Ivory Tower's falling down, falling down, falling down...

I've been spending the past few days at an interesting conference in Dhaka called "Establishing Human Rights, Protecting the Stigmatized: Women in the Sex Trade, Their Children, and Exploited Minors." It's basically a bizarre trail mix of academics (foreign and Bangladeshi), activists, NGO workers, women who were/are sex workers, hijras (transgendered men), media folk, and European foreign service people.

It's been fascinating--and quite Bengali might I add--with rice at every meal and loud, animated "jogra" (screaming matches) breaking out intermittently like fist fights at a Red Wings game. The best part is that a number of actual sex workers are there, and they are making themselves EXTREMELY visible...well, as much as they can. I can see the cracks in the base of the Ivory Tower. It is a strange dynamic with the academic "experts" cutting sex workers off while they're speaking, and telling them that we're short on time. The deep irony is that the people about whom we're so esoterically pontificating are barred from truly speaking out in such a stuffy, academic forum full of "boidro lok" (refined people). Case in point: the conference was 100% in English until this afternoon when a number of people demanded that it be in Bangla so that the sex workers could understand. I looked around the room and realized suddenly that maybe 5% of the participants were English-speakers. Anyway, a lot of really interesting issues have been raised, and I think the intentions of the organizers (Terres De Hommes-Italia and the EU) are good. We are trying to work out a list of recommendations as a group. Here are some interesting quotes (which I translated from Bangla) from today's session:

"Don't call us 'prostitutes,' and don't call us 'whores.' We want to be called 'sex workers.' Don't we feed our families with the money we earn like you?"

-Momtaz, President-Bangladesh Sex Workers Network

"We [sex workers] are not vectors of HIV/AIDS. No one bothers to talk about the clients. Those men are not made of wood!"

-Hazera, President-Ulka Street Women's Organization

"We need laws to prevent the sardanis (madames) from feeding young girls bovine hormones to fatten them up and make them more appealing."

-Mukta, Ulka Street Women's Organization

More to come tomorrow. I have to tell you about the results of the conference, and about the documentary they screened today (made by some women who I know personally). Also, must engage you in the "sex workers vs. prostitutes" rhetoric debate.

Stay tuned...