Description
Carolyn 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, 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 hazards 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.
Carolyn Sleightholme is a consultant on health issues and legal rights of sex workers. She has an M.A. in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, England. She has worked with health and women's organizations in London, Calcutta and Rajasthan, most recently as a social development consultant for the ODA in India. Indrani Sinha is a founder and member of Sanlaap Women's Rights Centre, a non-governmental organization that serves sex workers. Associated with several women's groups in West Bengal, Bihar, and the Northeast, she has worked since 1976 with development agencies such as Oxfam and Lutheran World Service. ISBN:8185604177 
