Sex Work, Labour, and Empowerment: Lessons from the Informal Entertainment Sector in Nepal

197 Pages·2021·1.856 MB·English

by  Sutirtha Sahariah

Sex Work, Labour,
and Empowerment
This book presents an analysis of the concepts of female empowerment and
resilience against violence in the informal entertainment and sex industries.
Generally, the key debates on sex work have centred on arguments proposed
by the oppressive and empowerment paradigms. This book moves away from
such debates to look widely at the micro issues such as the role of income in
the lives of sex workers, the significance of peer organisations and networks of
women, and how resilience is enacted and empowerment experienced. It also
uses positive deviancy theory as a useful strategy to bring about notable changes
in terms of empowerment and agency for women working in this sector and also
for addressing the wider issues of migration, HIV/AIDS, and violence against
women and girls. The focus is on moving beyond a victimisation framework
without downplaying the extent of the violence that women in this industry
experience. It conceptualises the theories of empowerment and power which
have not been tested against women who work in this sector, combined with
in-depth interviews with women working in the industry as well as academics,
activists, and personnel in the NGO and donor sector. In doing so, it informs
the reader of the numerous social, political, and economic factors that structure
and sustain the global growth of the industry and analyses the diverse factors that
lead many thousands of women and girls around the world to work in this sector.
The work presents an important contribution to the study of citizenship and
rights from a non-Western angle and will be of interest to academics, researchers,
and policymakers across human rights, sociology, economics, and development
studies.
Sutirtha Sahariah is an independent development consultant and researcher
focusing on issues of gender, migration, sanitation, human rights, and violence in
South Asia. He has previously worked as a freelance journalist and covered stories
on human trafficking, gender, and development for The Guardian (UK), the
BBC, NewsDeeply, Dutch Public Radio & Television, and NPR. He has a Ph.D.
in international development from University of Portsmouth, England.
Studies in Citizenship, Human Rights and the Law
The series Studies in Citizenship, Human Rights and the Law encourages a plu-
ralistic vision of citizenship. The aim is to promote inclusiveness and rights at the
local and global levels while approaching citizenship from a socio-legal perspec-
tive. The series may include comparative approaches along with books that focus
on single jurisdictions, and brings together research monographs and edited col-
lections which allow the expression of different schools of thought. Grounded in
law and legal theory, where relevant, the series also welcomes contributions that
take an interdisciplinary approach to rights and citizenship.
Series Editor:
Leïla Choukroune is Professor of International Law and Director of the
University of Portsmouth Research and Innovation Theme in Democratic
Citizenship. Her research focuses on the interactions between international trade
and investment law, human rights, development studies, jurisprudence and social
theory. It is also applied to emerging countries, India, China and East Africa in
particular.
Titles in this series:
The Development of Child Protection Law and Policy
Children, Risk and Modernities
Kieran Walsh
Sex Work, Labour, and Empowerment
Lessons from the Informal Entertainment Sector in Nepal
Sutirtha Sahariah
For more information about this series, please visit: https :/ /ww w .rou tledg e .
com /Stud ies -i n -Cit izens hip -H uman- Right s -and -the- Law /b ook -s eries /Stud
iesCH RL
Sex Work, Labour,
and Empowerment
Lessons from the Informal Entertainment
Sector in Nepal
Sutirtha Sahariah
First published 2022
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2022 Sutirtha Sahariah
The right of Sutirtha Sahariah to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-74249-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-74254-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-15679-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003156796
Typeset in Galliard
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
In memory of my late mother, Sarmistha Sahariah.
Your values continue to be my guiding force in my life.

Contents
List of illustrations viii
Foreword ix
Acknowledgements xi
List of abbreviations xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 The impact of Nepal’s Maoist conflict on women 25
3 Social norms, masculinity, and violence 43
4 Women and empowerment in Nepal’s sex and informal
entertainment industry 64
5 Resilience of women in Nepal’s sex and informal
entertainment industry 88
6 Positive deviance among Nepal’s sex and informal
entertainment workers 107
7 Peer networks and capacity building 126
8 COVID-19 and the human rights movement of sex
workers in Nepal 146
9 Conclusion 162
Index 175
Illustrations
Tables
4.1 Reasons for women joining the informal entertainment industry 77
4.2 Importance of income to participants 84
5.1 Models of resilience 93
5.2 The levels of support that women have received from a peer
network 99
6.1 Unique qualities and exceptional factors of positive deviants 119
7.1 Willingness to stand up against violence 136
Figures
4.1 The domain structure, as proposed by Alsop and
Heinsohn (2005) 70
4.2 “The Use-Existence-Achievement Model of Choice” to
measure empowerment 86
5.1 Proposed “protective model” in the context of this study 101
5.2 Proposed model of how peer network helps in
building resilience 102
6.1 Proposed framework in respect of the four women discussed
in this chapter derived from the framework for the study of
positive deviance (Kohlborn, Kummer, Mertens, &
Recker, 2016) 120
7.1 Structure of Raksha Nepal 139
Foreword
Professor Leïla Choukroune1
When Simone de Beauvoir daringly asserted that “one is not born a woman, but
rather becomes one”, she opened the door to the possible.2 In distinguishing
sex and gender, she allowed women to choose an identity, a destiny, and a life
of dignity. In interrogating the cultural elements which determine the fate of
human beings, she also questioned their ability to exist as autonomous and equal
individuals. In her seminal work, The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir also insisted
on the necessity for women to be economically independent to achieve freedom.
While not many women would naturally choose sex work as a means to reach
this objective, some may well deliberately engage in a monetary transaction which
does not always come from, nor result in coercion. There is liberty in reclaiming
one’s body. There is also pride and honour if not sometimes a form of transcend-
ence in being in control of one’s sexuality. In medieval South India, Devadasi
women were dedicated to God and considered as respected independent artists
who chose their partners but married none. Over the centuries, the practice trans-
formed into the sexual exploitation of young Dalit girls, who now serve as a mere
tool for their untouchable families to survive.
The complexity of human nature and the multitude of situations in which
women can engage in prostitution deserve an honest and nuanced discussion,
one deprived of prudish preconceptions and other religious or cultural bias. In
engaging at the grassroots level in Nepal with dozens of women who sell their
bodies for a living, Dr Sutirtha Sahariah has produced a unique and remarkable
piece of research. He has listened to these women’s stories of violence, domina-
tion, and patriarchy but also understood their aspirations and their ability to
reinvent themselves in a life which might not conform to the social norms in
place and the general expectations of what it is to be a modern woman but has
provided them with the means for emancipation.
1 Professor of international law and director of the Democratic Citizenship Theme, University
of Portsmouth. Routledge series editor, Studies in Citizenship, Human Rights and the Law.
2 See Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, and Judith Butler, “Sex and Gender in Simone de
Beauvoir’s Second Sex”, Simone de Beauvoir: Witness to a Century, Yale French Studies, No.
72, Yale University Press, (1986), pp. 35–49.