ABSTRACT
The chapter provides an outline on the status of women in Bangladesh and discusses sex work in different periods of history. This chapter shows that women in Bangladesh experience discrimination due to unequal access to property, dependence on men, and other discriminatory legal and social practices. Furthermore, women are seen as repositories of honor, which define their status in society. While sex workers have experienced different statuses in different periods of history, in contemporary Bangladesh, they are despised in general. The Bangladeshi sex worker's activism gave rise to a new discourse of rights, demanding sex work as a form of work. This chapter argues that this contextual background on sex work is important for understanding sex work in Bangladesh.
