Social distancing, lockdown hurt GB road sex workers in Delhi

While the economic fall out of the lockdown on the unorganised sector is known, the shutdown has also adversely affected the sex workers in Delhi's GB Road, as there are no customers owing to the situation.

New Delhi: For 38-year-old Neeta (name changed) it was not a usual day when she come out to GB Road in New Delhi at 7 pm on Wednesday. Normally, she would have managed to pull at least one client by around 6:30 pm itself. However, the COVID-19 spread and subsequent lockdown have made her days tough.

As a mother of two children, Neeta's days are getting tough since the lock down was implemented. She has not found a single customer in the past 2 days.

This is not only the story of Neeta, as hundreds of sex workers in the GB Road area in the national capital are experiencing the same plight.

"I have been in the business for the past 15 years. Though I got married at 16, my husband left me after our second child was born. I have a daughter and a son. I was there at Kolkata and moved to Delhi for raising my kids. Although people see us like a sin, all was well with my job until the second week of this March. After the rapid spread of COVID-19, clients' flow has completely downed," she explained the situation.

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As the government appealed to the people to follow social distancing and rolled out the lockdown, we are finding it very hard to earn money, said Swetha (name changed), who works at one of the brothels in GB road.

"I am a school drop out from western UP. Though I was much hesitant to start my career as a sex worker, there was no other way to earn this amount of money in other professions. As the sole breadwinner in my family, which comprises of my elderly parents and two young sisters, I had to continue as a sex worker. The disease pandemic has ruined my income and I am not able to buy medicines for my parents," she added.

When asked about her daily income, Swetha said that she has been charging Rs 500 to Rs 2000 per customer.

Speaking on the issue, Ram Kali, a Delhi-based sex workers' welfare activist, urged the government to extend assistance to the sex workers community.

"The entire unorganised sector has been facing a crash due to the lockdown. Though others can speak out on their issues, sex workers do not have such privileges. So, the government should look into the sufferings of sex workers in this lock down period," said Kali.

When contacted, Krishna of the National Network for Sex Workers, said he was not in a position to comment on the subject.

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