Photographer Page

Smita Sharma

Farrak Ali Gayen was arrested in July 2017 based on a description that Mala gave of a young man she said trafficked her. He stands between Jagdeep Singh Rawat, an anti-trafficking activist with Shakti Vahini, and police officer Shibendu Ghosh in the Mathurapur Police Station in South 24 Parganas. Gayen promised to marry Mala, so she ran away from home. He said he was paid about £200 for every girl he brought to his sister in Delhi and that she sold the girls to brothels. He said he and others on his team trafficked 11 girls from South 24 Parganas over a year and a half. Gayen and others arrested are still in custody, and the case is ongoing.

Sanlaap’s Sneha shelter in South 24 Parganas cares for some 80 to 90 girls and women who were victims of abuse or who are considered to be at risk. Besides girls who were trafficked to brothels, there are others who were forced into marriages as minors or who were victims of domestic violence. Sneha—which means "affection" in Bengali—provides medical care, counseling, and training in skills such as tailoring that might help them rebuild their lives.

Sisters Z. and B., now both adults, were trafficked by a relative when they were in their early teens from Dhaka to a brothel in Mahishadal. B. got pregnant at 15 and was forced to have an abortion. She often refused to have sex with customers; when she wouldn’t, the owner would make her sister whip her with a belt. “This was the most painful,” Z. said, worse than having to have sex with 20 clients a day.

Sex workers and staff members attend the annual anniversary event of New Light, a nonprofit in Kalighat. The organisation offers care and schooling for the children of sex workers. It also collaborates with the union that represents them to prevent brothels in the area from forcing children into prostitution.

Delhi-NCR, India: "After six weeks of staying indoors," says photographer Smita Sharma, "I finally ventured out to get a sense of what was happening in the vicinity of my house." At a once busy intersection, she came across this migrant worker selling vegetables. "It felt strangely silent."

Delhi-NCR, India: "The maintenance and security staff at our housing society have been working 24/7 to keep all of us safe and comfortable," says photographer Smita Sharma. "They fumigated the whole apartment complex while one of my neighbours watched the smoke from her balcony."