TV documentary ‘Sex, death and the gods’ shown on BBC Four recently highlighted the plight of India’s devadasi. The word ‘devadasi’ means slave of god. Young girls are dedicated to a goddess, and then sold for sex when they reach puberty. It is an outlawed practice but it still goes on today.  A team from HART (Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, an aid and advocacy charity) recently visited Dalit Freedom Network’s projects among devadasi in the Indian state of Karnataka. Yama (not her real name) told the team her story:

“The tradition began when I was very little. I was taken to the goddess at the temple. The priest asked the astrologer for a sign and the astrologer said that if I married, my husband would die, so my mother said if my husband were to die, there was no point in my marrying, so I should become a Devadasi. I didn’t want to become a Devadasi, but when I was 8 years old, I was taken to the temple and dedicated to the goddess. The priest prayed and put the necklace with the red and white beads on me. I was delighted because I was given a gift.

“Then when I reached puberty, aged 10, I only stayed at home for 2-3 months and then I was sent to the town of Sangli. Back in my village, there are many Devadasis; my mother was ill and my siblings were very small, so I had to care for them. So I agreed to do what I had to, to help them. They were living in a small hut and the people (i.e. agents who arranged the trafficking) offered to help them and sent me to Sangli.

Exploited for sex

“I began ‘work’ when I was 12 or 13 years old. Then I went to the brothel, I didn’t know what would happen. When I went inside, I was told to remove all my clothes and I started to cry. They said that if I didn’t remove all my clothes, the men would beat me and I cried even more.

“We had to work for 24 hours without any rest. The agents would bring 20 men in 24 hours and we had to submit. We never had any days’ rest. We had to work all the time. I did this for 4 years.

“Now I have 2 daughters. When I first became pregnant, I still had to work until 7 months into pregnancy. When I was 7 months pregnant, I returned to my village. Afterwards, I returned to the same place and the agent took care of my baby. My elder daughter was 2 years old when I became pregnant again and I stayed in the brothel until I was 5 months pregnant. Then I started bleeding, so I went back to my village for delivery. I was so ill; I could only lie on the bed; I could not get up, I was so weak. There were so many difficulties, because I had to care for the children, I became so distressed.

Commenting on how she was treated, Yama adds “When I returned to the village, no-one took any care of us; they rejected us. No-one loved me. When I went to the brothel, money was given to my mother; without going to the brothel, I had nothing to give her.

“I cannot count how many men have come into my life. There seemed no limit. It must be over 1,000. Sometimes, it was 25 a day.

“I was once beautiful. Now I am worth nothing.”

This is why we do what we do

Yama’s story is one of the reasons why Dalit Freedom Network UK is campaigning against the human trafficking and modern slavery of India’s Dalits – untouchables. Practically all devadasi are Dalits. The Dalit people fall outside the categorisation of the caste system, which means they are marginalised, often in extreme poverty and as such particularly vulnerable to practices such as devadasi and other forms of exploitation and abuse. The economic reality means that women like Yama feel that they have no choice but to be sold for sex.

Dalit Freedom Network runs a variety of projects to help lift devadasi, like Yama, and their families out of the cycle of poverty and exploitation including education, vocational training, self-help groups and microfinance. HIV/AIDS is particularly high among devadasi, so DFN’s clinic in Karnataka provides awareness programmes, health education, diagnosis, counselling and treatment.

Find out more about our education, economic development and healthcare programmes^[1].

Find out how you can join our campaign.

Find out how you can donate to our on-the-ground anti-trafficking programmes in India.

 

Acknowledgement: The story of ‘Yama’ is taken from HART Newsletter No 16: Jan 2011 with kind permission.

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[1] Operated by DFN UK’s Indian partners, OMIF