Empower Girls from Mumbai's Red Light Area

Firstly, we hope you are well. We hope you are staying safe and taking care of yourself and others around you through this difficult time for all of us.

Everyone is suffering through the Covid-19 Pandemic in their own unique ways—from mental health struggles to financial losses, and for some, just survival. But the good news is that, for the first time, we are talking about issues that have so far been hushed up in society. For the first time, we are talking openly and widely about mental health. We are talking about the economic value of household work women do.

So, we thought this was a good time to bring up another issue that we rarely talk about— sex workers.

Sex workers are invisible daily wage earners. They earn for their rent, food and other basic needs through their customers on an hourly basis. But since the lockdown, they have not been able to earn anything. I know all daily wage earners, like auto-rickshaw drivers and construction workers, are suffering because of a loss of income. However, there are some social welfare schemes to support them, like subsidised rations under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and NGOs serving them food. But sex workers are rarely covered under any of these social welfare schemes because they are undocumented.

During this Covid-19 Pandemic we provided food and healthcare essentials to communities who have been largely excluded from Covid Relief.

• Sex workers 
• Terminally ill patients were discharged from the hospital to make way for Covid-19 patients. These patients and their families were not able to go home because of the lockdown. They had no place to stay and no food.
• Daily wage workers who are the only breadwinners of their family, like auto-rickshaw drivers, domestic workers
• Homeless people and beggars.

Links:

• Article written by Krantikari Sandhya about Kranti's CovidRelief