Girls forced to be prostitutes as a tradition

Bharatpur (Rajasthan), Jul 3: As reports on the Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal flash on the front pages of national dailies, one wonders if it is common knowledge that communities in the suburbs of Bharatpur in Rajasthan earn their living by sending their daughters and sisters into flesh trade.

The Bedias and Nats in the Ghatoli, Bansi Paharpur and Kharkanagla villages have been sending their daughters for the flesh trade to either Delhi or Mumbai, for decades now, to fetch financial support for the entire family.

One scan around the village and you find a quarry, some shops and fields where people cultivate mustard. Ask them if these means of livelihood isn't sufficient for them, they either give a blank stare or a cynical laugh echoes into the wilderness.

Stark poverty and unemployment have forced 58 families in the Bedia community of Ghatoli, where a total of 163 families dwell out of which 70 are Bedias, to follow the inhuman age old practice.

But again one look at at their houses shows older women wearing gold jwelleries, buffaloes in most of the houses and the men indulging in gambling and drinking.

A local NGO, Samriddhi, active in all these villages and especially involved in educating children from these communities, tries to dispel the confusion.

''Poverty and unemployment are no doubt the main reasons behind this. But now it seems that they are content with the way it is and would not even look for an alternative,'' Rano Behen, who runs the NGO, said.

When the girl is 12, the father or a brother takes her to a big city and hands her over to a relative already in the profession.

Some girls willingly go, charmed by the prospects of earning fat money, others have no choice. They continue in the profession till they are 35 and have to retire. Meanwhile, they make a trip to their villages twice a year, during Deepawali and in April with money and gifts for the family.

Interestingly, the wife of the male member is engaged in the trade. Men pay as much as Rs 2 lakh to ensure that the girl is a virgin and she continues the 'purdah' system in front of the elders. Women who retire from the trade pass on the reins to their daughters or the daughters of their brothers so that they live the rest of their lives feeling financially secured.

Dr K K Mukherjee, who is the founder of Gram Niyojan Kendra and has carried out studies on prostitution on behalf of Government of India, says, '' The women in this field become emotionally detached.

They have to entertain 20 clients a day and for them its a matter of 4-5 minutes per client. Trends show that women have increasingly begun to do the act just to get a 'bidi' or a bottle of nail polish.'' One of the women who had been in the trade revealed that she worked at the G B Road in Delhi and that the peak earning periods were when some big political or religious rallies were held in the capital.

On being asked if she favoured licensing of the profession, she immediately said ''yes'', but wasn't sure if it would make any difference in their social status.

The families are aware that they are enrolled as Scheduled Castes and therefore are entitled to some benefits. The annual scholarships for the children are utilised for household needs though. Men wouldn't take up jobs under the Rajiv Gandhi Rojgar Yojna fearing their names would be forever struck off from the list of unemployed, once they enroll themselves and a job for 100 days eventually does no good.

Children who do go to the government primary school are looked down upon for belonging to the Bedia or the Nat community where women are engaged in the sex trade.

However, in such a bleak situation, there is a gleam of hope.

Many women who hate their plight and would not want their children to suffer are thankful to 'Samriddhi', the NGO that has opened a hostel and a school for their children. They create awareness among children, encourage girls to boycott the tradition and to marry instead, give counselling to youth, especially men to look for jobs instead of forcing female members to take up prostitution. They provide vocational training to women and professional training to men.

The prospects of ''Izzat ki zindgi jeena'' ( to live life with dignity) as the NGO puts it, seems a distant dream with no employment opportunity around. However, a change in the mindset would definitely be an achievment.

UNI

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