Government regulations, an influx of builders and the mushrooming of small and medium manufacturing units is pushing brothel-based sex work out of Kamathipura, a research report presented at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Thursday said.
Speaking at a conference on ‘Rethinking Cities in the Global South: Urban Violence, Social Inequality and Spatial Justice’, Shivani Satija, research officer at TISS, referred to the joint study done by her with colleague Ratoola Kundu, an assistant professor at the Deonar-based institute.
According to Satija, formal and informal markets have made inroads into this space, including more profitable manufacturing units for bags, mats, jeans dyeing and cloth. Various association including ones for tenants, shops, residents and landlords also want sex workers to be moved out of the area.
“Small and big builders are trying to claim spaces for redevelopment to build residential complexes, shopping malls, clubs. These are gradually pushing brothel-based sex work out,” she said.
The entry of small shops and establishments has changed the face of Kamathipura, whose 16 lanes were once homes to mixed groups related to sex work. Residents associations in Kamathipura have raised objections to their functioning in the locality with local authorities. “Many sex workers do not stay at Kamathipura, and come from Virar and other far-off places,” Satija and Kundu said.
They added that stigma attached to sex work and intolerance has increased, according to voices in the field. However, they continue with street-based sex work at great risk and visibility, increased police interference and violence. Their research listed a host of policy-related measures, which over the years have created pressures on sex workers and increased their vulnerability.
The research also found that the role of the state has been extremely strong through regulation and rules. Overall, the role has been of regulation and control of space and bodies and the state has tried to assert itself at different points in time through large-scale slum renewal, slum development and redevelopment. “However, these did not take off and the place has been falling into disrepair. The presence of illegal and stigmatised work has complicated the state’s relationship with Kamathipura even more,” it said.
