"It was my dream": Urmi was born in a brothel, now she provides healthcare to its workers
“I feel my mother’s sufferings,” says paramedic Urmi, determined to extend care to the marginalised sex workers of Bangladesh’s Daulatdia.
- 27 June 2023
- 6 min read
- by Mohammad Al Amin
Urmi* was born the daughter of a sex worker in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, one the world's largest brothels. At age 23, she's back in Daulatdia – working as paramedic, caring for the current cohort of sex workers serving in the century-old brothel village.
"It was my dream to provide health services to the sex workers of the brothel who do not get proper care usually. I also feel my mother's sufferings," Urmi told VaccinesWork in her examination room in an NGO complex very near the brothel one recent afternoon. After achieving her paramedic's qualification, she got this job at Mukti Mohila Samity (MMS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works for welfare of the more than 1,500 sex workers and their children, of which there are an estimated 450 living at Daulatdia.
“It was my dream to provide health services to the sex workers of the brothel who do not get proper care usually."
– Urmi
After her birth, her mother sent baby Urmi to live with an aunt in a different district, but Urmi recounts that she was neglected there.
"Later, I was also sent to other relatives, but none took care of me. Finally my mother brought me to the shelter home of Mukti Mahila Samity (MMS) where I, along with other brothel children, got residence, entertainment and education facilities," Urmi explained.
Credit: Mohammad Al Amin
Daulatdia, in Goalanda Upazila ofRajbari district is considered a stigmatised area in Bangladesh. Locals often treat the sex workers with disdain, while inhabitants of the brothel, including children of sex workers, are materially underprivileged.
It is difficult to ensure adequate public provisions – like education for school-age children – for the Daulatdia population, but the government and different NGOs have been working together for the welfare of both the women who work here and their kids.
MMS and another NGO, the Program for the Introduction and Adaptation of Contraceptive Technology Bangladesh (PIACT Bangladesh), have been providing shelter and other support for the sex workers' children for more than 20 years.
Credit: Mohammad Al Amin
Urmi stayed at the MMS children's shelter until she was seven years old. After that, she went to a "safe home" in Goalanda Upazila, not far from the brothel. There, she grew up, continued her education and achieved a Higher Secondary School (HSC) certificate education. Her next stop would be a paramedic's training course.
"My mother left the brothel when I was studying at class VII. Then she joined another profession. She spent money for my education and all other necessary needs. She is currently staying abroad," Urmi said, adding that she's enjoying her work as a paramedic.
It was not easy to continue to live without family as a brothel-born girl, Urmi said, and carry out her studies. Even the simplest logistics proved trickier for her – securing a National Identity Card (NID) with the names of her parents, for instance, was a prerequisite for admission to the educational institutions.
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"Brothel children's life is limited within the boundary of shelter homes and safe homes. Our scope of entertainment and other support is very much limited. Most of the people see the brothel children with negative attitude. In most cases, children of the sex workers avoid exposing their status," Urmi explained.
Urmi has been working as paramedic in MMS for around half and three years now. It was seeing the suffering of the brothel inhabitants, she said, that inspired her to become a health worker in the first place.
"Sometimes I visit patients inside the brothel if necessary. The brothel inhabitants love me very much and trust me as well. I also feel happiness by giving them medical care. If the treatment is beyond my capacity, then I can give them advice at least," Urmi said.
Like Urmi, many children born in the brothel have completed higher secondary education and are working at different NGOs and other institutions in different parts of the country.
Credit: Mohammad Al Amin
Farida Pravin, President of Obohelita Mahila O Shishu Unnayan Sangstha (organisation for the development of neglected women and children) at Daulatdia brothel said, "Around 80% of children of our brothel are in education while many of them have completed HSC. I'm happy and proud of our children. Urmi, our daughter, is now a paramedic and giving us medical care," she said.
Liza Akter, a sex worker, said she has a daughter who is growing up in a safe home supported by PIACT Bangladesh, in easy reach of the brothel. "I dream that my child also will complete education in future," she said.
Credit: Mohammad Al Amin
Mohammad Zakir Hossain, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Goalanda Upazila, said the government, in association with NGOs, has been working for the welfare and improvement of the standard of living of the brothel children. Among other measures, the government has arranged for brothel-born children to receive the all-important national identity cards without the inclusion of their fathers' names.
Morjina Begum, founder and Executive Director of MMS, said after giving birth, most sex workers of the brothel bring their children to their shelter home, where they are able to regularly see the children, as per their wishes.
Credit: Mohammad Al Amin
Begum came to Daulatdia as a sex worker herself, she explains. Though she left sex work behind 20 years ago, her work today has its roots in her experiences then. "I was a victim of early marriage, and then came to this brothel. I saw that a pregnant sex worker went to a nearby healthcare facility, but she didn't get treatment in time. Seeing the suffering of the sex worker, I founded this NGO."
Ataur Rahman Manju, Programme Director at MMS, said of the hundreds of children enrolled in the organisation's shelter projects, 50 children, aged between zero to six years, are live-in wards – functionally foster children – in the "Night Care" section of the home.
“Around 80% of children of our brothel are in education while many of them have completed HSC. I’m happy and proud of our children."
– Farida Pravin, President, Obohelita Mahila O Shishu Unnayan Sangstha, Daulatdia
"At the age of six years, the mothers take their children under their supervision and keep them at nearby safe homes or at rented houses or send them to houses of their relatives," he said.
Children aged zero to eight years also get access to a day care facility, Manju explained. Some 160 children aged three to five years are enjoying facilities at an early childhood development centre and 300 children aged eight to 18 years are enjoying facilities at a child club in the MMS.
"A number of brothel children have studied and seven of them who have passed HSC level education, including the paramedic, Urmi, have been working at different posts at our MMS," Manju said, clearly proud.
*At her request, Urmi's name has been changed for this story.
