Indian female sex workers (FSWs) face a myriad of barriers (discrimination, illiteracy, stigma) that limit life options for themselves and their children. Using life-course developmental perspectives and ecological systems theory, the researchers sought to understand contextual and relational dynamics among FSWs as mothers (n = 19) and children of FSWs (n = 12) residing in an urban, brothel area (Hanuman Tekdi) in Mumbai. Interviews were conducted in private, translated, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis and constant comparison. Mothers: All from impoverished rural families. Most (53%) were trafficked into sex trade (median age = 13.5). Seven women were estranged from families because of their work in sex trade. They actively took steps to keep their children safe in the brothel district neighborhood. Children: Prior to the lockdown, only four lived in the brothel area full-time; others lived in hostels or part-time in rural villages. Children received emotional support from mothers, uncles, friends, and God. Children provided instrumental and emotional support to mothers. Schools were closed for 82 weeks and remote learning was nearly impossible. All reported having friends or “best friends”, but they were in villages, school, or hostels and so no contact in over a year. Children viewed the brothel area as “dirty” and unsafe. Implications for policy, practice and continued research will be discussed. Attendees will have a clear understanding of the relational dynamics between vulnerable mothers and their children living in an urban red-light area, and the challenges they face and protective and survival strategies they employ.
Dr. Rochelle Dalla is a Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As a qualitative researcher, her research focuses primarily on familial dynamics among human trafficking survivors in unique social and cultural contexts (e.g., caste-based sex trafficking in India, bonded laborers in brick kiln industry). She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Human Trafficking.
Dr. Sharvari Karandikar is a Professor at The Ohio State University’s College of Social Work. Her research focuses on promoting the well-being and rights of marginalized populations, particularly in sex work and trafficking. She has published and presented widely and is currently an editor of Affilia: Journal of Feminist Inquiry in Social Work.