ABSTRACT
At the global level, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the lives of women working in the sex industry and those associated with the informal entertainment industry where bodily labour is used to earn a living. Their situation has been worsened by the barriers that they have faced in accessing government relief and welfare packages that have been announced during the pandemic. This is mainly owing to the criminal status of the work, the social stigma attached to it, and the discrimination that is deeply inherent in the profession. The lack of livelihood and health support for a vulnerable group like sex workers during this time has raised further questions regarding their exclusion from human and labour rights. This chapter discusses how, despite the odds, a nascent and innovative human rights movement of sex workers in Nepal has empowered the sex worker community leaders to demand basic rights for the community members during the pandemic. It also documents the range of challenges – including loss of livelihood and risks to health – that sex workers and those working in the informal entertainment sector face during the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in Nepal.
