Sex Work and Sexuality

Issue In Focus: Is ‘Dhanda’ (Sex Business) Work? – II
Six sex workers dressed up in sarees on a stage, smiling. Screen reader support enabled. Six sex workers dressed up in sarees on a stage, smiling.

Is business work? Can business that involves providing sexual services be understood as work? If work is any mental or physical activity performed for a result, then for the individual performing the activity sex work is work. If work is any activity performed as a means of survival, then sex work is work.

By Meena Saraswathi Seshu and Aarthi Pai
April 18, 2016
Issue In Focus: Is ‘Dhanda’ (Sex Business) Work? – II
Issue In Focus: Is ‘Dhanda’ (Sex Business) Work? – I
A protest by sex workers. They are wearing sarees, holding red umbrellas, and placards reading "Stop policing our morals", "Sexual rights are human rights".

Sex work is adult consensual provision of sexual services for money. What part of this definition challenges the notion of work? A service provided for money? A service provided by adults for money? A service provided consensually by adults for money? None of the above.

By Meena Saraswathi Seshu and Aarthi Pai
April 5, 2016
Issue In Focus: Is ‘Dhanda’ (Sex Business) Work? – I
Interview: Varsha Kale on the Dance Bar Girls’ Movement in Maharashtra
Varsha Kale

We interview the honorary president of the Bharatiya Bar Girls Union (BBGU), Varsha Kale, on the occasion of dance bars reopening in Maharashtra after being banned for 11 years by the state government.

By Shaifali Agrawal
April 18, 2016
Interview: Varsha Kale on the Dance Bar Girls’ Movement in Maharashtra
How Do You Battle AIDS if No One Talks About Sex? KP’s Transgenders Speak Out
Photo of four transgender people.

In Peshawar alone, the community consists of over 500 transgenders. At least 20 per cent of these have AIDS. Their risk of contracting AIDS is higher, since 59 per cent of khawaja saras report to have at least one sexually transmitted infection.

By Curated Content
April 18, 2016
How Do You Battle AIDS if No One Talks About Sex? KP’s Transgenders Speak Out
Brushstrokes: Sex + Work ≠ Sex Work? We Wonder Why
Drawing of a feminine cartoon character with curly hair, and a surprised expression. On top is written "We wonder why".

If there are hordes of reasons for having sex, and all kinds of activities that count as work, why is it that the act of performing sexual services cannot be accepted as legitimate work?

Liz Hilton illustrates the puzzle in a booklet published by Empower Foundation, Thailand.

By Curated Content
April 5, 2016
Brushstrokes: Sex + Work ≠ Sex Work? We Wonder Why
A Swirly Skirt on the Expressway
An expressway with red neon lights on the road.

Who is this person? What does this person want? Is it random cruising? Is money the goal, is it adventure? Why does it make me think of selling strawberries by the dusty roadside? I don’t have a single answer. Sex work is a lurking unknown in the world of sexuality.

By Shikha Aleya
April 5, 2016
A Swirly Skirt on the Expressway
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