ABSTRACT
Sahana 1 -di 2 came upstairs to the Abinaash Clinic, looking rather upset. Before any of us could inquire, she exclaimed, ‘What do they think we are? Khankis (whores)? No, we are sex workers, that is workers with rights. How is it that they still call us khankis ?’ Khanki is a historically derogatory term that has stigmatised sex workers in Sonagachhi, the red-light district, for ages and continues to do so. Sahana-di offered us the context to her outrage. She is a peer educator and was doing her everyday rounds talking to the sex workers in the houses that she was assigned. While waking from one house to the next negotiating the congested narrow lanes, she overheard a comment made by a male flower vendor to his customer haggling over the price, ‘All prices have gone up. Flowers are nothing. Look at how much these khankis charge these days.’ While uttering this, he had coldly pointed his finger towards Sahana-di who was then passing by.
