Mumbai, India - Women of all ages crouch in a foul-smelling corridor, awaiting clients. Through slightly ajar doors on both sides, girls can be seen lying on tiny bunk beds inside crowded five-by-three metre rooms. There are no windows, and strips of sari dresses are scattered across the flooded floor.
"I was brought here when I was 15. My family didn't have earnings and I was promised a good job in Mumbai," said 30-year-old Rani. One man sold me for 10,000 rupees [$160] to the gharwali [brothel owner]. She locked me up in the room and beat me until I accepted working for her."
Her family still doesn't know she was trafficked into one of the world's largest brothels.
Located in the heart of India's commercial capital, in the shadows of the gleaming offices and apartment complexes that are rapidly becoming part of Mumbai's rising skyline, Kamathipura is a network of 14 lanes, where roughly 7,000 sex workers and 10,000 children dwell in miserable conditions. According to the US Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, forced labour is the largest trafficking problem in India.
The country's laws have had little effect, according to some critics. The Global Slavery Index 2013 reports that cases of women and children sexual commercially exploited are not prosecuted by the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act. The index also shows that around half of the 28 million people living globally in slavery are here in the world's largest democracy. A large proportion of this is related to sex trafficking and prostitution, which have been recognised as a widespread problem inside India.
Forced prostitution has been fuelling the sex industry in Kamathipura for more than 200 years, despite local reports blessing the benefits of urban development in the area. Sex trafficking in the red light district in south Mumbai is ruled by the ancient karza (bond) system. Young victims are sold for 50,000-100,000 rupees ($800-$1,600) to gharwalis and kept under captivity in pinjara (cages), forced into sex labour and forced to pay nonexistent or inflated "debts".
The price of girls depends upon clients' demands, based on origin and age. "Nepalese Sony was brought here when she was 14 to save money for a month and support her family," said Shailesh Sheety, of a local aid organisation. "Her first clients paid 35,000 rupees and more. After almost three months, the gharwali only gave her 50,000 rupees."
Nepalese and Bangladeshi girls are commonly found in Mumbai's red light district. The latter are reluctant to reveal their nationality out of fear of being jailed. Bangladeshi sex worker Sopra Shaikh, 28, explained: "Once I got caught by the police and was kept in jail for three months. My cousin brought me to the brothel and after being freed from jail I moved to Kamathipura for good."
Previous bilateral attempts between India and Bangladesh to stop sex trafficking have proven to be futile, as existing law criminalises victims, rather than helping them. Indian law prosecutes undocumented migration and fraud - despite the Ministry of Home Affairs urging state governments to stop targeting victims of sex trafficking.
Ageing steadily "frees" women in Kamathipura's slavery system. As they grow older, they're less desired by clients. The adhiya (shared) system forces them to distribute part of their earnings between the gharwali and the dalal (pimp) to cover accommodation and "protection", leaving them with barely 40 percent of their income. Nobody escapes the vicious cycle in Kamathipura.
"I'm the gharwali and I do the best running the business for my three girls", explains sex worker Rani, who was trafficked in the past.
As former sex workers usually turn into gharwalis, sons of prostitutes may also become dalals. Ajay Paswan, 14, doesn't look much different than any other Indian of his age but he controls four girls and doesn't justify himself: "I want to earn enough money to get married. I don't know how to do anything else. Here I just have to do some errands, like sweeping the floor, and wait for clients to pay me."
On top of the money they have to share with pimps and brothel owners, sex workers also have to pay bribes to local police officers. The US Trafficking in Persons Report also states that Indian prostitution-related laws are used as a source of income for corrupt police.
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