The RED LIGHTS of SONAGACHI

The worship of goddess Durga, the many-armed deity symbolising “shakti” (woman power) in autumn is the biggest festival in Calcutta. Traditionally, when idol makers start working on the clay images, they first visit the red light area and collect a fistful of earth to be mixed with the clay. Various theories about this centuries-old custom abound. Some say, it demonstrates that in this festival of goodwill, even the society’s discarded women are brought into the fold.
But today, Calcutta’s sex workers see it as continuation of a tradition of discrimination. For the first time in the history of eastern India’s left-ruled west Bengal state, female sex workers have refused to go along with an ancient religious ritual, regarding it as discriminatory to their status.
"We consider our work as just another profession,” says

Swapna Gayen, president of Durbar Mahila Samanaya Committee (DMSC) - which roughly translates into Indomitable Women’s Solidarity Committee - the forum of 60,000 sex workers in West Bengal.
The Indian law is ambivalent on the rights of sex workers and police harassment is one of their biggest grouses. A sex worker cannot be penalised for her work within the premises of her house, but can be arrested for soliciting clients. In reality, police arrest sex workers at will, often accept money as a

bribe or impose a substantial amount as bail. As most come from poor families, this is an extra burden.