DESTINATION MUMBAI: FALKLAND ROAD The brothel district of Kamathipura began in the 17th century by British authorities to satisfy the carnal demand of Her Majesty’s troops. Soon Chinese, Anglo-Indian, French and other “white” women stocked flourishing bordellos on a street once known to natives as “Safed Galli, or “white alley.” Nepali women from regions of Sindupalchowk began arriving after World War II, increasing to trafficked women from throughout the country by the 1980’s. A hierarchy of pimps, brothel owners, organized criminals; police and politicians share the profits of this criminally controlled sex industry. Kamathipura, Mumbai, India.

ENTERTAINER A Hijra (transvestite) relaxes at a wedding party between two Pathan guests. North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan.

PUBLIC ATTRACTION, PRIVATE PLEASURES Hijras (transvestites) entertain at a wedding celebration. In Pakistan, due to strict Islamic cultural rules forbidding women from public appearances, many boys dress up as hijras and entertain men. Many Pakistan male sex workers who dress as females are transvestites, not transsexuals. While many live together in a group, others are married and support children by selling sexual entertainment. North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan.

WAITING FOR CLIENTS Playing with a baby, looking in the mirror, Nepali teen sex workers and a madam wait for client’s midday on Falkland Road. A thriving center of the flesh trade catering mostly to migrant workers and a destination of thousands of trafficked children and women. “In this place, we take care of each other. If a girl is sick or needs any kind of help, everybody contributes. We are all in the same boat. We have no mothers or fathers or family. We only have each other,” says Jyoti, a fifteen-year-old Nepali sex worker. Falkland Road, Kamathipura, Mumbai, India.

MOTHERHOOD Kailashi, a Badi mother, playing with her son. “I was a beautiful child with curly hair. The high castes and “big” people played with me and gave me rupees when I danced. My father made drums and my mother begged. And then we came here to this village and we did pessaa. “Later, my father died’. Western Nepal.

GODDESS YELLAMA Each year in January, thousands of low caste farmers pilgrimage to the temple of Goddess Yellama, patron deity of the downtrodden, hijras, and prostitutes. Saturated in turmeric dust, crowds of villagers circumambulate the temple shouting "Udheyo! Udheyo! Rise Up to the Mother!" Saundatti, Karnataka, India.

YELLAMA DEVADASI Weaving in trance, drenched in sacred healing turmeric, devadasis ‘handmaidens of the Goddess’ sway through the crowds, with images of goddess Yellama balanced on their heads, a renewal of the life force at her yearly festival. Auspicious but impure, according to Medieval temple records, devadasis brought critical income to the temples. Clients made offerings for physical union with the Goddess in the form of devadasis. Today, Yellama’s devotees are mostly bonded laborers who till the soil for landlords, and many devadasis find themselves in Mumbai red light districts. HIV and STD run rampant in these communities. Saundatti, Karnataka, India.

SUPPORTING THE FAMILY The Badi of Western Nepal, traditionally a caste of roving entertainers, sang and danced through the hills of Nepal into the plains of India. For the Badi, service is a family affair, often conducted within the home. Western Nepal.

ENDLESS DOKOS Tamang women carry loads of stones in Sindupalchowk district, central Nepal. Across the Himalayas, women perform two thirds of the fieldwork and manual labor. Male brokers and returnee Madams, often once trafficked themselves, find little difficulty recruiting in these regions. Sindupalchowk district, Central Nepal

YELLAMA DEVADASI A devadasi in trance dances at the yearly festival to Yellama. She wears the distinctive dreadlocks and cowry shell necklace markings of a devadasi. In Ancient India, devadasis were the only women who could read, write and own property. A devadasi does not require a dowry. Since marriage to Yellama ritually turns a daughter into a groom and a son, poor parents without sons dedicate their daughter in the hopes that she will provide for them in their old age. Saundatti, Karnataka, India.

RENUNCIATION Former devadasis, now project workers for the Devadasi Rehabilitation center, untangle and cut the dreadlocks of a young devadasi, symbolizing her rejection of the practice. Over 5,000 girls under twelve years of age are offered as grooms to ritually "marry" the goddess in an ancient rite which some believe is more of a curse than a blessing. A daughter dedicated to the Goddess does not require an expensive dowry. A wealthy patron may pay impoverished parents to dedicate their daughter to Yellama so that the patron may receive a boon from the deity. Saundatti, Karnataka, India.