Sonagachi

Sonagachi
Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta)
Sonagachi Location in Kolkata
Coordinates: 22°59′39″N 88°36′44″E
Country	India
State	West Bengal
City	Kolkata
Founded by	East India Company
Named for	বেশ্যালয়
Elevation	11 m (36 ft)

Sonagachi is a neighbourhood in Kolkata, India, located in North Kolkata near the intersection of Jatindra Mohan Avenue (north of C.R. Avenue) with Beadon Street and Sovabazar, about one kilometer north of the Marble Palace area.^[1][2] Sonagachi is among the largest red-light districts in Asia and the world with several hundred multi-storey brothels residing more than 16,000 commercial sex workers.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

In Bengali, Sona Gachi means 'Tree of Gold'. According to legend, during the early days of Calcutta the area was the den of a notorious dacoit by the name of Sanaullah, who lived here with his mother. On his death, the grieving woman is said to have heard a voice coming from their hut, saying, "Mother, don't cry. I have become a Gazi", and so the legend of Sona Gazi started. The mother built a mosque in memory of her son, although it fell into disrepair. The Sona Gazi was converted into Sonagachi.^[6]

A scene in Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district, 2005.

Red-light district

Current situation

Several NGOs and government organizations operate in Sonagachi for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) including AIDS. The book Guilty Without Trial by the founders of the NGO Sanlaap based much of their research into human trafficking in India on this area.

The Sonagachi project is a sex workers' cooperative that operates in the area and empowers sex workers to insist on condom use and to stand up against abuse. Run by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, it was founded by public health scientist Smarajit Jana in 1992 but is now largely run by the prostitutes themselves. While some are crediting the DMSC with keeping a relatively low rate of HIV infection among prostitutes, around 5.17% of the 13,000 prostitutes in Sonagachi are estimated to be HIV positive.^[7] This rate is close to the average HIV rate for female prostitutes in India, which is estimated to be 5.1%, though the HIV infection rate among prostitutes as well as among the general population varies widely by region in India.^[8] According to some sources, prostitutes from Sonagachi who test HIV positive are not told about the results, and live with the disease without knowing about it "because the DMSC is worried that HIV positive women will be ostracized."^[9] Some prostitutes in Sonagachi have stated that "the clients, at least three quarters of them" refuse to use condoms and "if we force them to use the condom, they will just go next door. There are so many women working here, and in the end, everyone is prepared to work without protection for fear of losing trade."^[9]

Besides the Sonagachi project, the DMSC also runs several similar projects in West Bengal, organizing some 65,000 prostitutes and their children. The organization lobbies for the recognition of sex workers' rights and full legalization, runs literacy and vocational programs, and provides micro loans.^[10][11] The DMSC hosted India's first national convention of sex workers on 14 November 1997 in Kolkata, titled 'Sex Work is Real Work: We Demand Workers Rights'.^[12] The book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide reports investigations revealing that, contrary to stated policy, the DMSC allows sex slavery, sex trafficking, and underage girls in Sonagachi project brothels.^[13]

Popular culture

The documentary Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids won the Oscar for best documentary award in 2005.^[14] It depicts the lives of children born to prostitutes in Sonagachi. Born into Brothels takes the viewer beyond the well-known prostitute-clogged streets and into the homes of the children who live in the so-called worst place on earth. If the film has one success story, it is the discovery of ten-year-old Avijit whose natural affinity for creating exciting compositions through the lens earned him an invitation to the World Press Photo Foundation in Amsterdam.

Sahir Ludhianavi wrote

Ye duniya do rangi hai

Ek taraf se resham ode, ek taraf se nangi hai

Ek taraf andhi daulat ki paagal aish parasti

Ek taraf jismoñ ki qeemat roti se bhi sasti

Ek taraf hai Sonaagaachi, ek taraf Chaurangi hai

Ye duniya do rangi hai

Meaning:

This world is double-faced

One side covered with silk, the other naked

On the one hand, the hedonism of blind wealth

On the other, bodies sold cheaper than  bread

On the one hand lies Sonagachi, on the other Chowringhee

This world is double-faced

There is also a documentary titled Tales of The Night Fairies by Prof. Shohini Ghosh and Dr. Sabeena Ghadioke from Asia's leading Media institute AJK, Mass Communication Research Centre, about the Sonagachi area. It has won the Jeevika Award for the best documentary feature on livelihood in India.^[15]

Popular actor Kamal Haasan's movie Mahanadhi has a storyline based on the area. The Malayalam Film Calcutta News depicts the story of women being trafficked and forced to become sex workers in Sonagachi.^[16]

In his documentary The Five Obstructions, renowned Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier asks poet and experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth to name the worst place in the world he has ever visited, and immediately Leth responds with "The Red Light District of Calcutta."

See also

• Prostitution in India
• Prostitution in Asia
• Prostitution in Kolkata
• Prostitution in Mumbai
• All Bengal Women's Union
• Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee
• Kamathipura
• Garstin Bastion Road, New Delhi
• Budhwar Peth, Pune
• Male prostitution

References

1. Satarupa Dasgupta (2019). "Participation as a Health Communication Strategy in HIV/AIDS Intervention Projects: an Examination of a Project Targeting Commercial Sex Workers in India". Atlantic Journal of Communication. 27 (2). Routledge: 139–151. doi:10.1080/15456870.2019.1574535. S2CID 150465047.
2. Dasgupta, Satarupa. “Violence in Commercial Sex Work: A Case Study on the Impact of Violence Among Commercial Female Sex Workers in India and Strategies to Combat Violence.” Violence Against Women 27, no. 15–16 (December 2021): 3056–73. doi:10.1177/1077801220969881
3. "After Fall in Business amid Lockdown, Experts Say Sex Workers from Kolkata's Sonagachi Have Gone 'Missing'". News18. 3 September 2020. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
4. "The new rhythms of jamshedpur: As the city's sex workers collective turns 20..." Mint. 24 February 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
5. Girl-trafficking hampers Aids fight Archived 30 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine BBC news. 30 November 2004
6. "A Saint and Sin: How Sonagachi got its name". 25 March 2018. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
7. "In Sonagachi, keeping HIV away a daily battle". Indian Express. 2 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
8. "India HIV & AIDS Statistics". Avert.org. 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
9. "Welcome to Sonagachi – Calcutta's largest brothel area is thriving". Tom Vater. 12 May 2004. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
10. durbar.org Archived 19 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, home page of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee
11. "DEAD ZONES: Fighting Back in India.; Calcutta's Prostitutes Lead the Fight on AIDS". The New York Times. 4 January 1999. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
12. Sex work is real work: We demand workers rights, announcement of the 1997 sex worker convention Archived 12 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
13. Kristof, Nicholas D.; Sheryl WuDunn. 2009. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
14. "Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
15. "Welcome to AJK Mass Communication Research Centre". Ajkmcrc.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
16. "review of the film Calcutta News". Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2012.

Further reading

• Dutta, Debolina, and Oishik Sircar. “Notes on Unlearning: Our Feminisms, Their Childhoods.” In Feminism and the Politics of Childhood: Friends or Foes?, edited by Rachel Rosen and Katherine Twamley, 83–90. UCL Press, 2018. doi:10.2307/j.ctt21c4t9k.11
• Open Society Foundations. “Sex Worker Health and Rights: Where Is the Funding?” Open Society Foundations, 2006. JSTOR resrep35560
• Wright, Andrea. “‘The Immoral Traffic in Women’: Regulating Indian Emigration to the Persian Gulf.” In Borders and Mobility in South Asia and Beyond, edited by Reece Jones and Md. Azmeary Ferdoush, 145–66. Amsterdam University Press, 2018. doi:10.2307/j.ctv513ckq.10
• Toorjo Ghose; Dallas Swendeman; Sheba George; Debasish Chowdhury (2008). "Mobilizing collective identity to reduce HIV risk among sex workers in Sonagachi, India: The boundaries, consciousness, negotiation framework". Social Science & Medicine. 67 (2): 311–320. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.045. ISSN 0277-9536. PMC 2881846. PMID 18455855.
• Jon Cohen (2004). "Sonagachi Sex Workers Stymie HIV". Science. 304 (5670): 506. doi:10.1126/science.304.5670.506. PMID 15105470. S2CID 19550825. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
• Ghose, Toorjo, Dallas T. Swendeman, and Sheba M. George. “The Role of Brothels in Reducing HIV Risk in Sonagachi, India.” Qualitative Health Research 21, no. 5 (May 2011): 587–600. doi:10.1177/1049732310395328
• Newman, Peter A. “Reflections on Sonagachi: An Empowerment-Based HIV-Preventive Intervention for Female Sex Workers in West Bengal, India.” Women’s Studies Quarterly 31, no. 1/2 (2003): 168–79. JSTOR 40004560
• Kotiswaran, P. (2011). Dangerous Sex, Invisible Labor: Sex Work and the Law in India. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14251-7. LCCN 2010052069. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
• Cornish, Flora, and Riddhi Banerjee. “How Do Relationships Between Peer Educators and Sex Workers Lead to Increased Condom Use?: A Social Capital Interpretation of the Sonagachi Project.” Indian Anthropologist 43, no. 1 (2013): 51–64. JSTOR 41920141
• Jana S, Basu I, Rotheram-Borus MJ, Newman PA. The Sonagachi Project: a sustainable community intervention program. AIDS Educ Prev. 2004 Oct;16(5):405-14. doi:10.1521/aeap.16.5.405.48734. PMID 15491952.
• Karan A, Hansen N. Does the Stockholm Syndrome affect female sex workers? The case for a "Sonagachi Syndrome". BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2018 Feb 6;18(1):10. doi:10.1186/s12914-018-0148-4. PMID 29409491; PMC 5802051.
• Ghose T, Swendeman D, George S, Chowdhury D. Mobilizing collective identity to reduce HIV risk among sex workers in Sonagachi, India: the boundaries, consciousness, negotiation framework. Soc Sci Med. 2008 Jul;67(2):311-20. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.045. Epub 2008 May 1. PMID 18455855; PMC 2881846.
• Gangopadhyay DN, Chanda M, Sarkar K, Niyogi SK, Chakraborty S, Saha MK, Manna B, Jana S, Ray P, Bhattacharya SK, Detels R. Evaluation of sexually transmitted diseases/human immunodeficiency virus intervention programs for sex workers in Calcutta, India. Sex Transm Dis. 2005 Nov;32(11):680-4. doi:10.1097/01.olq.0000175399.43457.28. PMID 16254542; PMC 2903624.
• Swendeman D, Basu I, Das S, Jana S, Rotheram-Borus MJ. Empowering sex workers in India to reduce vulnerability to HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. Soc Sci Med. 2009 Oct;69(8):1157-66. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.07.035. Epub 2009 Aug 28. PMID 19716639; PMC 2824563.
• Fehrenbacher AE, Chowdhury D, Ghose T, Swendeman D. Consistent Condom Use by Female Sex Workers in Kolkata, India: Testing Theories of Economic Insecurity, Behavior Change, Life Course Vulnerability and Empowerment. AIDS Behav. 2016 Oct;20(10):2332-2345. doi:10.1007/s10461-016-1412-z. Erratum in: AIDS Behav. 2017 Dec 4;: PMID 27170035; PMC 5016559.
• Swendeman D, Fehrenbacher AE, Ali S, George S, Mindry D, Collins M, Ghose T, Dey B. "Whatever I have, I have made by coming into this profession": the intersection of resources, agency, and achievements in pathways to sex work in Kolkata, India. Arch Sex Behav. 2015 May;44(4):1011-23. doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0404-1. Epub 2015 Jan 13. PMID 25583373; PMC 4382371.
• Rami Chhabra. “More on Sonagachi.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 42, no. 18, Economic and Political Weekly, 2007, pp. 1582–1582, JSTOR 4419530.
• Nag, Moni. “Sex Workers in Sonagachi: Pioneers of a Revolution.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 40, no. 49, Economic and Political Weekly, 2005, pp. 5151–56, JSTOR 4417483.
• GHOSE, TOORJO. “Politicizing Political Society: Mobilization among Sex Workers in Sonagachi, India.” South Asian Feminisms, edited by ANIA LOOMBA and RITTY A. LUKOSE, Duke University Press, 2012, pp. 285–305, doi:10.2307/j.ctv11g96jz.16.
• Kotiswaran, Prabha. “Born Unto Brothels: Toward a Legal Ethnography of Sex Work in an Indian Red-Light Area.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 33, no. 3, [ American Bar Foundation, Wiley], 2008, pp. 579–629, JSTOR 20108776.
• Dasgupta, Simanti. “Sovereign Silence: Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and Legalizing Sex Work in Sonagachi.” Political and Legal Anthropology Review, vol. 37, no. 1, [Wiley, American Anthropological Association], 2014, pp. 109–25, JSTOR 24497793.

Bibliography

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• de Villiers, N. (2017). Sexography: Sex Work in Documentary. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-452-95390-8. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
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• Bagchi, J.; Gupta, S.D. (2005). The Changing Status of Women in West Bengal, 1970-2000: The Challenge Ahead. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-0-761-93242-0. LCCN 2004017646. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
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External links

• Report on Sonagachi, critical of DMSC Archived 11 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine, by Tom Vater, The Irish Independent, 2004.
• The Red Lights of Sonagachi Archived 24 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine Positive Nation, Dec 2003/Jan 2004; issue 85/86
• Report on the Dunbar NGO, India Travel Times
• The Sex Workers, 2004 PBS Frontline documentary comparing anti-HIV efforts in Mumbai and Kolkata
• Giving AIDS the Red Light Archived 22 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Village Voice, 18 September 2002
• Changing prices for sex work in Sonagachi, a Kolkata red-light district
• Living with dignity: an international development cooperation story for the Wikibook Development Cooperation Handbook