Groups to rescue of sex workers

MUMBAI: Amid the lockdown, three groups have come together to deliver essential commodities to commercial sex workers in Kamathipura.

Jimme Foundation, an organisation that works for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) community, made a call for donations on Wednesday. “We started the donation drive after we received a distress call from a commercial sex worker in Kamathipura about not having access to essential commodities,” said Harish Iyer, LGBTQ+ activist and founder of Jimme Foundation. The Jimme Foundation, in association with the social activism group, Citizens for Peace and Justice, is raising funds to make the purchases. Kranti Foundation, which works with the children of sex workers, will make the deliveries.

According to Bani Das, from Kranti, the plan is to provide these essential items to 200 families of commercial sex workers in Kamathipura, the city’s largest red-light area. “We are making care packages with dal, rice, wheat, oil and soap. For each family, we require ₹3,000. So, in all we need to raise around ₹6 lakh to be able to feed 200 families,” said Das. So far, the initiative has helped gather around ₹60,000. “We are far behind the target. Through social media and other channels we are asking for major donations,” said Das. The care packages will be transferred from the offices of Kranti in Santacruz to Kamathipura. “We have applied for curfew passes. The first trip will be during the weekend,” she said. “We earn on a daily basis and hence, we are left with very little to save. We have already exhausted our savings,” said a Kamathipura resident.