Naima Onamika
Oniket Research Group
In Bangladesh, sex work has always been a controversial subject of discussion. On one hand, this country is one of the few Muslim majority nations in the world where adult women providing sexual services are legally recognized. On the other hand, this legal recognition has never ensured safety, dignity, or basic rights for sex workers. Instead, the reality is that under the shadow of so-called legal recognition or legitimacy, a complex structure of exploitation, human trafficking, violence, social rejection, and exclusion has developed.
Therefore, the existing situation surrounding the sex industry in Bangladesh is not only questionable in terms of law or morality; rather, it is a deeply interconnected social reality involving poverty, gender inequality, social stigma, human rights, and state accountability. A closer look at the current situation reveals the following gaps and problems:
Legal Recognition Without Security
In Bangladesh, sex work is not legally prohibited. In 2000, the High Court ruled that sex work is a legal profession and took a position against the eviction of brothels. However, at the same time, many activities related to this profession are still regulated or treated as criminals under different laws. As a result, sex workers exist in a form of legal ambiguity. The law recognizes their existence but does not effectively protect them.
This ambiguity creates opportunities for harassment by law enforcement agencies, extortion, and abuse of power.
The Core Reality Behind the Sex Industry
According to various studies, the number of female sex workers in Bangladesh is estimated to be between one hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. A significant portion of them is engaged in registered brothels, hotels, or street-based sex work. The number is not small at all.
A very important question arises here. Why does a woman enter this profession?
Research and field experience suggest that in most cases, sex work is not a voluntary or chosen profession. Poverty, family breakdown, child marriage, abandonment by husbands, domestic violence, natural disasters, and human trafficking often push women into this profession.
In other words, if sex work is viewed only as a matter of personal choice, a large part of the reality remains hidden. It is primarily a manifestation of social and economic deprivation.
Brothels as Institutional Forms of Exploitation
Daulatdia brothel in Rajbari is known as the largest brothel in Bangladesh and one of the largest in the world. More than a thousand women live and work there.
However, the most alarming aspect of this industry is the so called “chukri” system. Reports from various human rights organizations indicate that many girls are brought into brothels through deception, abduction, or sale. After that, they are burdened with fabricated or false debts, and to repay these debts, they are forced into years of sexual exploitation, remaining trapped under the control of exploiters in brothels.
This is effectively a form of modern slavery, where a person’s labour, body, and freedom are controlled simultaneously.
Human Trafficking Networks and Brothels
Bangladesh is one of the most human trafficking prone countries in South Asia. A large portion of women and child trafficking is directly or indirectly linked to the sex industry. Despite having anti trafficking laws, conviction and prosecution rates are extremely low. Even when arrests and cases occur, legal processes are often prolonged or weakened due to powerful networks. As a result, risks for traffickers remain low, while justice for victims remains nearly impossible.
Violence and Mental Health Crisis
One of the least discussed aspects of sex workers’ lives is mental health. Continuous violence, social humiliation, insecurity, and uncertainty create long term psychological impacts. Depression, anxiety, trauma, and substance dependency are common realities in many cases.
At the same time, they also face discrimination in accessing healthcare. Negative attitudes from health workers, social stigma, and the need to hide their identity often keep them away from medical services. As a result, health risks are not limited to sex workers alone; they become a broader public health challenge.
Children Stigmatized by Maternal Identity
Children born in brothels begin their lives in a state of discrimination. They face various obstacles in school enrollment, social acceptance, healthcare, and access to identity documents. Many children enter the labor market before reaching adolescence or risk being trapped in the same cycle of exploitation.
Thus, the impact of the sex industry is not limited to one generation. It reproduces poverty and social exclusion across generations.
Society’s Double Standard
In Bangladesh, societal attitudes toward sex workers are deeply negative. They are often considered excluded, humiliated, and unacceptable within mainstream society. However, there is a clear contradiction. Society condemns sex work as immoral on one hand, while silently accepting the existence of the industry on the other.
In other words, demand cannot be denied, but the people who fulfill that demand are socially rejected. This double morality does not solve the problem; instead, it accelerates exploitation.
What Should Be Done
When examined in more detail, the extent of discrimination, gaps, and problems continues to grow. Therefore, the focus should be on what should be done in this situation.
Small scale plans or programs cannot solve such a vast problem. To achieve long term and sustainable positive outcomes, long term planning and comprehensive initiatives are necessary. According to experts, the issue must be viewed not only from a moral perspective but also from a human rights and public policy perspective.
First, effective investigation and justice must be ensured to prevent human trafficking.
Second, healthcare, legal support, and security systems for sex workers must be strengthened.
Third, realistic rehabilitation programs are needed for women who wish to leave sex work.
Without technical training, employment opportunities, safe housing, social rehabilitation, and education for children, no long-term change is possible.
The reality surrounding the sex industry in Bangladesh raises a fundamental question. Is legal recognition enough if it does not ensure safety, dignity, and rights for people?
The lives of sex workers are not merely stories of individual choice. They reflect a long history of poverty, inequality, violence, and social exclusion. Therefore, the solution cannot be limited to lawmaking alone. What is needed is effective law enforcement, social awareness, a humane perspective, and a state system where no citizen is deprived of protection and dignity because of their profession or identity.
