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Although a large number of bar girls from Mumbai have migrated to neighbouring states and turned to prostitution, there are others who, according to a TISS study, would like to return to their villages if they are provided alternative livelihoods
The ban on bar dancing in Mumbai, and reluctance of the Maharashtra government to rehabilitate bar girls, has sparked an exodus of bar girls to Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh in search of a living. According to latest reports, a growing number of bar girls have started working as prostitutes in other states. A study by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) throws light on the condition of bar girls who have stayed behind in Mumbai.
Police in Goa are worried that girls who migrate from Mumbai are not taking up jobs as waitresses but prefer prostitution. Sources say at least 1,000 bar girls have shifted out of Mumbai to Goa. So far, the police have arrested 21 girls.
"We are talking about prostitution. All 21 arrested did not come here to dance in bars. They were soliciting customers. So obviously there has been a sea-change, and this we will not allow," says Ujwal Mishra, DIG, Goa.
Says Sabina Martins, an activist based in Goa: "It has happened in Maharashtra now. We faced it in Goa when the Baina red-light area was demolished.The commercial sex workers just went about everywhere...Basically we see it as a livelihood issue and we have to address the venerability of trafficking."
Meanwhile, a study titled 'Socio-Economic and Rehabilitation Needs of Women in Dance Bars', carried out by PRAYAS, a field action project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, in March and April 2005, throws some light on the immediate concerns of bar dancers left behind in Mumbai.
For the 89% of bar dancers staying in rented homes, immediate housing was a major concern. Many said they were willing to return to their villages or to their previous jobs as domestic workers, agricultural labour, bidi/zari workers.
The study, based on interviews with 100 women living in south Mumbai, Borivali, Nerul, Kalyan and Bhiwandi, shows that 33% of the respondents were supportive of the ban; 92% of them were willing to avail of government schemes for employment, education of their children, etc.
Two government rescue homes in Deonar and Chembur, as well as under-trials at the Kalyan district prison, were also visited during the course of the study. The study reveals that there were more married women in the profession, as many had been deserted by their husbands and were left to fend for themselves and their children.
"We found that middlemen were actively involved in recruiting women into this profession. There are also elements of human trafficking involved, wherein women are lured by the promise of jobs that they have no prior knowledge of," says Vijay Raghavan, the project's director.
The report, which will be submitted to the Women and Child Welfare Department, State and National Commission for Women, National Human Rights Commission and other government bodies, recommends criminal action and the initiation of proceedings against middlemen.
The report also urges the state to make the necessary arrangements to set up temporary and safe night shelters for women who may have been rendered homeless due to the ban. "Facilitation centres may be created at the district or taluka/ward levels to help access government schemes by a 'reaching-out' process initiated by the state. The state should immediately start training and income generation centres for women in collaboration with existing agencies," the report concludes.
For more read: Maharashtra issues ordinance banning dance bars
Maharashtra governor refuses to promulgate dance bar ordinance
Baina beach demolitions: What about the sex worker's right to shelter?
Source: The Indian Express, September 20, 2005
www.ndtv.com, September 24, 2005
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