Author: Carolyn SleightholmeIndrani Sinha/Publisher: StreeYear: 2002Language: EnglishPages: 163ISBN/UPC (if available): 8185604177 DescriptionCarolyn Sleightholme and Indrani Sinha write with rare perception and sensitivity about the lives of sex workers in Calcutta who have shared their stories with them. Through interviews and surveys, and case studies, they interrogate the double standards of sexual morality that govern the lucrative sex trade in India, thus making visible the more than twenty thousand mothers, heads of households, and community members whose activities and voices have been silenced so that others may profit from their activities. Linking the social and economic vulnerability of sex workers to the trade’s supply, the authors reveal the harassment, economic insecurity, health hazard and stigmatization these women face, and they offer recommendations for intervention programmes by government and other organizations so that their needs may be addressed and their exploitation halted.REVIEWSSocial activists will appreciate this book because its viewpoint is not dry and only research-oriented. Discrimination regarding law, oppression by the police, health problem, economy, everything has been discussed in detail.-Maitreyi Chattopadhyay, Ananda Bazar Patrika, 1997The authors make several recommendations for mitigating the harshest impact of prostitution on sex workers and their children. The overall focus of the recommendations is pro-sex workers rights without being pro-sex work.-Ratna Kapoor, The Book ReviewContentsForewordPrefaceAcknowledgementsMAP: Calcutta and Its Neighbouring AreasIntroductionA Strategy for SurvivalThe Business of TraffickingThe Business of TraffickingThe Double Standards of the LawHealth and violenceFinancial IssuesWorking Mothers: Children and Child-CareClients and BabusInterventions and InitiativesWays ForwardAPPENDICESI. Male Commercial Sex-Workers in CalcuttaII. Some Laws and Verdicts Relevant to Sex-WorkersIII. Addresses of Selected OrganizationsBibliographyIndex
