Changing prices for sex work in Sonagachi, a Kolkata red-light district

13 July 2009 by laura agustin | 39 comments | print print

Photo of Sonagachi by Jon Gresham
Photo by Jon Gresham

This story from The Times of India is about Sonagachi, a very large red-light district in Kolkata, India, and home to the Sonagachi sex workers’ cooperative. Like the story from Malaysia the other day, this one gives financial details on how a commercial sex economy works and adapts to a recession. Note the complex structures and the different ways workers may depend on intermediaries. It’s not a simple economy. NB: 1000 rupees = 14.7 euros

Slowdown bug hits sex workers in city

Devjyot Ghoshal, 10 July 2009

Kolkata: The economic slowdown has affected nearly every profession, and the world’s oldest is no exception. Thousands of commercial sex workers in Sonagachi have been singed. A contracting clientele, coupled with spiralling real-estate prices in the area, has driven them to reduce rates and spend more time on the streets.

The worst affected are the approximately 1000 Category A workers, who charge minimum of Rs 1,500 per hour. Restricted from going on to the streets to lure customers and completely dependent on pimps to get business, these workers are slashing their rates.

“Till a few years back, we got five customers a day. Now, it is rare to get three. As a result, Category A girls, who charged up to Rs 8,000 per hour earlier, now hardly ask for more than Rs 4,000,” said Rekha, herself a Category A worker.

For Sonagachhi’s elite, the paucity of patrons is especially difficult to contend with, as most either have to pay a flat 50% to their mistresses or shell out a substantial amount for renting a room.

With profits plunging, those under mistresses are increasingly moving out of that system, despite room rents having doubled in five years. High-end rooms in Sonagachi can now cost anything between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month.

“Since Category A girls can’t leave the brothels to get customers and have to give half of whatever they earn to the mistresses, many are moving into Category B, where they pay a fixed amount,” Rekha explained.

While the services of about 2,000 Category B women in Sonagachi start at Rs 500 per hour, a customer has to pay 25% of the entire charge to the pimp separately. Additionally, the sex worker has to pay the landlord a commission per client on top of a pre-negotiated sum for booking a room.

Starved of clients and facing incremental hikes in the prices of contract rooms, Category B workers are being forced to charge less and work longer hours.

“Earlier, few Category B girls used to stand on the streets before 4 pm. But now, you can find us standing from as early as 10 am. We are having to work much harder,” said Shanta, another worker. Some Category B girls are also charging less to build long-term relationships with customers. “We have to depend on our existing customers to come more often. Giving a discount of Rs 100 is hardly uncommon. It hasn’t been this bad since I started over a decade ago,” she adds.

In recent years, the steady movement of women into the area from the districts and elsewhere has resulted in a space crunch. Consequently, landlords are being able to hike prices at will, while the women must either conform or stop working.

“Though new girls keep coming here, the space available is limited. Under the contract system, one room can be used by up to three workers. Still, the rents are constantly increasing,” says Kohinoor. “And if the landlord can’t hike the rent, then we are charged for other facilities. Keeping a television costs Rs 700 a month and a mobile phone charger Rs 500,” she added.

There is little optimism lost, however. “As long as there are men in this city, there will be business for women here. After all, this is Sonagachhi,” declared a sex worker.

Tags: , , , ,

39 comments

Comments feed for this article

13 July 2009 at 18:56

Rohit raj

All girls r struggle with future

15 July 2009 at 03:06

Cheryl Overs

Fascinating thanks Laura. 8000 rupees an hour in Kolkata ???? Forced to drop price to R4000 ? WOW. If this isn’t a misprint sex workers everyhere need to know what a woman has or does to command such prices.

19 July 2009 at 11:07

Saptarshi

can any body tell me about the rates of the girls in Neelkamal building (sonagachi) and quality of the girls?iam thinking to visit this month.

19 July 2009 at 12:57

baba

neelkamal girls are the best..rate is about 1000 to 2000 per hr..great quality..

22 July 2009 at 21:39

rahul

is it safe to go der like if its da firsttime…and wher r da best chicks found der

25 July 2009 at 21:40

sen

I wish to visit sonagachi this month is it safe to go alone there what are the other precaution should i take before visit

26 July 2009 at 10:35

shoeb

What is rate average girl per night which building sona gachi best girl

27 July 2009 at 13:45

melatonintablets

the Economic Recession has been pretty hard on us. some of my friends lost their job because of the massive job cuts. i just hope that our economy becomes better in the following years.

23 August 2009 at 06:53

bibek

please tell me how i will go from esplanade to sonaganchhi by road.

6 September 2009 at 10:58

Acne Scars Treatment Info

Economic recession created huge unemployment rates around the world. I think the world economy is already on the road to recovery.

8 September 2009 at 21:07

sagor

East & West girls of Sonagchi is the best.

8 September 2009 at 21:10

sagor

Realy I dont know.

12 September 2009 at 08:08

Rony

hi plz anybody tell how can i go to sonagachi from Newmerket or esplanade
i am noe in BANGLADESH, and prize of the best girl/night

20 September 2009 at 21:08

jay

if you are lover of sonagachi then mary any one of sonagachi

5 October 2009 at 10:29

pintu

madar chod songachi may randi rs 70 may milta hai madar chod 8000 ka baat karta hai ladn kay baal tera bhan ka boor ka kimat 8000 hoga tari maa ka boshra.

17 October 2009 at 08:16

arpan

plzzz tell me the minimum price for a girl in sonagachi for an hour…and is anything reqd to go there????

19 October 2009 at 10:17

yogeh datta sharma

I want a sexy girl from sonagachhi . plz find her name and mobile no.

23 October 2009 at 14:27

rupesh

i have nothing to say but i want to know something about this

24 October 2009 at 09:28

rakesh

i want 2 go dere but fear dat any police wil raid

26 October 2009 at 09:40

lord

If any girl wnt boys for Fun,Love,Sex….
Thn they can join tis community….
I promis it will be a secret….
Dnt just look it try it…..

26 October 2009 at 21:39

Mannimarwari

Scrolled through these comments hoping to find one to redeem the rest. No luck. Every one of you make me sick. Kindly remove yourselves from the global gene pool….as soon as possible - India would be better off without you.

2 November 2009 at 17:55

Pratim Bose

Don’t go to Neel Kamal. If u book a girl for overnight, they will throw u out after an hour or so. they will demand even ur ATM card as well. best option in sonagachhi is u choose and avail a street woman urself and don’t take any help from any pimp. don’t carry any smart card. some common building there are neel kamal, prem kamal, prem bandhan, ganga jamuna, night lovers etc. all these buildings are heavily crowded by pimps. first they will ask u very less commission. most of these brothels are have north-indian delhi based girls. pimps at first will try to act very healpful. but after sometime they will show u their original cunning nature. Avoid any pim in sonagachhi. Bengali girls in “Nanda ranir bari” is somewhat OK. But i still insists that u do not go to these brothels only hearing the name. be bold. select ur own girl.

2 November 2009 at 18:01

Pratim Bose

rates in neel kamal for an avarage looking girl per hour is about 1.5k to 2k. u need to bargain. be bold. most of the girls are not so good looking as people say about neel kamal. but some girls are indeed very young about 18 - 20 years.

for overnight they will charge around 3.5 k to 5 k. (they may start from 15k but u have to manage it). Best option is not go to any pimp. Select a girl urself.

2 November 2009 at 18:05

Pratim Bose

u can try some other area in kolkata as well. like watgunj in khidirpore, kalighat, etc. but quality of girls is poor. beware of hijras. some are actually robbers. after u book them, they will blackmail u that if u do not pay more then they will start shouting in public.

7 November 2009 at 14:11

satya

nepali girl is best

7 November 2009 at 15:09

Pratim Bose

U can not judge best among 50k women. But if u want beautiful girls with decent nature and u don’t want to be troubled or mishandled by rough pimps then a good choice is the brothel called “nanda ranir bari”. It is simple, but Bengali girls there are nice (not very amazing) and u will be safe. Vis-a-vis you can try other girls inside sonagachhi of ur own choice. but don’t fall in the hands of rough pimps. Do not carry any ATM or Credit card with u.

Most of the girls and pimps in other brothels are very rough in nature. they want the session to be finished very quickly (even though u book them for a long time). they may throw u out as well. So, if u are visiting any non-bengali (north indian) brothel then be bold. Best of luck.

8 November 2009 at 23:35

aniruddha

how can I go to sonagachi from howrah station? can I easily locate “nanda ranir bari” in sonagachi?

10 November 2009 at 10:18

Sujoy Basu

Give me the detailes

13 November 2009 at 22:32

ssekhar1

how can i go to sonagachi from howrah station?
please send me to details the path

15 November 2009 at 08:41

ankit

TAKE A BUS TO BEADON STREET OR SHOVABAZAR,THN HARDLY 5MINS WALK,ASK ANY1 DERE

16 November 2009 at 16:40

Pratim Bose

address of the brothel “nanda ranir bari” is

12, Abinash Kabiraj Street, Kolkata.

It is near neelkamal (hardly 60 - 70 feet). Most of the girs are bengali. It is a safe place anyway but still I insist that u keep ur eyes open and do not give ur cell number to anybody (girls or pimps may ask to make a call from ur cell, they also say that it is very urgent - but u do not give ur cell or number). This brothel is also known as nanda ranir flat.

17 November 2009 at 16:06

Pratim Bose

i am posting a rough road map of sonagachhi for the mongers. it is in text format. if u can’t see it properly then copy this map and paste it to notepad. set the font to bookmans old style and size 12. set wordrap on if required. then u can clearly see this map.

cheers -
Pratim
———————
ROAD MAP OF SONAGACHHI

—————————————————————————————–
Rabindra Sarani Rabindra Sarani
—————————————– —————————— —-
| dur | |mas|
S | ga | S |jid |
o | | o | |
n |cha | n |bari|
a | ran | g | |
g | | c |St |
c | mit | h | |
h | ra | h | |
h | | i | |
i | St | | |
| | | |
| |——————————– —–
| Abinash Kabiraj Street
| ——————————–| |—
Central Bank | | Sonagachhi | |
Bank of India | | | |
—————————————– —————————— ——
Chittaranjan Avenue Chittaranjan Avenue
————————————————————————————————
Shobha bazar
metro railway
station

17 November 2009 at 16:21

Pratim Bose

sorry it is not working because of incorrect behaviour of TAB SPACE.

plz try this……

if u can’t see it properly then copy this map and paste it to notepad. set the font to bookmans old style and size 12. set wordrap on if required. then u can clearly see this map.

ROAD MAP OF SONAGACHHI

—————————————————————————————–
Rabindra Sarani Rabindra Sarani
——————— ————– ——— ———
| dur | |mas|
S | ga | S |jid |
o | | o | |
n |cha | n |bari|
a | ran| a | |
g | | g |St |
c | mit | a | |
h | ra | h | |
h | | h | |
i | St | i | |
| | [Sonagachhi] | |
| |————————— ———
| | Abinash Kabiraj Street
| | ————————| |—
Central Bank | | [Sonagachhi] | |
Bank of India | | | |
—————————————– —————————— ——
Chittaranjan Avenue Chittaranjan Avenue
————————————————————————————————
Shobha bazar
metro railway
station

19 November 2009 at 12:35

saha

Can there be any police harassment in sonagachi?

20 November 2009 at 14:43

Rupak Dutta

Dude, mostly police harassment / raid starts from afternoon onwards. u can visit brothels at noon time from 11 am - 3 pm. From my personal experience i can say that noon time is safe (regarding police). but anytime u go except morning u will face crooked pimps and elderly women who can force u to take a chik of their choice. so go along main streets of the area. do not enter any blind lane. just ignore them and don’t talk to them. if u are walking then do not stop around them. talk to the girl u like directly. rate for avarage girls is Rs 150 - 200. take ur condoms with u (at least two).

so enjoy ur time buddy !!

21 November 2009 at 15:09

saha

In the morning time, can I get good chicks there? can you give me brief direction of the best area at sonagachi? I have a road idea of there. So brief idea can help me to access there. What about the chinky? Is there any other good place in kolkata?

21 November 2009 at 15:56

prosenjeet

GAND MARA BEHENCHOD…..GHAR ME MA BEHEN NAHI HAI KYA……DUSRE LADKIO KA GAR MARTE HO ……NAMARD…..

21 November 2009 at 16:02

prosenjeet

BOKACHDA

21 November 2009 at 16:02

prosenjeet

KHANKI MAGI KE CHUDE KI PAAAS