Even after five years since demonetisation was announced in November 2016, India’s sex worker population has not found the respite that the...
Even after five years since demonetisation was announced in November 2016, India’s sex worker population has not found the respite that the government had promised to the citizens. The past five years have been a period of turmoil for informal workers in India, more so for migrant workers and workers from marginalised communities.
In Sangli, Maharashtra, seven members from a sex-worker lead collective Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad recorded experiences with the demonetisation and what has happened since.
The immediate impact of demonetisation on the sex worker community, their families and support systems was felt on the streets. Overnight, the number of customers dwindled because they did not have cash. People did not have the money to spend on sex workers and soon, they were unable to earn more than Rs 1,000 a day. The rates of their services decreased.
“Customers started coming with the [banned] Rs 500 note that we could not accept,” Maya, a sex worker from Sangli said. “Had we known that such a move was coming, we would have been prepared. Once the new notes came, we did not know how to withdraw them, we did not even know how they looked and this confused us”.
Financial woes
Following the note ban, sex workers...
