Mumbai NGO helps city’s sex workers unite, and dream

Express News Service

Mumbai, April 30: SWIRLING skirts and smiling faces — it was a fitting memorial to two life-loving, spirited women who had succumbed to AIDS last week. The dizzy tune of Bhumro Bhumro buzzed through the afternoon air at the Khetwadi Municipal School on Saturday as almost 100 sex workers and their daughters came together to pay tribute to Gauri and Sushila.

Their laughing eyes and animated participation in the event was a far cry from their lives in Kamathipura — four-by-four rooms, with just a small opening to call a window, a bed allotted for eight-hour shifts on which they have to sleep, tend to the children, and carry out their business. Providing a binding force among this isolated lot is NGO Apne Aap, that has worked for the last six years to improve the lot of the sex worker.

Launched by former journalist Ruchira Gupta, the NGO was conceived while she was shooting a film on the sex workers. ‘‘I used to be a journalist, had worked on many stories, filed them and walked away. But this was one story I could not walk away from,’’ she explained.

Her film, which won 11 awards, inspired people the world over. ‘‘When I saw the film, I was so moved. I just could not sit comfortably without doing something for them,’’ says New York-based lawyer Lela Goren. A member of Apne Aap International, Goren is on her first visit to the country.

‘‘While walking through the brothel, I felt so touched by the life force and energy these women have in them. We just held their hands and that meant so much to them; imagine how rejected they are by the society,’’ she says.

Actress Divya Dutta, who was also present at the occasion, danced with the women, and sang for them on special request. In her second number, some of the sex workers’ children joined in. ‘‘You are all wonderful people and I love the way you’re smiling. Don’t ever lose that happiness,’’ she said.

Currently, Apne Aap conducts classes for sex workers to educate them on their rights and the health risks they face. They also try to educate their children, as well as provide place for them to sleep and wash their clothes. They offer locker facilities for homeless sex workers to store their belongings. Their latest project is to educate men about the risks they expose women to if they do not wear condoms during sex.