Razia Begum, somewhere around 40 years old, was working in her kitchen, cooking a meal for lunch. It was just another day of a woman at her home in a regular countryside village. She was saying, “If the government hadn’t let us carry on this profession, the number of rape incidents would skyrocket in the country,”
Razia Begum – Chief of Banishanta brothel Photo: The Report/Tahir Zaman Priyo
Begum also happens to be a sex worker and the chief of the country's oldest brothel Banishanta, which is floating in the middle of Pashur river at Mongla.
The legality of prostitution as a profession in Bangladesh is a matter of dispute. As the constitution strictly criminalise this job but on the other hand in 2011, the Supreme Court announced this as a legal way of earning. According to an estimate of the National Sex Workers Network, Bangladesh has around two lakhs sex workers either brothel based or floating.
Banishanta is one of the registered brothels in the country, which looks just like an ordinary village. It is hard to identify a small section of the 18.12 sq km Banishanta union as a brothel.
According to the sex workers around here, the brothel started somewhere during the 1800 for the recreation of the British navy and businessmen who used to come to do business at the Mongla port. The boatman who took The Report there was directly introduced with Begum.
From the very beginning, Begum was talking without any hesitation, natural and eloquent with her words. Begum is also the general secretary of the national Sex Workers Network; her confidence and experience of facing media was quite evident.
“I came to this brothel when I was nine, after being kidnapped by traffickers from my home in Barishal. Since then I am here, I never tried to run because I didn’t remember from where I came from. I couldn’t tell the address of my home, so this became my home,” said Begum, reminiscing her early days of arrival.
“I was reunited with my family after seventeen years when a close relative informed my father after recognising me here. But by that time, there was no chance of me getting back to a ‘normal' life. I had no choice but to embrace this one instead,” she added.
The only floating brothel of the country at Banishanta union, Mongla Photo: The Report/Tahir Zaman Priyo
Stories in every block
Stories like this exist in every block within the narrow lanes of the brothel. Each sex worker has a story, some are similar with the others and some are completely different. Almost every lane has a tea stall come grocery shop at front, apart from shopping these shops are used as the counter for customers to examine and choose their preferred “girl” for the next few hours.
The women sit on the benches, all dolled up in different times of the day to attract customers.
The Report caught up with such a woman in act, Mukta Rani Mandal (21). resting on the bench in hope of catching a customer in the noon hours. “I know customers usually come at this time of the day. But the other girls are sleeping now after lunch. If by any chance one arrives, I could catch them first!”
She arrived here a month ago by herself. Before coming here, she lived 14 years in Dhaka after eloping from her hometown Naogaon at the age of seven.
“I tried to live off by doing everything I could. Starting from begging, cleaning to working at a garment factory. But nothing paid me off to survive in a good condition. Then I thought my life would change after I married four years ago. But that turned out to be another nightmare. He used to beat me, torture me after getting drunk; didn’t contribute a penny in the family. That’s why I have sent my three years old daughter to my parents and came here to earn money.”
When asked why she thought this profession to be the most convenient one she replied, “We can have instant money in this profession. I know you think it's vulgar, but we are quite habituated. For me, the faster I earn money is the fastest I will be able to send that to my child. And that’s the only thing that matters right now, nothing else.”
Shanti (alias), 28 lives in sublet at Begum’s home. The Report found her breastfeeding her child at the yard in front of her house. This is her third child Dighi, she left her two sons from her previous marriage at a relative’s place in Dhaka. This is the daughter from her second marriage which also didn’t work.
“I have left brothels many times by trusting men in search of a good life. But the “goodness” doesn’t last. They fall in love, marry you, take you away from your traumatic life - but then after a while they suddenly realise you were a “prostitute” and I’m back to square-one again.”
Shanta used to be a sex worker at Daulatdia brothel since the age of 13. She arrived here a few months ago as the income wasn’t going well there.
“I have left my sons behind to ensure a good future for them. They don’t know about my profession. I’ll send my daughter away too once she grows up a little.”
The mothers do not feel safe keeping their children around, they don’t want their children to have the same fate as theirs. The need for a separate establishment for their children - is a long-standing demand of the sex workers.
As Razia said, “UNO Sir has assured us of setting up a school with residential facilities for our children here. We are waiting for that to happen.”
‘Fathers’ of Banishanta
The women who get pregnant around here usually are conceived by their customers. Although most of the women manage the upbringing of their children all by themselves, some have somewhat different stories.
Asma (19), has a six years old son, but he stays away at his father’s home in Barishal.
“I don’t get to see my son anymore. His wife creates trouble for my child if I contact him. But that’s okay, it gives me peace knowing that my son is in good hands. His father cared for his child and took him away when he was little less than three years old.”
Another sex worker Nasima (55), doesn't remember how many years she has been living here. She arrived here holding the hands of her husband when she was a teenager. Her husband sold her to a man, then after a while, she ran away from there and found shelter in this brothel. Later, she fell in love with another man.
“I was lost and hopeless after being betrayed by my husband. Then I fell in love with a customer who used to be a sailor in one of the merchant ships. We have a son who is 32 years old now, he lives in Dhaka.”
Nasima’s lover died last year.
“We never married but he was with me till the end of his last days.”
Some fathers live with their children here from time to time, usually they are sailors, traders or workers of the merchant vessels. Such a father was seen showering his son in the backyard of a home. He refused to talk with The Report but according to the locals, he works at a shipyard in Khulna and has a child with one of the sex workers here named Bulbuli.
This is an extraordinary scene of a brothel, one that is not heard or seen much when one goes through the condition of brothels in this country. But just like regular brothels, Banishanta also has children who do not carry the last names of their fathers.
The pandemic induced hunger, but Amphan grabbed homes
This year, just like everybody else the pandemic hit them hard. But they received relief from the government and NGOs soon after the lockdown started on March 26.
As Begum was saying, “We are thankful to our UNO and MP who took initiatives themselves and connected several NGOs to help us out with relief and allowance. Those might have served our necessity temporarily, but our condition was dire due to the absence of customers.”
According to some sex workers, the situation still hasn’t completely recovered. On average a sex worker usually attends up to six customers a day on a very good day, but the number is quite low now. They didn’t reveal how much they earn in a day but shared a regular rate. Usually, the charges start with Tk 300 for an hour, for the same customer the rate can be Tk 500 and Tk 1000 if they have sex twice or thrice in one arrangement.
But the pricing depends on many factors such as age, skin colour, presentation of the sex worker etc.
A pillar of Razia Begum’s house which was cracked due to cyclone Amphan | Photo: The Report/Tahir Zaman Priyo
Apart from the pandemic, their luck was tested in the middle of May 2020, when the region was hit with cyclone Amphan. Begum said, “The pillars of my home are cracked due to Amphan, as you can see. I’m still living under these because I don’t have money to repair the house.”
However, she was one of the lucky ones. Most of them had to run away to the shelter house grabbing near hand important stuff, but when they arrived their homes were gone.
Sumi (38) lives in the rearmost corner of the brothel said how hard it is for them to survive under the constant threat of climate change.
The road has been constructed recently after the cyclone Amphan Photo: The Report/Tahir Zaman Priyo
“We are living now in a way better situation than we were a few months ago. We had to build our homes from scratch and the connecting road was constructed recently. But it will be washed away in the upcoming monsoons. And that’s how we have been living since forever.”
She invited The Report to visit the area during the rainy season, expressing disappointment over how everybody is always talking about addressing their issues but nobody does anything.
Climate change has always played the biggest role in shaping the lives of the people of the southern area of Bangladesh, Banishanta is no exception especially due to its characteristic of being a floating one. However, when it comes to rescuing this vulnerable community from the perils of climate change, little work is implemented.
The community has not received a single dose of vaccine yet.
Bangladesh has vaccinated the elederly sex workers in Daulatdia brothel. The UNO told The Report that the sex workers in Banishanta will receive vaccines like general people, no special arrangement has been made for them.
Although the brothel has lost the splendour of its earlier days, it needs to stand on for many more years as an integral yet insinuating need of the society.
