the daughters of the red light area and that that is where we come from," she added.

More than 50 former prostitutes now work with Nasima in various industries. Empowered with new-found energy and conviction, they have prevented human-trafficking and have thus allowed women to escape such slavery altogether. According to Nasima, 'only those who have experienced the pain and agony of sex-workers could bring about a change in their lifestyle and environment.' She also believes that prostitution can never be abolished by force and hopes that, instead of abruptly closing down the red light areas without providing any alternative source of income to the sex-workers, the administration should come forward with attractive rehabilitation packages.