Prostitution in Kolkata

Prostitution in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is present in different forms and Kolkata's sex industry is one of the largest in Asia.^[1][2][3] Prostitution may be brothel-based or non-brothel based as in the case of call girls. India is regarded as having one of the largest commercial sex trades globally.^[4] Kolkata has many red-light districts, out of which Sonagachi is the largest red-light district in Asia with more than 50,000 commercial sex workers.^[5][6][7]

Prostitute population

The total number of prostitutes in Kolkata is unknown. Some estimates state that there are more than 60,000 brothel-based women and girls in prostitution in Kolkata.^[8][9][10]

The population of prostitutes in Sonagachi constitutes mainly of Nepalese, Bangladeshi and Indian women trafficked from north eastern and neighboring states, many who are trafficked into the area by their boyfriends or family. ^[9] Some sources estimate that are 30,000 Bangladeshi women in the brothels of Kolkata.^[11]

According to some sources the most common form of trafficking consists in offering false promises or some offer of help out of a dead-end or crisis situation, force is used later after the prostitutes have already been sold. "Mashis (brothel owners/older sex workers) use friendship, sympathy, also veiled threats to convince the women that it is now in their best interest to conform and begin working."^[8] The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has recovered one girl from Rabindra Sarani, Sonagachi who was missing along with eight other female inmates from Sanskar Ashram in Dilshad Garden since December 2, 2018. Eight out of these nine girls were originally from Nepal, while the ninth girl was from Bhagalpur, Bihar. These girls had been rescued from a brothel in G.B. Road," police said.^[12]

History of Prostitution

A farcical short-drama book named Beshyaleela ( বেশ্যালীলা ) was printed in the middle of the year 1880 written by an anonymous writer ( অজ্ঞাতনামা ). It is not very familiar or much discussed book till now. In this drama, a good description can be found about the negative attitudes shown by the then existing 19th century educated Bengali Babu class of people towards the prostitutes and the prostitution. From the first half of the 19th century, centering on Sonagachhi, a huge organised prostitution area surrounding Cornwallis Street on the east, and Chitpur on the west were formed. Although many areas in Calcutta were inhabited by those prostitutes outside those areas also. On the south it was Kalighat to Khidirpur dock areas, in the middle-Calcutta it was Kalinga-Fenwick Bazar, on the far south in Kareya area many girls from different social-classes of Hindu-Muslim-Christian communities were engaged with this profession. More than that, there was no clear 'mark' or 'boundary-line' between the 'gentleman areas' and the 'prostitutes areas'. Many areas had scattered or mixed up population of those two kinds. Rather, many areas could be termed as 'half-gentleman' areas, where normal gentleman's families and various types of prostitutes co-existed side by side. From the middle of the 19th century, the British colonial administration, Christian Missionaries, and native English-knowing educated 'Victorian' Indian gentlemen started campaign against prostitutes. This was their part of the project of social 'sanitation' process for creating the so-called 'gentle-society'. Under the leadership of Mr. Kaliprasanna Singha, the 'Vidyotsahini Sabha' ( বিদ্যোৎসাহিনী সভা ) submitted one mass-petition in the Indian Legislative Council.

Red-light districts