#Title
DESOLATION
in Daulatdia
Brothel workers going through tough times amid scarcity of clients since the opening of Padma Bridge
SUZIT DAS and NAZIBA BASHER
The opening of the Padma Bridge promises an economic boon, but for the sex workers of the country’s largest brothel, right next to Daulatdia ferry terminal, it spells doom.
Only a few ferries now operate between Daulatdia and Paturia, and it means a drastic decline in the number of clients for them.
Having suffered a huge blow to their source of income, these women face the challenge of integrating back into a society that is not ready yet to accept them.
Forced into a life of despair, the women of brothels are among the most neglected and ostracised people in the country.
In most cases, they were forcefully taken and sold there at criminally young ages. Many of them have spent their entire life at the brothel and know little about life outside.
Daulatdia brothel in Rajbari has been “home” to over 1,000 such women.
Julie Akhtar, 25, has been there for four and a half years. Every month, she has to send her family of five at least Tk 10,000 from whatever she earns at the brothel.
However, her life has taken a difficult turn since the opening of the Padma Bridge.
According to the Paturia-Daulatdia terminal authorities, before the Padma bridge opened, around 20-22 ferries would ply the route; now the number has come down to 11 or12.
The number of vehicles using the ferries too has decreased by 75 percent.
Most of Julie’s customers were those who took the ferries. And now, like her, hundreds of them are without clients -- none of them knows what the future holds.
During a recent visit, one of these correspondents saw most of the women sitting idly in front of their rooms. Some were seen cooking, the others roaming about.
They all had the same thing to say – the Padma Bridge will likely move the country miles forward, but it came as “a curse” to them.
Farida Parvin, 36, said, “I have been working here for 16 years and I have never seen such a situation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we had a lot of help from different individuals, organisations and the government. But now nobody comes to help us.
“I have to pay Tk 200 per day for house rent. I have to send money back home, where my mother and daughter, a 10th grader, live. The situation has become so dire that I don’t know how to pay for even the basic necessities.”
Moni Begum, general secretary of Daulatdia’s Helpless Female Unity Organisation, said, “It’s true the situation is grim. It isn’t just because of the Padma Bridge, but people of the low-income brackets [who account for most of the customers] are also facing financial woes due to rising commodity prices.
“Some of the workers have already left the brothel in search of an alternative income source.”
Even during this Eid-ul-Fitr, when many people are expected to use the Daulatdia ferry terminal, the number of customers remained scanty.
“Some people did come by during the few days of Eid, but the numbers weren’t that high.”
Mukta Akter, also 50, said, “Before the opening of the bridge, thousands of
SEE PAGE 6 COL 4