In West Bengal, shut tea gardens force girls to resort to prostitution

TNN | Feb 5, 2016, Birpara, West Bengal: The shutting of several tea estates in north Bengal has forced many young girls - aged between 16 and 18 - into prostitution in order to feed their families.

With no income coming from the tea estates, many of them have reportedly dropped out of school to become sex workers and earn money.

Duncan's Birpara tea estate is the worst example of the sorry plight with customers commonly seen bargaining with girls here. The girls are seen wearing provocative dresses to catch attention of men. Although the state government is providing rice at two rupees a kilo, the assistance is proving to be woefully inadequate.

"How long can we survive on government's mercy? We need many more things to survive than just rice," said a girl who did not want to be identified. "Now at least my family can have food everyday, we have good clothes to wear and even have some spare money."
The girls are mostly seen around dhabas on National Highway 31 and say their customers are mostly truck drivers. 

"Some nights we even earn 500 rupees. The pimps take a portion of this but the rest is all ours. Who would have given us this money?" says another girl when asked why she resorted to becoming a sex worker. 

The unfortunate situation is acknowledged by tea workers union's RSP leader Gopal Pradhan. "We are ashamed but we are helpless. This is a shame," he said.
With no clarity on when the tea estates would reopen, the future prospects for the girls here remain bleak.