Powerful Photos Of Life Inside A Bangladesh Brothel By Sandra Hoyn
Photojournalist Sandra Hoyn visited Kandapara and documented life inside the brothel with a series of vivid images. They tell the stories of sex workers who come from poor families (often born inside the brothel) and have no freedom or rights.
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Even though prostitution is legal in Bangladesh, this doesn't mean that sex workers are living better lives there. Kandapara brothel for example (the oldest one in the country) is separated from the outside world with a large perimeter-like wall, and it even has its own power heirarchy.
Photojournalist Sandra Hoyn visited Kandapara and documented life inside the brothel with a series of vivid images. They tell the stories of prostitutes who come from poor families (often born inside the brothel) and have no freedom or rights. Women are forced to work until they pay all their debts - only then are they allowed to leave the brothel. However, mainstream society usually condemns them for their past, so many of these women choose to stay in the brothel and continue providing for their families by selling their bodies.
More info: sandrahoyn.de (h/t: Cosmopolitan, Feature Shoot)
Kajol thinks she's 17 but isn't sure. She's married for 9 years and has a 6-month old son
Papia with 2 customers. Her parents died when she was a child, and she was married young. Papia has been to jail for using heroin
Dipa, 26, crying. She is two months pregnant by a customer in Kandapara brothel
Women waiting for customers
19-year-old Mim having a shower
The Kandapara brothel in Tangail district is the oldest and second largest one in Bangladesh. More than 700 sex workers live here with their children
5-day-old twins lie in bed. Their mother Jhinik, 20 years, has not yet named them
Used condoms on the street of Kandapara
Pakhi, 15, and Mim, 19, enjoying a free moment from work
A customer leaning to kiss Priya, 19
Priya teasing a friend and pretending to beat him. She has been a sex worker since 17
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