Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the role of ‘money’ within social relationships and experiences of violence, in the lives of female sex workers (FSWs) from Eastern India. It is based on qualitative data with former and present FSWs in and around Kolkata, and villages in a southern district of the state of West Bengal.

Paper long abstract:

Discussions on 'money from sex work' in India have tended to focus on comparing sex-working income with income from other forms of unregulated work - often to justify why women would want to enter sex work over domestic work, work in factories, etc. In this paper, I broaden these discussion, by exploring the ways in which financial earnings from sex work impact these women's social relationships with family (natal and marital), peers, employers (madames and pimps), customers, and romantic partners. Through an analysis of ethnographic vignettes, I discuss ways in which the possession of money, and access to it (or lack thereof) affects (i)present and past experiences of violence, (ii) social, financial and emotional expectations within social relationships, and (iii) self-worth for FSWs. Additionally, I explore the role of NGOs as providers, or managers of money and financial resources within these women's lives and social relationships.

This paper is based on my PhD research on the lives of female sex workers (FWSs) in Eastern India. My research explores FSWs' experiences of, and negotiations with 'everyday' violence, as they navigate social relationships within their personal and professional lives. It brings together qualitative data in the form of 'life-stories' of present, full and part-time sex workers across two red-light areas in the city of Kolkata, 'rescued' sex workers in a southern suburb of the city, and women who were formerly engaged in sex work and have returned to their rural communities, in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, under varying circumstances.