The candid accounts of two reformed sex workers have revealed the rampant trafficking in women prevalent in South India.
In their twenties, the two women on Wednesday threw light on how they had been forced into sex trade by their own family members and later rescued by the police.
Out of the many sex workers rescued and rehabilitated by the Hyderabad-based Prajwala Foundation, the two women came forward and narrated how they had been subjected to sexual harassment by organised sex trade houses.
Supported by the office of the U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad, the Prajwala Foundation activists screened two documentaries — One Life; No Price and Anamika (The Nameless) — before the two women shared their agony.
Moderated by the Foundation’s senior activist Chandraiah, the two explained the battles they had waged for dignity, empowerment, and freedom.
“I fell in love in Class 9, eloped, and married a person who later sold me to a sex trade house in Hyderabad. I failed to take the right decision in my early life and I am paying for it now. After I fell victim to human trafficking and sex trade, I was rejected by my family and my parents,” said Sangeeta (name changed).
After joining the Prajwala Foundation, her daily routine includes creating awareness on human trafficking among girls.
Reshma (name changed), who was forced into sex trade by her step mother, appealed to parents to keep a vigil on the movements of their children to prevent them from getting trapped by agents of sex trade.
“I have taken the bold decision of sharing my life as a sex worker with young people with a view to helping them sense danger through their friends in educational institutions and at work places,” she said.
The participants appreciated the activists for their laudable initiative during an interaction on Krishna University campus.
Vasavya Mahila Mandali president Ch. Vidhya and Krishna University Vice-Chancellor S. Rama Krishna Rao spoke.
