An end to female prostitution in India?

Could you possibly think of a woman who welcomes her period? A woman who rejoices and finds herself at peace at a seemingly uncomfortable time of the month?
More importantly, what possible relation could prostitution have with periods? The answer may not dawn upon you so quickly, but once noticed, becomes almost hard to ignore. Let’s look into the situation.

How prostitution chose the prostitutes

One may wonder about the percentage of women entering prostitution simply because they enjoy having sex. The problem-solving approach in this scenario becomes extremely different, involving the consideration of legal and ethical issues, also keeping in mind the safety of the workers.
In a study done to find out the reasons for entering prostitution by interviewing 367 women, only 2.5% Indian women said that their reason for entering prostitution was that they enjoyed sex. [1] A vast majority of women, about 70% said that they were into prostitution just to earn money, followed by other reasons like domestic abuse, husband’s alcohol use, running away from house or an illness in the family, being continuously harassed at workplace.
So the big question is, do they get used to the lifestyle over the years? Short answer – No.
A large number of these women are not happy with their lifestyles, with about 32.3% of women who reportedly admitted that they had attempted to commit suicide. [2]
Sadly, the lack of economic stability and harassment are not the only issues these women have to deal with.
Motherhood is a reality for female prostitutes in India. In several surveys, a large majority of these mothers expressed a strong desire for changing their lifestyle and moving away from the red light areas in order to protect their children from their lifestyle. Even with these realities, they are “ready to work or beg to get a better life for their children” [3]

“Now that my children have grown up, I want to move away from here. We can move out of this place and work hard so that we can have a small house of our own. My husband [partner] contracted HIV. My husband gave me this sickness and I don’t want my children to fall in bad company and get this disease. I want them to have a better life. That’s what I want mostly. If we move to a better place, my children will improve.” Lavanya, 39 year old female

Do we have a solution yet?

Being realistic, we don’t. The laws against human trafficking and prostitution have not been very successful. This is because they are neither implemented correctly, nor do they address the root of the problem. A large number of brothels continue running for decades unregulated. Moreover, the places that are shut down bring up new problems such as lack of accommodation for the sex workers, along with loss of livelihood. These workers are mostly not skilled in any other trade, and most of them find themselves going back to the same lifestyle due to lack of support. These interventions carry little meaning unless the women know how to sustain themselves in other professions.

What does this have to do with periods?

The female sex workers look forward to their period like no one else. The reasons are obvious. It gives them respite from their profession a few days a month. The relax and are able to spend time with their children and loved ones.
Keeping the same in mind, the feminine hygiene brand Stayfree has in the recent months launched ProjectFreePeriod, a training programme to train these women in skills that can lead to their rehabilitation.

The project was launched in January and has seen a good response with increasing number of volunteers, and is now envisioning creating short courses for the women that can be made available on WhatsApp. The skills include making candles, soaps and soft toys, basic beauticians’ tasks and henna art.
Teaching new skills to these women when they have free time during their periods is not only thoughtful, but a very practical approach.
Starting off as a hobby, it could gradually provide confidence to women and make them able to find alternate ways of earning a livelihood, reducing their dependence on the current lifestyle.
Being a permanent solution targeting the root of the problem, #ProjectFreePeriod has the potential to truly empower this neglected portion of society and help shape a better tomorrow.






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1.https://www.academicjournals.org/journal/JAHR/article-full-text-pdf/D88AC4E2930
2.https://www.worldwidejournals.com/indian-journal-of-applied-research-(IJAR)/special_issues_pdf/December_2014_1418820847__08.pdf
3.https://www.mensenhandelweb.nl/system/files/documents/17%20dec%202014/2543.pdf