The Story of Durga

So many countless women’s stories go untold.  Lost in the black hole of domestic abuse, sex abuse, trafficking and prostitution.  If the collective “we” knew more – would it impact their lived reality?  After all there is no real “collective” just a collection of powerful individuals like you and I.

Here I want to share the story of one woman, close to my age.  A woman who showed up to the workshop with no expectations.  No clear idea of what would take place.  Yet she was brave and spoke up.  She shared the twisted events in her life which led her to be a sex worker in Kalighat.  And in honor of her bravery, I will share her words with you.

Durga was married at the age of thirteen.  As is customary in traditional India, she left her family home and moved in with her husband’s family .  Yet hers was no fairy tale wedding, no match made in heaven.  Her husband (who was far older than her) would beat her daily, torture her, make her life unbearable.  Yet as a young girl she had no other options.  Before long her husband’s sister offered to help her. Admitting that her brother may well kill Durga if she didn’t leave him, so she would take her to Kolkata, find her a good job as a maid – a place she would be safe.  But Durga was tricked and instead of being a domestic help, her sister in-law sold her as a sex slave.  

Durga recalled that she was brutally initiated into the trade yet with no options left there was little she could do but that which she was told.  After a while one of her regular clients reached out to her.  He told her that he would help her find a better place to work.  Durga knew her situation couldn’t get any worse, so she trusted him and agreed.  He paid 400 rupees (about $5) “deposit” to take her to the cinema for the afternoon and then took her to a different red light district in Kalighat, where at least there she could work on her own terms.  Kalighat is where she has been ever since.  

A young girl married into violence, sold into prostitution, “saved” by a punter and now free to choose who she sleeps as long as she has enough food on the table. What other options do women like Durga have?  When they don’t know how to read or write?  Who never went to school?  Who could never face the shame of returning to their blood family?  And yet she was one of the lucky ones.  Many young girls are trafficked from Nepal or Bangladesh.  They are continuously reminded that they are illegal in India, that they have no legal documents, that they can’t speak the language and have often never even left their village of birth.  They are warned that if they try to leave they will be arrested or murdered.  I wish I could say I was being melodramatic – but I’m not.