Althouse: "Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim countries in the world where prostitution is legal."

June 15, 2016

"Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim countries in the world where prostitution is legal."

"The Kandapara brothel in the district of Tangail is the oldest and second-largest in the country — it has existed for some 200 years. It was demolished in 2014, but has been established again with the help of local NGOs. Many of the women were born there, grew up there and didn’t know where else to go when it disappeared. Supporters of the brothel believe that sex work is also work — and that these women don’t want to do something else. The women themselves demonstrated for their rights as workers, and so at the end of 2014, the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association convinced the High Court that the eviction of the sex workers was an illegal act. The sex workers quickly returned to their homes. Today, the area’s 'brothel district' is surrounded by a wall...."

From a photo-essay in The Washington Post titled "Heartbreaking photos show what it’s like living in a walled city of a brothel."

These women don’t want to do something else....

26 comments:

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: has been established again with the help of local NGOs

????; 6/15/16, 8:27 AM
gerry said...: What a sad-looking place.; 6/15/16, 8:29 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I wish Hillary wanted to do something else.
She commands quite a price, though, you have to give her that.; 6/15/16, 8:35 AM
Fernandinande said...: Try this one weird trick!
google["heartbreaking photos"] = About 386,000 results (282 real results).; 6/15/16, 8:38 AM
William said...: You could show heart breaking photos of women working in phone factories in China or sneaker shops in Indonesia. I doubt if brothels in Bagladesh are the worst places to work in that country, but if there's one group of people who are worse than greedy capitalists, it's horny men. You only have to look at the men in those pictures to see that they're Trump voters and that this is the fate that awaits our womenfolk here should he win.; 6/15/16, 8:39 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @Fernandinande

Yes, exactly. What a despicable word! What good are westerners with melted hearts?; 6/15/16, 8:56 AM
Anonymous said...: All cultures are equal, didn't the WaPo get the WH Memo?; 6/15/16, 9:03 AM
damikesc said...: Ia sex work great? I'd imagine not, but there are a lot of jobs I wouldn't much care for. Either women are able to make their own decisions or they are not. As William said, I doubt getting fucked for money is the worst way to make a living there.; 6/15/16, 9:04 AM
YoungHegelian said...: Many of the women were born there, grew up there and didn’t know where else to go when [the brothel] disappeared.

Wait, don't tell me. You mean the women were laid off?; 6/15/16, 9:04 AM
madAsHell said...: It's a Muslim country, but aren't those women Hindu??; 6/15/16, 9:33 AM
David said...: Most prostitution is like this in one way or another. It's not high class call girls ala "Pretty Woman." Sad stuff. It must be very hard for a woman to exit this in Bangladesh.; 6/15/16, 9:39 AM
mockturtle said...: It's a Muslim country, but aren't those women Hindu??

All non-Muslim women are sluts, anyway.; 6/15/16, 9:42 AM
cubanbob said...: William said...
You could show heart breaking photos of women working in phone factories in China or sneaker shops in Indonesia. I doubt if brothels in Bagladesh are the worst places to work in that country, but if there's one group of people who are worse than greedy capitalists, it's horny men. You only have to look at the men in those pictures to see that they're Trump voters and that this is the fate that awaits our womenfolk here should he win.

6/15/16, 8:39 AM
Ann Althouse said...
@Fernandinande

Yes, exactly. What a despicable word! What good are westerners with melted hearts?

6/15/16, 8:56 AM"

Bill Clinton somehow seems perfect for the job.; 6/15/16, 9:45 AM
Mary Beth said...: Priya teases a friend.

Really?; 6/15/16, 9:46 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/15/16, 9:52 AM
Earnest Prole said...: A beautiful photo essay. It reminds me that in 1908 the mayor of Salt Lake City brokered a deal with the local Madam to build her a walled city block called the Stockade.; 6/15/16, 9:55 AM
John henry said...: "Our bodies, our choice"

John Henry; 6/15/16, 10:46 AM
Darrell said...: Most Harems were made up of captured British women. Enslaved Hindu women fits the ROP.; 6/15/16, 11:58 AM
Jr. Williams said...: Will 245/30r22 tires fit 22x8 rims?
Rims; 6/15/16, 12:03 PM
Jason said...: It's almost as if legislation and other government actions have destructive, unintended consequences on the most vulnerable.; 6/15/16, 12:09 PM
Rusty said...: Yeah. But have you seen those women?; 6/15/16, 12:25 PM
Quaestor said...: It's a Muslim country, but aren't those women Hindu??

Such appears to be the case. Nearly every photo shows a woman wearing a bindi, something that escaped the WaPo editors. (To be fair they haven't been very observant of anything these last eight years.)

Maybe they want to stay within their walled brothel because the alternative is no walls between themselves and the Muslim majority.; 6/15/16, 12:27 PM
Fernandinande said...: Heartbreaker Lesson; 6/15/16, 12:44 PM
mockturtle said...: Yeah. But have you seen those women?

Any port in a storm, I guess...; 6/15/16, 12:50 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Muslims have no problem with treating infidel women and boys as whores.; 6/15/16, 1:44 PM
Wince said...: You always have to remember that every person has hopes and dreams of a decent life.

You can see that in the posters of babies around that young woman's bed.

So sad to see those hopes and dreams crushed by an unforgiving world.; 6/15/16, 9:50 PM