Prostitute mom sparks storm with book

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Prostitute mom sparks storm with book

By Alpana Sarma Thu Dec 15,10:54 AM ET

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Her long, wavy, black hair tied loosely in a

knot, 50-year-old Nalini Jameela looks like any other Indian

housewife. But this attractive, largely uneducated mother of two is

a best-selling author and prostitute whose outspoken views of sex

work as a career choice have stirred controversy in conservative

India.

Her " Oru Lyngikathozhilaliyude Athmakatha, " or The Autobiography of

a Sex Worker, dictated to a social activist because she can't write,

has angered both feminists, who say it glorifies sex work, and

conservatives, who think prostitutes should keep quiet.

" I have written this book for other sex workers. I wanted to talk

about it to remove the stigma, " Jameela told Reuters through a

translator over the phone from her home state of Kerala.

" People think we are bad because we have sex for money. Nobody

understands our grief. "

Jameela was forced into prostitution 25 years ago when her first

husband died, leaving her with a child to support. Sex work paid

more than she was earning as a factory worker. She charges her

clients between 500-1,000 rupees ($11-$22) per visit.

Her first customer was a policeman. When she came out of the room

the next morning, she was beaten up by police on orders of another

policeman she had turned down.

" I felt humiliated, but I had no option but to continue. "

Jameela estimates she has had sex with more than 1,000 men since

then -- she took some time off after her later marriages -- and

feels her work is an important social service.

" If there is no sex work, it would lead to a situation comparable to

a pressure cooker with its safety valve locked on. The truth is that

sex workers are doing a great service, " she says in her book in the

southern language of Malayalam.

It's a view that angers some feminists.

SEX TALK TABOO

" Prostitution is considered as work " in the book, said K. Ajitha,

president of Anweshi, a Kerala women's group. " I don't accept that.

Women in prostitution have only the right to sell their bodies, they

don't have the right to choose. "

Written with I. Gopinath, an activist who works with sex workers,

the book has sold more than 10,000 copies in less than six months in

a market where 5,000 in a year is a best seller.

Jameela has so far earned 84,000 rupees ($1,830) from book sales.

But in India, public displays of affection are frowned upon and

talking about sex publicly is still taboo.

One popular south Indian actress has been pelted with sandals,

tomatoes and rotten eggs and hauled before a court for suggesting

women might have sex before marriage and telling men not to expect

their brides to be virgins anymore.

Protests over her comments lasted more than a month.

Prostitution is outlawed, but India has more than two million sex

workers living on the fringes of society. They have few rights and

abuse by both customers and the police is common.

Commercial sex is one of the main drivers of the spread of

HIV/ AIDS and India has more than 5 million reported cases of people

living with the virus, rivalling South Africa as the worst hit

nation.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates more than 20 million

people could be infected with HIV in India by 2010 and economists

warn it could undermine India's rise to economic superpower status.

Alarmed by the rising numbers, the government's Planning Commission

has recommended prostitution be legalized to help fight AIDS.

Many prostitutes are pushed into the trade by traffickers and by

poverty and some, including thousands of girls smuggled in from

Nepal each year, are held as sex slaves for a decade or more.

Against this backdrop, some women activists accuse Gopinath of

interpreting Jameela's words in a way that glorifies prostitution.

" They cannot imagine that a woman on the street can say such things.

I cannot imagine all this. These are Jameela's ideas, not mine, "

Gopinath says.

Says V.C. , a professor at Kerala's MG University: " This is

not a victim's book. One of the most striking things about the book

is the confidence and inner strength that exudes from it. "

Like many women in India, Jameela's education is minimal. She

finished school after third grade, which is roughly about 7 years

old. Over the years, she married three times and has two grown

daughters, now both housewives.

Autobiography of a Sex Worker has brought a degree of fame, money

and respect. Jameela's 24-year-old daughter Seena, married and

pregnant with her first child, is happy with her mother's fame.

" Earlier, people used to say that because my mother is a prostitute,

I must also be one. But now when they call me Nalini Jameela's

daughter I feel very good, " Seena says.

Neither Seena, nor her sister Latha, have followed their mother's

footsteps, although Jameela says that she would not have stopped

them from becoming prostitutes if they had wanted to.

" It is not just my daughters. I will tell other women also about the

hardships of sex work and then if they want to get into it, I won't

stop them, " Jameela says.

For her part, Jameela intends to continue with sex work as long as

she stays healthy, saying she has had more freedom as a sex worker

than she has ever had as a wife.

" Looking back, I find life as a sex worker more enjoyable. As a wife

one has to listen, to always be dominated by someone, " Jameela said.

" I like being a sex worker. Some become lawyers, doctors. It was my

choice to become to a sex worker. "

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