Book Review
Daughters Of The Brothel: Stories from Delhi's red light district by Deepak Yadav
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| Daughters Of The Brothel by Deepak Yadav |
Author: Deepak Yadav
ISBN: 978-8194202196
Genre: Non-Fiction
Length: 198 Pages
Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/38U5xRh
About the author:
Deepak Yadav is an author and entrepreneur based in Delhi.
He is a product of Birla School, Pilani and is currently pursuing his
graduation in law from Banaras Hindu University.
Deepak Yadav was attracted towards writing since high school
and has won three short story contests organized by Scholastic and Writer’s
Digest. His debut novel, 'Walking with you' was published in 2013 when he was
seventeen under the banner of Diamond books. The book was a take on inter-religion
marriages in modern India which later became a sleeper hit among the youth.
Deepak Yadav believes in social work and started working
with renowned NGOs like Udaan foundation and Lions club International soon
after his schooling. Currently, he works with ‘Gudiya,’ a leading NGO engaged
in preventing human trafficking and slavery for creating awareness in the
masses.
Apart from his social and empathetic character, Deepak Yadav
identifies himself an introvert, coffee freak, and sometimes an experimental cook.
REVIEW
Daughters of the Brothel by Deepak Yadav is a non-fiction
book which unveils the lives trapped in an inexorable web of G.B. Road. The book
starts and ends with prologue and epilogue. There are total of seven chapters
where each chapter represents the voice of a sex worker, however the first
chapter narrates eunuch’s story of struggle; meanwhile author has put open the
facts and figures of subaltern communities of India while some authorities may
like to remain silent about this.
I will be addressing the necessary points that have to be
conveyed by this review, in chronological order of sex workers’ lives. So the
author Deepak Yadav spent a considerable amount of time in G.B. Road, the famous
red-light district in New Delhi during his stint with an NGO. That’s how he
came to know all the sex workers of one particular brothel. Brothel no. 56.
Starting with the question, how these sex workers ended up
as who they are?
They’re not from one particular state or region, in fact, they belong to very different backgrounds and cultures. But there is one thing
in common, according to governmental survey under PITA (Prevention of Immoral
Trafficking Act or ITPA) 1.2 million sex workers in the country are minors. The
ones I will be talking about are from Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka,
Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Although, there is one particular place from
where girls and women are trafficked in a significant amount and are forced into
the Indian sex trade where prostitution is legal. It is estimated that between
12,000 to 15,000 girls between ages 6 to 16 are trafficked each year from Nepal
to India. These figures are from one review done by Yvonne Rafferty for
promising prevention policies under the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (2013).
That was just about geography. Mostly the reason behind
their being sex worker was money. Either they were sold by their guardians
for money or they had to choose this unwillingly because they believed that
there are no other means by which they could earn sufficient to feed their
families, children and parents. In both, former and latter cases, most of
them were first raped by their guardians themselves. The exception is, some of them
are traditionally believed prostitutes, although as 80% of the total
prostitutes they also entered this flesh trade unwillingly. Sex work has been
the primary means of community income in lower caste communities like Nats,
Kanjars, Bedia and Sanshis. In the south, the practice of Devadasi earns girl’s
family a regular income so they’re compelled to take up prostitution as a profession.
What happens after they reach these brothels?
Many of sex workers were trafficked and then sold to these brothels and some just escape one hell and enter another. At this place, pimps
bring them to a particular brothel and then these girls/women have to live in
an assigned room under the instructions of Kothamalik, generally who owns the
brothel. And chances are very few of escaping this place once reached, be it
for any reason. Prostitutes get a place to live, two square meals and some
money to save for their family (yes as any of us they have families too), but
if you’re thinking that’s good enough then you’re wrong. Their agonies aren’t
put at rest at all, they get abused daily; either by customers or Kothamaliks
or pimps; Kothamaliks can be very cruel and it is believed very rare to find a
good one.
It was not an easy task talking to these sex workers, they
hardly talked to outsiders because they don’t trust anyone. Deepak Yadav got to
know these few sex workers who were ready to narrate their stories. When asked
about police, their answer was ‘Policemen are worst class of people.’ Here is
why they believe so, every day minor girls are trafficked under their noses but
they don’t care as long as they get their monthly share from brothels; they
even come to brothels at any time and satisfy their sexual urge without a penny.
Even if they frequently raid (highly abusive and violent in nature) red light
areas under the pretext of rescuing minors, the most widespread human rights
abuse emerges from the rescue and rehabilitation provisions of ITPA. Meanwhile,
there is no assurance of their lives getting any better because of the
criminalization, stigma and social exclusion. People don’t treat them as
humans, especially customers see them as dead flesh and an opportunity to
extract as much pleasure they possibly can and they do.
Customers impose themselves without protection while
intercourse which leads to frequent pregnancies and sometimes AIDS. Here comes
an important point this book includes. Daughters of the brothel. “It’s true
that a woman’s life is incomplete without being a mother. Motherhood is
fulfilling experience for most women.” And sex workers are no exceptions, they
bear child in spite of the identity of children’s father. They also dream of
freedom which their children can attain; they want to educate their daughters
and make promise of never forcing their daughters into this sex trade.
Fatima, who is one of that rare good Kothamalik having two
sons and a daughter. She wishes to get free from this hell and want them to go
to good private school because finally her sons informed her about getting
bullied in their previous school.
We live in a society where people will oppose child
trafficking, sex trafficking and will never fail to register their anger
against rape on social media, but will do little to nothing for changing their
mentality or of their relatives, parents and friends. At the other hand there
are people who encourage such acts by putting content on internet like ‘How to
enjoy Nepali at GB Road.’ However, there can be a list of instructions because
pickpocketing and loots (mostly by pimps) are reported every other day but one
cannot do anything about this because they’ll be questioned.
Not to forget the first chapter about the transgender community,
where the author has depicted the miseries of a eunuch. How castration is
performed, it is not mandatory though. The same social exclusion they have to
face every single day. This oppression needs to stop. The author also talks about
ancient history and put forward many facts. In fact, Deepak Yadav has done a very
commendable job at research and coming up with facts and figures, inserting
them whenever needed.
Throughout the book, there were many instances where I could
see the fundamental causes of this sex trade especially child trafficking. The
rural communities where they have no access to most of the resources. Where
they treat their daughters as a liability and because of these communities’
economic conditions, the men turn them into assets. There we need change.
The girls/women must be provided access to education and skills development
programmes can help a lot. It is very necessary to convince these communities
and specifically men (for they believe they are not meant to do anything except
pimping and gambling) that there are many other ways to earn. “Education is the
most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
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Happy Reading!
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