Prostitution between legality and exploitation

In 2000 Bangladesh became one of the few Muslim nations where prostitution is legal; according to various estimates, there are currently between 140,000 and 180,000 sex workers aged 14 to 35 in the country. The law states that a woman can be a prostitute only if she’s of legal age and after signing an affidavit in which she declares she can’t find another job and is acting of her own free will. The Repression of Women and Children Act was put in place the same year, outlawing child and forced prostitution with severe penalties for clients and those exploiting victims, but the criminal system has found various ways to elude these norms.
Bangladeshi brothels like those in Faridpur & Tangail are prisons with invisible doors in which women are forced into a vicious cycle of slavery and social exclusion. Whose chains are hard to break.

2017 | Bangladesh.