prostitution

Bhimavva Chalwadi, a resident of Vasco, Goa, was forced into sex work at the age of 15 but has since worked for the rescue and rehabilitation of child sex workers, for which she won the CII Woman Exemplar Award in 2019.

On World Fisheries Day, we bring you a story of a part-time fisherwoman who teaches prostitutes the practice of safe sex, while also fulfilling a few dreams of her own.

Despite multiple threats to her own life, she never backed down. Nearly five years after her untimely passing, The Better India pays tribute to this unique soul.

Daughters are expected to join their mothers as sex workers and sons become pimps often selling his own mother or sister. Read how Rambhau Ingole is ending this horrifying reality in red light areas of Nagpur.

“When I realised I was pregnant, the first feeling was of fear. I was afraid of the world and how it would receive or treat my child. People around me kept pushing me towards abortion. They said that I was not fit to be a mother. But, who are they to tell me if I will be a good mother or not?"

Leading the pack is 35-year-old transgender woman Anju, who along with her friends, decided to break free from years of exploitation and injustice to lead lives on their terms.

“It was after a jarring incident, when a desperately hungry child asked his mother to take a customer, that the gravity of the situation hit me hard.”

Regular talks on understanding the “self” and making informed choices and decisions helped boost their self-esteem.

A woman of “easy virtue” also could not be raped by a person for that reason, the bench added.

Author-filmmaker Aditya Kripalani's 'anti-patriarchy' story also bagged the Best Film Award at the Berlin Independent Film Festival 2018!