Bhartiya Bargirls Union Formed

August 20, 2004

Dear friends,

You are well aware about the formation of the first all women party in India, Womanist Party of India (WPI), under the able leadership of Varsha Kale in October 2004. Recently, Election Commission of India (EC) granted WPI registration and thus it has become world's first registered all women political party.

Varsha Kale, the founder and national president of WPI in her bid to unite women of different strata and make the Party more broad-based and all-inclusive, has now initiated process of organising different deprived and vulnerable sections among women. Bhartiya Bargirls Union (BBU) is a part of this process.

A new spectre is haunting guardians of the "great Indian culture" now days. A moral campaign has been launched against this new menace which is threatening the delicate "sexual fabric" of Indian middle class.The campaign has got backing of the political leaders of all shades — both secular and communal as well as "feminists" and "social workers". This "menace" is the contaminating influences on society of the growing trend of beer-bars, pubs, discotheques offering ladies services. The women working in these places are called in common parlance as "bar-girls". Like a ghost, the "cultural vanguards and police" perceive these "bar-girls" as a threat. This has enthralled the real police as they can invade these places, violate human rights of the women workers and still receive applause from the "white collar" society. Justice Dharmadhikari, a well known humanist, who is leading the campaign, unlikely to be unaware of various interests and forces that are eager to pose these women wage-earners as vamps and a soft target to further their own agenda. Left to right and the centre, all ideological shades have blurred their differences and there is a friendly competition among them for highlighting different dimensions and aspects of this threat. Everyone agree that these bars must be banned though for different pretexts. Some pose as protectors of the "bar-girls", terming them as victims and wish to be their "liberators" like Lord Krishna. While the other rests their apposition on the age-old moral, ethical cum cultural discourses and want to cleanse the society as "sincere cultural security guards". Few of them are terming it as commodification of women and should be opposed along with the MNC's. Some look at these "bar-girls" as victims, while some as ghosts/villains but there is an agreement that they are dangerous and condemnable phenomena.

This trend began in the last 15 to 20 years in Mumbai and its vicinity. It has grown significantly in the last decade. Now there are approximately two to two and half thousand such bars or hotels in and around Mumbai city alone. The phenomenon is spreading rapidly in the adjacent suburb cities such as New Bombay, Panvel, Thane, Khopoli, Bhivandi, Dombivli, Shahapur. At the same time such places are mushrooming all along the highways throughout Maharashtra and even in and around other cities such as Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Solapur, Kolhapur, Nagapur and small cities and towns within the states.

This is not really a traditional business of liquor selling. It is flourishing mainly on the selling of the sexual services and it rests on the engagement of women and girls working at these places into sex-work.

There are roughly 100,000 girls engaged in such profession in and around Mumbai city alone. They travel through western, central and Harbour local trains in the evening, late night or early morning as their workplaces are always far off from their residences. Some, most probably in groups, hire autos, cabs or other private vehicles for the same. The girls and women engaged in this profession fall into age group 14 to 50 years. The girls are coming from all the states and hook and corner of country to Mumbai and all the districts of Maharashtra lucrative profession to Mumbai. Primarily, the number of women coming from Delhi, Agra, U.P., Bihar, Haryana, Bangladesh, Rajsthan and Nepal is greater. These girls come not only from lower economic strata but most of them belong to socially backward Muslims, O.B.C. and Dalit castes. They are mostly semi-literate or less educated.

There is a categorization of work among the women engaged in this profession. Though singers, dancers, waitresses and escort girls are broad categories, all of them are expected to provide some extra sexual services along with their routine work. Some places are called 'pick-up points' as they only exhibit girls and customers can hire them for 'sexual outings' from that spot. The girls working there do not have to sing or dance much. Some places are called "Free-Bars" for the customers are served with sexual service with girls working there for "free" along with the expensive liquor. The girls have to work there under pathetic condition, as they have to perform sexual acts with the customers openly and in front of all. The girls working in other type of bars speak sympathetically about the pitiable condition of girls working in these "free-bars". These "free-bars" are the 'last option' for the bargirls. They accept jobs at these places if their situation is helplessly worst. If it further worsens then they have no other alternative to become full-fledged sex-worker and engaged into sex-work standing aside road. In their words, working in "free-bar" is only second-last option.

Many of these girls remain in their own families while engaging in this profession. Some stay alone, while others live in a group of two to three girls. Some also stay in large groups of 15 to 20 girls together. Several times these girls are brought or come to Mumbai through some 'Agents'. These 'agents' look after lodging, boarding and travelling facilities in return of hefty charges. These girls reside in the slums or chawl type houses within cities or vacant economy flats in far away suburbs. Though in a sense all these girls remain in the general lower or lower middle class community, they can be singled out by their appearance (life-style, standard of living, make-up, dresses, hair-styles) and odd timings of work. Therefore, they tend to live in cocoons and secluded localities or they are ostracised by the surrounding community.

Most of the girls enter this trade as they can earn more than the any other job they are able to get. Considering their educational background and the socio-economic strata to which belong their earning level is certainly better than the other women belong to the same category. Obviously, this profession appear a business with 'easy and lot's of money'. However, the money earn through this apparently lucrative business, slips through many routes leaving little or nothing in their hands at the end.

As this business is a part of the 'entertainment industry', there is a stiff competition within and without. On the other hand as it also fall into 'sex-work' category, there is a obvious age limit for the women engaged in this profession. If they are taken as 'hotel workers' and 'waitresses', there is no job security in this trade.

This is the kind of trade in which several people have vested interests or stakes and direct or indirect involvement. Agents, customers, bar-owners, police, goons, transporters all are eager to grab their pound of flesh. Facing terror from both police and criminals simultaneously, they have to spend a huge share of their earning on 'haftas' or instalments. Further, given the insecure nature of the business they are prone to become victims of fraud and cheating which at a time likely to wipe off their whole savings.

Erotic appearance is the key element for the girls irrespective of their work categories such as singers, dancers or waitresses. Hence, they have to spend a huge amount on cosmetics and expensive silky clothes. Sometimes they have to even hire costly dresses or purchase them on credit as per the set standards of the bars. In both the cases, they have to spend more in the form of exorbitant rent or interests.

These girls have to face competition, criminalisation, denigration, domestic problems and the sexual abuses and misbehaviour of the customers simultaneously. Since, their profession is closely linked with liquor; they are prone to consequent addictions, which again add into their expenses.

Several times, they are trapped under different acts as interpreted by the police in grossly incorrect way. They can only escape or avoid legal action by paying bribe to the police.

The nature of this business leads to certain type of relations between the bargirls and the men around them that are always exploitative for the former. Quite often customers tend or pretend to fall in love with these girls and after initial courtship, becoming dependent, they start extracting money from the girls.

It is difficult to fulfil all the needs and demands of the dependent family members. Though dependent on the earnings of these girls, the family members treat them with little respect. In stead of contributing something by doing some work and reducing the burden of earning for the whole family, these dependent family members indulge in wasteful spending and expect the girls to pay for it as price for their 'sins'.

This business is seasonal in nature. The additional money earned during the boom period is extinguished on festivals, while it is difficult to maintain usual standard of living during the slack season. Time and again they are replaced by the bar owners whenever a new lot of girls come as the customers always prefer new faces (bodies). Further, the owners tend to reduce the number of girls during the slack. It is difficult to find new workplace immediately. Hence, there are periods within every year when the girls do not get work and face seasonal unemployment. Their remaining savings are eaten up by these intervening periods of unemployment.

Therefore this profession cannot and should not be regarded as a source of 'easy and lots of money'. It is neither 'easy' for girls to earn this money nor to keep 'lot' of it for themselves.

As this profession, do not fall into conventional 'sex work' category, the girls engaged into it are reluctant to identify themselves as 'Commercial Sex Workers'. They are bit 'call girls', bit 'sex workers', little bit 'entertainers' and bit 'maids'. Hence, they do not get any of the advantages or sympathy, which workers engaged in any of these professions get. On the contrary, due to their peculiar position they get all the disadvantages, stigma and losses attached to all these professions.

They are called 'Queens of Night'. Their feet are swelled by dancing and standing in attractive erotic poses for the whole night. Their health deteriorates due to irregular and odd timings of sleeping and eating. Stigmatisation and denigrating looks of all in the society ruins them mentally.

They have to face sexual abuses and misconduct while engaging in sexual acts with the customers. The customers generally prefer sex without condom. They thus tend to force unsafe sex on the bargirls and making them thus vulnerable to diseases such as HIV-AIDS or Hepatitis-B. Many customers force unnatural sex and demand and force oral or anal sex with the girls. They have to face eve teasing and be sexually assaulted, molested, robed, battered and even raped during their daily travelling between their homes and work places. They are continuously worried about their children who remain awake until these girls return safely to their houses. Sleepless nights and denigration in the day drowns their life into abyss.

So far, these girls have not collectively raised their voice on the issues of remuneration, security, safety etc. No political force has taken their side. There are minimum ten to fifteen bargirls working in any such kind of place and in some bars, they are in the group of 40 to 50 together. In spite of their numerical strength, it is difficult to organise them as a unit for collective bargaining in any single bar due to terror, intimidation and competition. It is necessary to organise them at the state level as they are now spread throughout Maharashtra.

An effort was made to organise union of the barmaids by bar owners themselves in 1996. They wanted to oppose the policy taken by the then Sena-BJP government of strictly enforcing the clause of the Shops and Establishment Act, which forbid owners from employing women in hotels after 8-30 p.m. Around 40,000 girls came on the street as this policy was directly endangering their livelihood. However, the struggle fizzled out when the Government bowed down and agreed to extend the timing of employing women in the places coming under the act from 8-30 to 1-30 p.m. The union also resolve the 'tips row' (earning from the gift of the customers) between some of the bar owners and the bargirls with a promise to divide the amount of 'tip' between them into 40:60 ratio respectively. Obviously, as the struggle ended the bar owners failed to fulfil the promise. However, the struggle was significant for making people aware about the hidden strength of this group. Those who have seen 40,000 aggressive bargirls marching the streets of Mumbai in a well-organised way can well understand the enormous fighting power of these women. Their peculiar socio-economic and cultural place in the society has given them tremendous rebellious strength.

Though minimally, these girls are somewhat educated and therefore articulate in their expressions. Along with their own mother tongue, they have to learn a bit Hindi and English, as the customers want girls who can interact with them. They read a bit and watch TV regularly. They are vocal, articulate and can narrate or discuss and understand many things. They are relatively independent. All this can prove very handy when they are organised and form their own collective.

Thousands of girls are coming or being brought to Mumbai from slums and chawls and different villages, towns and cities of the every hook and corner of the country. They are being sent out of their states and countries for this work. They are being raped, tortured and even murdered. All this is going on uninhibitedly, recklessly and unabatedly. At the same time, the middle class is becoming more and more intolerant with its moralistic obsessions, selfishness, pseudo-sensitivity and cynicism. It frowns upon this trend when their sleep get disturbed by the noises of retuning girls in the late night, they see possibility of their children getting attracted to a bar near the school, they hear filthy language of these girls in the local trains or mistakenly as bargirls, middle class women are eve teased by the fellow men commuters. Then they turned guardians of morality and culture and outcry over this phenomenon with the help of communal and regressive forces.

One must understand this is the question related to the huge unemployment among the women. It is the product of feminisation of poverty, unemployment, natural calamities such as cyclones, droughts, and man made calamities such as gender violence, riots, bad governance, mismanagement, consumerism and the system, which rests on the gross inequality, imbalance and insensitivity. It is the problem of double standards and hypocrisy in the society. This is the problem, which throw light on the decline of values and principles among the politicians and establishment. It is the question, which highlights corrupt and insensitive police and state machinery.

Enraged by this, the bargirls are beginning to speak out against the double standards and hypocrisy of the elite and middle class society in a rebellious language. They have the courage and ability to pinpoint the contradictions in the prevailing family system, state and social structure. Hence, it is necessary to organise them not only to secure their basic human rights but also to sharpen the struggle against the social anomalies.

The process to organise them to form their collective on these lines is underway in the form of Bhartiya Bargirls Union. The union has identified certain issues to work on to begin with. A participatory action research programme that can equip the members of the union psychologically, legally and ideologically to take on the different social actors which they will have to handle can further this process.