Tag: Sex Work | Varta Trust

This is a medium range indoor photograph of the launch ceremony of ‘Kink and Sex Work: A VAMP Institute Report’. The report launch was one of the highlights of ‘Kink Con 24’. Several people can be seen standing in a row, holding up a copy of the report, and facing the camera with a smile. From left to right are kink-affirmative psychologist and report co-author Pompi Banerjee; an anonymous member of the Kinky Collective who has covered their face with the report; feminist activist and report co-author Jaya Sharma; sex worker rights activist Aarthi Pai; theatre artist Mallika Taneja; sex worker rights activist Meena Seshu; and sex educator Leeza Mangaldas. A cinema screen and conference signage can be seen mounted on a wall behind the people mentioned. A few people in the audience can be seen seated while facing away from the camera. The conference room is illuminated gently with a mild golden glow. Photo courtesy Kinky Collective

Happenings Mar '25

On the right to one’s body and desires

By Pompi Banerjee

How sex workers navigate kinky desire and consent in their work was among the central themes of ‘Kink Con 2024’, writes Pompi Banerjee

This photograph shows a scene from the re-enactment of the skit ‘Koti Ki Atma’ at Café Adda Ghar, Kolkata on November 4, 2023. Three actors are acting out a scene before a small invited audience. The play is being performed in an open but small and intimate part of the café, lit with a few overhead lamps and other sources of light not visible in the photograph. A black cloth background and a few props form the backdrop behind the actors who are facing the camera. Some of the members of the audience visible in the photograph, half a dozen or so (of the total 40-45), are seated close to the actors on plastic chairs, and have a bemused look as they watch the play up close. A video camera can be seen on the left edge of the photograph recording the play. A photographer, with her camera in hand, is also among the audience, standing just next to the people seated. Darkened tall glass panes forming one of the walls of the café can be seen behind her. A poster of the café menu is pasted on one of the glass panes. Photo credit: Suchandragraphy

From the Archives, Insight Jul '24

Remembered sexual futures

By Diksha Sanyal

Diksha Sanyal summarizes a study on the art and cultural advocacies undertaken by queer community groups in West Bengal in the 1990s and 2000s. The study has been co-developed by...

This photographic collage shows close-up glimpses from the archival records maintained by Varta Trust on the sociolegal campaigns against Section 377, Indian Penal Code since the early 1990s. Portions of a couple of pages from the 172nd report of the Law Commission of India on a review of the rape laws published in March 2000 can be seen in the collage. The title page of the report is presented inside an oval shaped inset. The State Emblem of India, an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, is visible on the top of one of the pages in the collage. The pages are presented in a stylized manner, with only a portion of the text on the pages visible to the reader. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

From the Archives Sep '23

Conversations between movements, collaborations across identities, 10 years on

By Dhamini Ratnam

The struggle for equal rights must be a collaborative one – Dhamini Ratnam dwells on this lesson from the past reflected in the queer archives maintained by Varta Trust

Printed Word, Vartanama Feb '23

In search of an ideal world, or at least a better one

By Pawan Dhall

Sharif D. Rangnekar’s new book 'Queersapien' takes you through a self-reflective account across countries, cultures and issues

Quote: “What is particularly troubling about the 2021 anti-trafficking Bill is that consent is not a defence when it comes to raids and rescues, thus enabling law enforcement to mirror trends under the ITPA where persons who are voluntarily in the sex trade are picked up and forcibly placed in protection and rehabilitation homes against their will.”

Insight Jun '22

Anti-trafficking Bill must be reconsidered (again)

By Namrata, Shreyashi

Namrata and Shreyashi on the problem areas in the latest version of the anti-trafficking Bill – with inputs from Archit Krishna and Kaushik Gupta

Vartanama May '22

No pride without sex workers

By Namrata

Namrata reminds us to take our blinkers off for Pride Month observations

This photograph shows the cover of the book ‘Launda Dancer: Anyo Hijrer Bhinna Bhuban’. On a white background, the name of the book is printed on top in a bold red and black typeface, which resembles a casual hand writing style. Below the book title there is a stylized sketch of a Launda dancer putting on make-up in preparation for a dance performance. The sketch lines are in black on a light brown background that looks like paper. The author’s name Niloy Basu is printed below the sketch to the right. All the text on the book cover is in Bengali. A yellow sticky note can be seen jutting out of the top of the book on its left side. The photograph shows the book placed on a table with a pair of spectacles and a small Shantiniketan style cloth bag lying next to it. Photo credit: Dr. Kaustav Bakshi

Insight, Printed Word Jan '21

Sex, commerce and queer rural India

By Dr. Kaustav Bakshi

Dr. Kaustav Bakshi reviews social researcher Niloy Basu’s new book ‘Launda Dancer: Anyo Hijrer Bhinna Bhuban’, an important addition to queer literature in Bengali

This is an abstract artwork created with pen ink and highlighter marker pens on white art paper. It is a mosaic of several irregular shapes drawn with green ink; all the shapes fit into each other. The shapes are contained in a vertical rectangle with thick white borders. Each shape contains outline drawings of human faces or limbs drawn with deep blue ink. The drawings are overlaid by floral and other random patterns drawn in different colours, predominantly different blues and greens, pink and orange. The collection of disjoint human faces and limbs seems to symbolize the disarray that the protagonist in the accompanying article has been experiencing during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. Graphic credit: Anupam Hazra

Coronavirus Diary, People Oct '20

A lesser known lockdown reality

By Sudipa Chakraborty

Sudipa Chakraborty narrates the story of a gigolo in Kolkata – before and during the coronavirus lockdown

This graphic is a humorous take on some of the issues raised in the article below and uses a popular meme from the 1975 Bollywood film ‘Deewar’. It has two speech blurbs. One of them represents the coronavirus and says, “Aaj mere pass duniya bhar mein lockdown karane ki taaqat hai. Kya hai tumhare pass?” The other blurb represents the author who responds by saying, “Mere pass doston ka saath hai, Varta hai, aur ma-ida bhi hai!” The speech blurbs are presented in attractive patterns and colours on a dark background to make them stand out. Graphic credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Jun '20

Never have I ever . . .

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall shares some lockdown revelations

This main illustration shows the text “#Amphan #Lockdown #Coronavirus” superimposed in a large and bold typeface on a photograph taken in the aftermath of the Amphan super cyclone that hit West Bengal, Odisha and Bangladesh on May 23, 2020. The photograph shows a large tree collapsed across Broad Street in South Kolkata. The tree has brought down with it a tangle of overhead cables. A house behind the tree has its entrance almost blocked by the tree’s roots and branches. More buildings and upright trees can be seen in the background. The photograph has been given a black and white effect with a sepia tint, while the text is in deep orange colour. Illustration credit: Pawan Dhall

Coronavirus Diary, Happenings May '20

Amphan adds to social trauma caused by coronavirus for trans women

By Sukanta Banerjee

Sukanta Banerjee reports on how Amphan has aggravated the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of many trans women in West Bengal and what immediate mitigation support they need

This is a collage of seven photographs of the interviewees Rudra Kishore Mandal and B. Kumar, mainly of their earlier years, reflecting a range of moods. None of the photographs have both of them together. In the case of Rudra Kishore Mandal, some of the photographs date back to his childhood. Most of the photographs are of indoor locations. In some of them the interviewees are not alone, but the other individuals, probably friends, are not visible in the photographs. All the photographs are from Rudra Kishore Mandal’s personal collection (scanned from photograph albums) and were published in twos and threes also with the earlier parts of this interview conducted under Varta Trust’s Queer Kolkata Oral History Project (or Qatha).

People, Qatha Nov '18

Qatha: On the uses of ‘sil-batta’ to make you straight & more queer tales (part 4)

By Pawan Dhall, Soma Roy Karmakar

'Varta' brings you the next series of articles under the ‘Queer Kolkata Oral History Project’

This graphic is a mixed media artwork created with pen ink in doodle art form. It shows a two-in-one human face, and the facial features are such that one half (left side) looks female and the other male. The female side shows pink and red make-up on the eyelids, cheek bones and lips. The male side is in black, white and grey. The contours of the face merge into the background colour, white on the left, blackish on the right. There is an iron chain stretched before the face, giving the impression of a person trapped against their will in physical and social confinement. The expression on the face is one of considerable pain being borne silently for a long time. This is symbolic of the subject matter of the article – the focus on the key concerns of sex workers in India, the violation of rights they have to face (irrespective of their gender) and their struggles against these violations. Artwork credit: Siddhartha Sankar

Insight, Policy Matters Jul '17

On sex work – questions, answers, more questions

By Pompi Banerjee, Siddhartha Sankar

Sex work or prostitution – what’s the difference? Decriminalization or legalization of sex work – same thing, right? Human trafficking and sex work (or prostitution) – is it at all...

My Story Oct '16

The boy from Patna

By Aakash

It was a rainy evening in Delhi – the drizzle increased the slight chill of the early October air. My mind, after the daylong torture of multiple meetings, difficult conversations,...

Tagged Under: Sex Work

On the right to one’s body and desires

Remembered sexual futures

Conversations between movements, collaborations across identities, 10 years on

In search of an ideal world, or at least a better one

Anti-trafficking Bill must be reconsidered (again)

No pride without sex workers

Sex, commerce and queer rural India

A lesser known lockdown reality

Never have I ever . . .

Amphan adds to social trauma caused by coronavirus for trans women

Qatha: On the uses of ‘sil-batta’ to make you straight & more queer tales (part 4)

On sex work – questions, answers, more questions

The boy from Patna

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