Sex workers still discriminated
Conference told
Bangladesh has been trying to address the living conditions of sex workers and their children but they are still stigmatised and discriminated by society, speakers said at a conference yesterday.
They said although living conditions of this marginalised segment have improved, they still need to be more integrated into society and their two basic needs—healthcare and education—must be covered.
The conference styled “International Conference on Human Trafficking, Sex Workers and their Children: Assessing Vulnerability and Exploring Responses in South Asiaâ€, was jointly arranged by ActionAid Bangladesh and University of Liberal Arts (ULAB) at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University.
In the conference, a book was launched which contains eight researches under a project “LEADER†working to ensure empowerment and liberation for sex workers and their children.
One of the researches conducted showed how sex workers decide to bring their daughters in their line of work due to economic necessity and lack of marriage prospects.
Speakers said sex workers treat their children as their property and as an extra source of income. Even girls who get the chance to live and study outside brothels are compelled to follow in their mothers' footsteps because of the social “tags†they carry.
Another research, conducted on women and children trafficking, found that most women and children, who migrate to India, fall victims to sexual abuse.
Information Commissioner Prof Sadeka Halim, ActionAid's Country Director Farah Kabir, Chairman of Dhaka University's law department Shahnaz Huda, Vice Chancellor of ULAB Prof Imran Rahman, and project manager of LEADER Helena Ballester Bon spoke at the conference.
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