The government has undertaken a project aimed at offering housing facilities to elderly women, who were once engaged in sex work but have now become vulnerable, along with their children in Daulatdia brothel village in Rajbari district.
As part of its move, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has submitted a project proposal titled “Creation of Residential Facility for Elderly Women and Underprivileged Children in Daulatdia” at Tk36.44 crore to the Planning Commission, an official of the commission told the Daily Sun.
Of the total cost, the government will provide Tk28.84 crore, while the project executing organisation will contribute Tk7.60 crore, he said.
If approved, the Department of Women Affairs will oversee the implementation of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by June 2025, the official said.
The primary objectives of the project include the construction of a 3-storey building with a 6-storey foundation on a 0.96-acre land.
The aim is to provide housing facilities for 150 women in their fifties and 300 children. The proposed building will cover 26,840 square metres with a total cost of Tk26.01 crore.
As part of the project, Tk1.41 crore has been allocated for furniture procurement to accommodate them.
The project proposal emphasises addressing the plight of elderly women and underprivileged children in Daulatdia brothel village.
Despite Bangladesh’s progress in poverty alleviation, hunger relief, and reducing child mortality, there still persist societal challenges. The project aims to provide a supportive residential environment for women, who were once engaged in sex work but have now become vulnerable, and their children, offering them a chance at a better life.
Official statistics from 2015-16 indicate that the number of sex workers in Bangladesh exceeds 102,000, with rural areas, including prominent Daulatdia brothel village, witnessing a growing population of approximately 4,000 engaged in prostitution.
However, the establishment of Daulatdia brothel village in 1988 marked the beginning of a controversial legacy. Long before its official inception, the village had been home to many involved in prostitution, clandestinely operating illegal brothels. Daulatdia gained notoriety as a renowned ferry ghat, where the Jamuna and Padma rivers converged. The village became a pivotal point for trucks transporting goods from the western and southwestern districts to the capital, creating a unique intersection of commerce and vice.
The vibrant atmosphere around Daulatdia Ferry Ghat once thrived, with truck drivers and other travellers spending days waiting for ferries, engaging with the sex workers who filled the village both day and night. Today, however, Daulatdia faces an unprecedented crisis, transforming from one of the largest sex centres in the country and South Asia to a place where sex workers endure an inhumane existence due to dwindling customers.
The hardships began with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbating with the inauguration of the Padma Bridge, rendering the once-bustling Daulatdia Ferry Ghat obsolete. The movement of people to this village has nearly ceased, leaving the alleys echoing with the haunting sounds of moans.
According to locals, Daulatdia is home to around 5,000 people with 1,300 of them being sex workers. The village consists of around 300 houses, and there are about 600 children struggling amidst the harsh realities of their surroundings. The most vulnerable demographic is the elderly women, numbering 350, facing the harshest conditions in this evolving landscape.
Rozina, a sex worker from Faridpur, shares a poignant account of her life in Daulatdia: “I don't remember the date when I was coming here. I’m alone here. I’m more than 50 years old. I work in people’s houses inside the village to fulfil my needs. I can't work now as a sex worker.”
Sufia, another sex worker, reflects on the village's deteriorating condition: “The village was once quite good. Currently, it’s become very bad. After the inauguration of the Padma Bridge, people don’t come to Daulatdia Ferry Ghat and Launch Ghat. Everyone travels through the Padma Bridge. So, we started moaning. We want to leave now. But we have nowhere to go. If the government arranges our rehabilitation, then I can survive.”