[00:00:06:02]
The first thing that strikes you when you come to
[00:00:08:05]
[00:00:08:09]
India is a sense of extreme contrasts.
[00:00:11:13]
[00:00:11:18]
While some people are still shitting off the side of railway lines
[00:00:15:00]
[00:00:15:04]
and eating from banana leaves,
[00:00:17:05]
[00:00:17:09]
other people are drinking Frappucinos
[00:00:18:22]
[00:00:19:01]
and wearing Gucci sunglasses.
[00:00:20:15]
[00:00:21:11]
Along with this feeling of progress and moving forward, there's still this
[00:00:25:04]
[00:00:25:08]
undercurrent of tradition,
[00:00:27:01]
[00:00:27:05]
religion,
[00:00:28:24]
[00:00:29:03]
superstition,
[00:00:30:01]
[00:00:30:05]
and an even more deeply engrained caste system.
[00:00:33:12]
[00:00:34:08]
I didn't realize quite how sharp these contrasts between
[00:00:36:24]
[00:00:37:03]
new and old India were until I came here
[00:00:39:18]
[00:00:39:23]
last year to research an article about
[00:00:43:05]
[00:00:43:09]
sex trafficking.
[00:00:44:09]
[00:00:44:13]
On my very first day here, I met a group of
[00:00:46:17]
[00:00:46:22]
temple prostitutes,
[00:00:48:21]
[00:00:49:09]
who told me about this ancient Hindu system where
[00:00:53:03]
[00:00:53:13]
prepubescent girls
[00:00:55:05]
[00:00:55:09]
are dedicated to a goddess.
[00:00:57:05]
[00:00:57:09]
And for the rest of their lives they will become
[00:00:59:15]
[00:00:59:19]
sex slaves of the temple.
[00:01:02:08]
[00:01:02:12]
The name of that system is Devadasi.
[00:01:04:07]
[00:01:05:10]
[PROSTITUTES OF GOD
PART 1 OF 4]
[00:01:11:19]
[00:01:15:15]
This train is a little bit like
[00:01:17:09]
[00:01:17:14]
The Darjeeling Limited,
[00:01:19:15]
[00:01:19:19]
except we have cockroaches sleeping on our beds
[00:01:23:22]
[00:01:25:01]
and there's no one serving Sweet Lime.
[00:01:27:17]
[00:01:28:12]
Hello!
[00:01:30:21]
[00:01:31:17]
So, in the beginning, being a Devadasi
[00:01:33:22]
[00:01:34:01]
had nothing to do with prostitution.
[00:01:35:21]
[00:01:36:15]
In medieval India, they were glamorous temple dancers
[00:01:39:08]
[00:01:39:12]
and held high social status.
[00:01:41:08]
[00:01:41:23]
They performed sacred religious rituals
[00:01:43:23]
[00:01:44:02]
and danced for royalty in the name of a goddess called Yellamma.
[00:01:47:03]
[00:01:48:09]
Over the centuries, the link between the Devadasis
[00:01:50:19]
[00:01:50:23]
and their temples gradually diminished,
[00:01:52:17]
[00:01:52:21]
along with their social status.
[00:01:54:16]
[00:01:55:08]
They became the paid mistresses of priests,
[00:01:57:15]
[00:01:57:24]
then kings, and later, rich landowners.
[00:02:00:12]
[00:02:01:18]
In the 19th century,
[00:02:02:23]
[00:02:03:02]
Western missionaries tried to abolish the tradition
[00:02:05:09]
[00:02:06:02]
calling it grotesque and immoral,
[00:02:07:20]
[00:02:08:06]
driving the Devadasis underground.
[00:02:10:05]
[00:02:12:03]
Today, Devadasis are no different
[00:02:14:00]
[00:02:14:04]
to common street hookers,
[00:02:16:00]
[00:02:16:04]
servicing drunk truck drivers
[00:02:17:18]
[00:02:17:22]
and bored businessmen.
[00:02:18:24]
[00:02:19:16]
Even though the practice has been illegal for over twenty years,
[00:02:22:11]
[00:02:22:23]
up to 3,000 girls are still being secretly dedicated every year.
[00:02:26:19]
[00:02:27:20]
We travelled to the border town of Sangli,
[00:02:30:01]
[00:02:30:17]
which straddles the two Southern Indian states of Karnataka and Maharastra.
[00:02:34:17]
[00:02:35:14]
Its red light district is home to hundreds of Devadasi sex workers.
[00:02:39:16]
[00:02:39:24]
That afternoon, we were invited there by Anitha,
[00:02:42:10]
[00:02:42:14]
one of its most successful brothel owners.
[00:02:45:02]
[00:02:46:09]
She's a member of an NGO called Sangram,
[00:02:48:17]
[00:02:48:23]
which fights to empower local sex workers.
[00:02:51:15]
[00:02:52:11]
Communication was pretty painful,
[00:02:54:09]
[00:02:54:15]
as our interpreter, Somashekar, was having some trouble with his English.
[00:02:57:09]
[00:02:58:14]
Everybody in the houses next door,
[00:03:00:10]
[00:03:00:20]
this whole street,
[00:03:01:16]
[00:03:01:20]
is also sex workers, like Anitha?
[00:03:04:21]
[00:03:06:00]
Yes.
[00:03:06:14]
[00:03:07:04]
Yes, sex workers.
[00:03:08:09]
[00:03:09:10]
So, all the neighborhood.
[00:03:10:04]
[00:03:11:22]
And they are all friends who live around here?
[00:03:13:22]
[00:03:14:06]
Everybody is friends?
[00:03:15:13]
[00:03:15:17]
Everybody is in France!
[00:03:17:24]
[00:03:20:09]
So, when the customer comes inside, the door closes.
[00:03:25:04]
[00:03:25:12]
And this-
[00:03:26:08]
[00:03:26:12]
Anitha's customer is going,
door is closing.
[00:03:30:02]
[00:03:32:13]
Another lady, Suma is another customer...
work in this room.
[00:03:38:20]
[00:03:39:09]
She's not a customer, she is also a sex worker
[00:03:41:21]
[00:03:42:22]
and she uses this room?
[00:03:44:09]
[00:03:44:14]
Yeah, I'm a sex worker.
[00:03:48:01]
[00:03:50:24]
That's another one of Anitha's friends who's lying in there,
[00:03:53:01]
[00:03:53:05]
who's lying in there.
[00:03:54:06]
[00:03:55:04]
Hello!
[00:03:56:03]
[00:03:58:05]
I am gay.
[00:03:59:11]
[00:03:59:18]
I working...I am sex worker.
[00:04:01:19]
[00:04:01:23]
This is what she's saying. You?
[00:04:03:24]
[00:04:05:05]
I am in this...Anitha's room,
customer, in this room.
[00:04:10:13]
[00:04:12:04]
Tell me again, so, are you talking as you?
[00:04:13:24]
[00:04:14:03]
Are you telling me, Somashekar, that you are a sex worker?
[00:04:17:15]
[00:04:18:10]
You are a sex worker and you came to Anitha's room and...
[00:04:22:03]
[00:04:22:13]
Customer coming...
[00:04:24:02]
[00:04:24:06]
Yeah.
[00:04:24:14]
[00:04:24:18]
I work in this room.
[00:04:26:10]
[00:04:26:14]
You work in this room and Anitha works in this room?
[00:04:28:23]
[00:04:29:02]
Yes, this room.
[00:04:30:05]
[00:04:30:24]
So, you all work together?
[00:04:32:01]
[00:04:34:10]
Customers come in whatever number. Nothing is fixed.
It could be one, two, three, four.
[00:04:40:20]
[00:04:41:00]
For two hours they give me
200 or 300 rupees (£4).
[00:04:43:15]
[00:04:43:19]
[I bring the customer up and
then when the sex work is done,]
[00:04:46:21]
[00:04:47:03]
I will take him down and wait for next customer.
[00:04:51:07]
[00:04:52:11]
This is my house and I conduct
my business over here.
[00:04:55:23]
[00:04:56:02]
Nobody has brought me here,
[00:04:58:03]
[00:04:58:08]
nobody has kept me here.
[00:05:00:04]
[00:05:00:08]
I became a Devadasi only because I decided so.
[00:05:03:02]
[00:05:03:06]
I wanted to be a sex worker to start
the business and make money.
[00:05:06:07]
[00:05:06:11]
I decided to build a fine home and buy utensils.
[00:05:09:08]
[00:05:09:12]
I wanted to buy a TV, I wanted to do all that.
[00:05:12:14]
[00:05:12:18]
I really don't think there is anything
wrong in doing this work.
[00:05:16:14]
[00:05:19:01]
The whole place is completely different than what I thought it would be.
[00:05:22:10]
[00:05:23:08]
I imagined these really seedy, anonymous hotel-looking brothels.
[00:05:30:16]
[00:05:30:22]
But actually, there are kids running around everywhere,
[00:05:33:13]
[00:05:33:17]
there are women doing their laundry, making lunch,
[00:05:37:03]
[00:05:37:07]
and it feels like a tight-knit community.
[00:05:41:08]
[00:05:43:15]
The ladies of Sangli wouldn't let me leave
[00:05:45:06]
[00:05:45:10]
without showing me the temple around the corner.
[00:05:48:00]
[00:05:48:14]
It seemed like wherever there were brothels,
[00:05:50:15]
[00:05:50:19]
the goddess Yellamma was never far away.
[00:05:52:19]
[00:05:55:02]
For Anitha and her friends,
[00:05:56:09]
[00:05:56:13]
being a Devadasi was nothing to be ashamed of.
[00:05:59:00]
[00:05:59:19]
Sex work was their choice,
[00:06:01:07]
[00:06:01:11]
they had condoms, pair in numbers,
[00:06:03:06]
[00:06:03:10]
and Sangram looking after them,
[00:06:05:01]
[00:06:05:17]
but these were just the lucky few.
[00:06:07:07]
[00:06:09:01]
For the vast majority of Devadasis,
[00:06:11:01]
[00:06:11:05]
prostitution isn't a choice.
[00:06:13:00]
[00:06:13:18]
It's forced upon them,
[00:06:15:02]
[00:06:15:08]
and most often by their parents.
[00:06:17:07]
The first thing that strikes you when you come to
[00:00:08:05]
[00:00:08:09]
India is a sense of extreme contrasts.
[00:00:11:13]
[00:00:11:18]
While some people are still shitting off the side of railway lines
[00:00:15:00]
[00:00:15:04]
and eating from banana leaves,
[00:00:17:05]
[00:00:17:09]
other people are drinking Frappucinos
[00:00:18:22]
[00:00:19:01]
and wearing Gucci sunglasses.
[00:00:20:15]
[00:00:21:11]
Along with this feeling of progress and moving forward, there's still this
[00:00:25:04]
[00:00:25:08]
undercurrent of tradition,
[00:00:27:01]
[00:00:27:05]
religion,
[00:00:28:24]
[00:00:29:03]
superstition,
[00:00:30:01]
[00:00:30:05]
and an even more deeply engrained caste system.
[00:00:33:12]
[00:00:34:08]
I didn't realize quite how sharp these contrasts between
[00:00:36:24]
[00:00:37:03]
new and old India were until I came here
[00:00:39:18]
[00:00:39:23]
last year to research an article about
[00:00:43:05]
[00:00:43:09]
sex trafficking.
[00:00:44:09]
[00:00:44:13]
On my very first day here, I met a group of
[00:00:46:17]
[00:00:46:22]
temple prostitutes,
[00:00:48:21]
[00:00:49:09]
who told me about this ancient Hindu system where
[00:00:53:03]
[00:00:53:13]
prepubescent girls
[00:00:55:05]
[00:00:55:09]
are dedicated to a goddess.
[00:00:57:05]
[00:00:57:09]
And for the rest of their lives they will become
[00:00:59:15]
[00:00:59:19]
sex slaves of the temple.
[00:01:02:08]
[00:01:02:12]
The name of that system is Devadasi.
[00:01:04:07]
[00:01:05:10]
[PROSTITUTES OF GOD
PART 1 OF 4]
[00:01:11:19]
[00:01:15:15]
This train is a little bit like
[00:01:17:09]
[00:01:17:14]
The Darjeeling Limited,
[00:01:19:15]
[00:01:19:19]
except we have cockroaches sleeping on our beds
[00:01:23:22]
[00:01:25:01]
and there's no one serving Sweet Lime.
[00:01:27:17]
[00:01:28:12]
Hello!
[00:01:30:21]
[00:01:31:17]
So, in the beginning, being a Devadasi
[00:01:33:22]
[00:01:34:01]
had nothing to do with prostitution.
[00:01:35:21]
[00:01:36:15]
In medieval India, they were glamorous temple dancers
[00:01:39:08]
[00:01:39:12]
and held high social status.
[00:01:41:08]
[00:01:41:23]
They performed sacred religious rituals
[00:01:43:23]
[00:01:44:02]
and danced for royalty in the name of a goddess called Yellamma.
[00:01:47:03]
[00:01:48:09]
Over the centuries, the link between the Devadasis
[00:01:50:19]
[00:01:50:23]
and their temples gradually diminished,
[00:01:52:17]
[00:01:52:21]
along with their social status.
[00:01:54:16]
[00:01:55:08]
They became the paid mistresses of priests,
[00:01:57:15]
[00:01:57:24]
then kings, and later, rich landowners.
[00:02:00:12]
[00:02:01:18]
In the 19th century,
[00:02:02:23]
[00:02:03:02]
Western missionaries tried to abolish the tradition
[00:02:05:09]
[00:02:06:02]
calling it grotesque and immoral,
[00:02:07:20]
[00:02:08:06]
driving the Devadasis underground.
[00:02:10:05]
[00:02:12:03]
Today, Devadasis are no different
[00:02:14:00]
[00:02:14:04]
to common street hookers,
[00:02:16:00]
[00:02:16:04]
servicing drunk truck drivers
[00:02:17:18]
[00:02:17:22]
and bored businessmen.
[00:02:18:24]
[00:02:19:16]
Even though the practice has been illegal for over twenty years,
[00:02:22:11]
[00:02:22:23]
up to 3,000 girls are still being secretly dedicated every year.
[00:02:26:19]
[00:02:27:20]
We travelled to the border town of Sangli,
[00:02:30:01]
[00:02:30:17]
which straddles the two Southern Indian states of Karnataka and Maharastra.
[00:02:34:17]
[00:02:35:14]
Its red light district is home to hundreds of Devadasi sex workers.
[00:02:39:16]
[00:02:39:24]
That afternoon, we were invited there by Anitha,
[00:02:42:10]
[00:02:42:14]
one of its most successful brothel owners.
[00:02:45:02]
[00:02:46:09]
She's a member of an NGO called Sangram,
[00:02:48:17]
[00:02:48:23]
which fights to empower local sex workers.
[00:02:51:15]
[00:02:52:11]
Communication was pretty painful,
[00:02:54:09]
[00:02:54:15]
as our interpreter, Somashekar, was having some trouble with his English.
[00:02:57:09]
[00:02:58:14]
Everybody in the houses next door,
[00:03:00:10]
[00:03:00:20]
this whole street,
[00:03:01:16]
[00:03:01:20]
is also sex workers, like Anitha?
[00:03:04:21]
[00:03:06:00]
Yes.
[00:03:06:14]
[00:03:07:04]
Yes, sex workers.
[00:03:08:09]
[00:03:09:10]
So, all the neighborhood.
[00:03:10:04]
[00:03:11:22]
And they are all friends who live around here?
[00:03:13:22]
[00:03:14:06]
Everybody is friends?
[00:03:15:13]
[00:03:15:17]
Everybody is in France!
[00:03:17:24]
[00:03:20:09]
So, when the customer comes inside, the door closes.
[00:03:25:04]
[00:03:25:12]
And this-
[00:03:26:08]
[00:03:26:12]
Anitha's customer is going,
door is closing.
[00:03:30:02]
[00:03:32:13]
Another lady, Suma is another customer...
work in this room.
[00:03:38:20]
[00:03:39:09]
She's not a customer, she is also a sex worker
[00:03:41:21]
[00:03:42:22]
and she uses this room?
[00:03:44:09]
[00:03:44:14]
Yeah, I'm a sex worker.
[00:03:48:01]
[00:03:50:24]
That's another one of Anitha's friends who's lying in there,
[00:03:53:01]
[00:03:53:05]
who's lying in there.
[00:03:54:06]
[00:03:55:04]
Hello!
[00:03:56:03]
[00:03:58:05]
I am gay.
[00:03:59:11]
[00:03:59:18]
I working...I am sex worker.
[00:04:01:19]
[00:04:01:23]
This is what she's saying. You?
[00:04:03:24]
[00:04:05:05]
I am in this...Anitha's room,
customer, in this room.
[00:04:10:13]
[00:04:12:04]
Tell me again, so, are you talking as you?
[00:04:13:24]
[00:04:14:03]
Are you telling me, Somashekar, that you are a sex worker?
[00:04:17:15]
[00:04:18:10]
You are a sex worker and you came to Anitha's room and...
[00:04:22:03]
[00:04:22:13]
Customer coming...
[00:04:24:02]
[00:04:24:06]
Yeah.
[00:04:24:14]
[00:04:24:18]
I work in this room.
[00:04:26:10]
[00:04:26:14]
You work in this room and Anitha works in this room?
[00:04:28:23]
[00:04:29:02]
Yes, this room.
[00:04:30:05]
[00:04:30:24]
So, you all work together?
[00:04:32:01]
[00:04:34:10]
Customers come in whatever number. Nothing is fixed.
It could be one, two, three, four.
[00:04:40:20]
[00:04:41:00]
For two hours they give me
200 or 300 rupees (£4).
[00:04:43:15]
[00:04:43:19]
[I bring the customer up and
then when the sex work is done,]
[00:04:46:21]
[00:04:47:03]
I will take him down and wait for next customer.
[00:04:51:07]
[00:04:52:11]
This is my house and I conduct
my business over here.
[00:04:55:23]
[00:04:56:02]
Nobody has brought me here,
[00:04:58:03]
[00:04:58:08]
nobody has kept me here.
[00:05:00:04]
[00:05:00:08]
I became a Devadasi only because I decided so.
[00:05:03:02]
[00:05:03:06]
I wanted to be a sex worker to start
the business and make money.
[00:05:06:07]
[00:05:06:11]
I decided to build a fine home and buy utensils.
[00:05:09:08]
[00:05:09:12]
I wanted to buy a TV, I wanted to do all that.
[00:05:12:14]
[00:05:12:18]
I really don't think there is anything
wrong in doing this work.
[00:05:16:14]
[00:05:19:01]
The whole place is completely different than what I thought it would be.
[00:05:22:10]
[00:05:23:08]
I imagined these really seedy, anonymous hotel-looking brothels.
[00:05:30:16]
[00:05:30:22]
But actually, there are kids running around everywhere,
[00:05:33:13]
[00:05:33:17]
there are women doing their laundry, making lunch,
[00:05:37:03]
[00:05:37:07]
and it feels like a tight-knit community.
[00:05:41:08]
[00:05:43:15]
The ladies of Sangli wouldn't let me leave
[00:05:45:06]
[00:05:45:10]
without showing me the temple around the corner.
[00:05:48:00]
[00:05:48:14]
It seemed like wherever there were brothels,
[00:05:50:15]
[00:05:50:19]
the goddess Yellamma was never far away.
[00:05:52:19]
[00:05:55:02]
For Anitha and her friends,
[00:05:56:09]
[00:05:56:13]
being a Devadasi was nothing to be ashamed of.
[00:05:59:00]
[00:05:59:19]
Sex work was their choice,
[00:06:01:07]
[00:06:01:11]
they had condoms, pair in numbers,
[00:06:03:06]
[00:06:03:10]
and Sangram looking after them,
[00:06:05:01]
[00:06:05:17]
but these were just the lucky few.
[00:06:07:07]
[00:06:09:01]
For the vast majority of Devadasis,
[00:06:11:01]
[00:06:11:05]
prostitution isn't a choice.
[00:06:13:00]
[00:06:13:18]
It's forced upon them,
[00:06:15:02]
[00:06:15:08]
and most often by their parents.
[00:06:17:07]