“Whatever I Have, I Have Made by Coming into this Profession”: The Intersection of Resources, Agency, and Achievements in Pathways to Sex Work in Kolkata, India

Abstract

This paper investigates the complex interplay of choice, socio-economic structural factors, and empowerment influencing engagement in sex work. The analysis is focused on pathways into and reasons for staying in sex work from in-depth qualitative interviews with participants (n=37) recruited from the Durbar community-led structural intervention in Kolkata, India. Kabeer’s theory of empowerment focused on resources, agency, and achievements is utilized to interpret the results. Results identify that contexts of disempowerment constraining resources and agency set the stage for initiating sex work, typically due to familial poverty, loss of a father or husband as a breadwinner, and lack of economic opportunities for women in India. Labor force participation in informal sectors was common, specifically in domestic, construction, and manufacturing work, but was typically insufficient to provide for families and also often contingent on sexual favors. The availability of an urban market for sex work served as a catalyst or resource, in conjunction with Durbar’s programmatic resources, for women to find and exercise agency and achieve financial and personal autonomy not possible in other work or as dependents on male partners. Resources lost in becoming a sex worker due to stigma, discrimination, and rejection by family and communities were compensated for by achievements in gaining financial and social resources, personal autonomy and independence, and the ability to support children and extended family. Durbar’s programs and activities (e.g., savings and lending cooperative, community mobilization, advocacy) function as empowering resources that are tightly linked to sex workers’ agency, achievements, and sex work pathways.

Community-Based Responses to Negative Health Impacts of Sexual Humanitarian Anti-Trafficking Policies and the Criminalization of Sex Work and Migration in the US

“…(in India), a program that trained sex workers as peer educators run by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee managed to dramatically reduce HIV and STI transmission (Swendeman et al 2015;Jana et al 2004). Due to its success, the program grew and covered the entire Kolkata area by utilizing thousands of peer educators (Cornish and Campbell 2009).…”

Consistent Condom Use by Married and Cohabiting Female Sex Workers in India: Investigating Relational Norms with Commercial Versus Intimate Partners

“…The findings of the current study provide insights regarding how to identify ideal candidates for PrEP among those who do not consistently use condoms with all partners. Although Durbar’s community mobilization efforts have been successful at fostering empowerment and collective identity among FSW (11, 12), disclosure of sex work is still not viable for some woman in the profession. PrEP is a safe and discrete harm reduction option that can limit the potential for relationship conflict, suspicion, or intimate partner violence, if CCU is not likely or possible.…”

“…Durbar is the longest running empowerment-based HIV prevention program for sex workers in India, serving more than 65,000 sex workers annually (8, 11, 12). …”

“…All babus and most second husbands in the study setting know that their FSW partners are sex workers, but some first husbands do not know. Many FSW in Kolkata migrate from rural areas to work and live in the city and do not disclose their sex work involvement to non-cohabiting husbands back home due to stigma or fear (12). As a result, married FSW often do not demand that condoms are used with husbands in order to avoid relationship conflict or intimate partner violence.…”

“After Your Honor is Gone…”: Exploration of Developmental Trajectories and Life Experiences of Women Working in Mumbai’s Red-Light Brothel Districts

“…In India, entry into the CSI is largely considered a result of multiple interconnected economic (poverty, unemployment, unsafe migration) (Bowen et al 2011;Devine et al 2010;Saggurti et al 2011;Sinha 2015), socio-political (i.e., gender discrimination, caste-related discrimination, corruption) (Anjuli 2011;Swendeman et al 2015), and familial-based (e.g., domestic violence, early marriage) (Mohindra et al 2012) factors. Risk factors associated with sex trafficking, specifically, have also been examined.…”