Many of chowkri bonded sex workers are underage. Some of the girls are runaways who leave home to escape a bad situation or marriage, and end up on the brothels when they have no where else to go. Many others have been kidnapped and are sold to a madame by a parent or relative. They must take on clients per day, and most receive no pay because they must repay their debt to their madame… Here is their story.
A young chowkri bonded sex worker waits for customers on the 3rd floor of the Joinal Bari brothel in Faridpur, central Bangladesh. Joshna, a madame, and her girls wait for customers of the 3rd floor in the Boro Bari brothel in Faridpur, central Bangladesh.
I spent four years as a sex worker and became a madame after that. How can I be happy in this hell? I will be happy when I leave. Piea waits outside her room while customers browse the halls of the 3rd floor in the Joinal Bari brothel in Faridpur, central Bangladesh. Young chowkri bonded sex workers wait for customers in the stairwell of the 3rd floor in the Joinal Bari brothel in Faridpur, central Bangladesh.
Kajul is embraced by a customer in her bedroom of the 3rd floor of the Boro Bari brothel in Faridpur, central Bangladesh. About women and girls live and work inside the bustling brothel, comprised of four buildings situated on an important trading route on the banks of the Padma river.
I was married for four years but my husband was crazy so I ran away. When I moved back in with my parents my uncle took me to Dhaka. He told me he was going to enroll me in a dance school but instead he sold me to a madame. I am not scared of anyone. Sometimes this place is okay, sometimes it's not, but anything is better than living with my husband. I don't talk with my parents anymore.
