Sex, Slavery, and Drugs in Bangladesh

[Music] [Music] foree [Music] Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim countries where prostitution is legal but completely unregulated this is daloa the largest brothel in Bangladesh daloa is home to over 2,000 sex workers many of whom are victims of sexual slavery and their numbers are increasing the size of a small town DOA sits between a major railway station and a ferry terminal its location ensures a booming trade with thousands of customers passing through its streets every day we are taking the back entrance into the brothel to avoid any unwanted attention a local NG worker agreed to take us into doia it is estimated that half the sex workers here are under 18 but accurate figures are difficult to verify as underage girls are often forced to lie about their age [Music] see all the condoms dirty condoms cigarettes gutter water pee poo you name it open defecation happens here he a beat on despite the Bangladeshi Constitution vowing to prevent gambling and prostitution the authorities tolerate Thea a powerful local family owns the brothel which has existed since the British colonial [Music] period for these Alleyways are so narrow I mean on every corner of the brothel you'll see Alleyways just like this and it doesn't seem that big but it's quite massive and it'll randomly take you to spots like this someone's house we arrived at the room of anupa a young sex worker who has been trafficked into the broel now working independently she was previously bonded to a madame bonded labor is common among the poor in Bangladesh when a person's labor is demanded as a security to repay a loan girls are often trafficked into sex work in the laa and sold to a madame they are then forced to work off the feed that was paid for them a dep which takes years to [Music] [Music] clear fore speech foree [Music] spee fore foree foreign spe for speech foreign speech foree fore spee foreign spee speech spe in DOA it is common practice for underage sex workers to be tricked into taking steroids by their madams who tell them the pills are medicine but the steroids are not medicine they are commonly used by Farmers to fatten their cattle we're meeting a local pharmacist here but the pharmacist here is not the typical ones you would see in the US where they're accredited and have education these guys are essentially just shopkeepers that sell all kinds of drugs like anti-depressants opiates anything you can imagine they'll have and you don't need a prescription to get the [Applause] medicine one strip of this is five T which is [Music] like cow steroid are highly addictive and can cause many harmful side effects including diabetes kidney failure and can even lead to death these risks are ignored by the madams in Bangladesh a fuller bodied look is considered more desirable and steroids help make underage girls look older and more developed not only does this help madams pass off underage girls as 18 this look also attracts more customers most of the pimps in Bangladeshi brel are women and we're about to meet with one um they're also known as madams they keep girls as their slaves so they take a majority of their salary According to some of the people I've spoken to here the Madame we about to meet with keeps about eight girls most of which are under 18 here for she said my head will cool down from taking it so off we go foreign foreign speeech spech speech speech [Music] for so she has uh been taking steroids to gain weight so that um she can get more [Music] customers for so this is her room this is where she gets her clients forch for foree speech spech [Music] oh thank you she just gave me a beet Le snack [Music] the sun is coming down and the place turns totally different here at night more Men start coming in and becomes really little sketchy [Music] [Applause] [Music] the brothel is busiest in the evenings Maya a sex worker and longtime resident gave us a tour through the Main [Music] Street forch [Music] for she's one of the dancers Bangladesh is culturally conservative sex before marriage is taboo and drugs alcohol and gambling are strictly illegal but for the vast majority of young Bangladeshi men the brothel is one of the few places where they can party in DOA everything is on offer we are going to Maya's room to meet with a client named Kareem who comes here frequently to sleep with women and he's going to tell us a little bit more about why he comes here Yaba a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine is a powerful and highly addictive s Ulin popular in Bangladesh it is one of the many drugs that are cheap and easy to get in the brothel prolonged use can have severe side effects including damage to the respiratory tract brain and heart which is just another occupational hazard for the girls of fore no no I'm okay Kitty parties are common in the brothel and Kareem agreed to take us on a typical night out for him and his friends these parties are held in specially rented out rooms where men pay for drink drugs dancing and [Music] sex [Music] [Music] for me [Music] me Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries on Earth with widespread poverty and inequality perfect conditions for girls to be trafficked into sex work most of the women and girls who live in DOA are illiterate and have little education they are lured into the brole by the promise of work sold by a family member or kidnapped by a trafficker unprotected and unmonitored the women in Thea are part of a nationwide industry of exploitation I went to meet kareim the day after his Kitty party to see if he feels in any way responsible for the fate of the women he pays to have sex [Music] with fore spe foree spee fore fore spee in places like this there are girls as young as 10 years old and Kareem just just likes to sleep with them and he says the younger they are the more desire they have and a lot of them are taking drugs they're taking the steroid it's just a really unhealthy unhygienic place and just see wh these women and young girls that are like prisoners struggling with all kinds of abuse and dealing with men like him [Music] stigmatized by this way of life the estimated 100,000 sex workers in Bangladesh find it almost impossible to leave and change professions or get married they become outcasts rejected by their family and Community But the Sex industry is highly profitable for some especially the Brokers the men that traffic the girls into the brothel I'm about to meet with the Dalal also known as a broker in this brle that brings in girls for a certain amount of money now once he brings the girls in he sells them and the one we're about to meet has been bringing girls in for 20 plus years hello fore fore forch [Music] fore fore under current legislation in Bangladesh anyone caught trafficking a female minor into prostitution can face 10 years in jail it is also illegal for clients to have sex with underage prostitutes but in DOA there is little enforcement and convictions are rare I just met with schuma she has agreed to take me to her house so we can interview her and she's only 16 years old at the age of 16 schuma is technically a minor under Bangladeshi law but she's working as a prostitute the power has gone out so we've got to light some candles so I can actually see her I talk to her for [Music] foree foreign speeech for speech for speee speech foreign speech for [Music] for with only a few months spent in the brothel it seemed as if schuma was determined she could earn her way out but for many women here any hope of leaving has disappeared in Bangladesh sex workers have no official rights or protection under the law this combined with the stigmatization of their profession leaves the women socially ostracized and vulnerable employment opportunities for uneducated women are scarce and sex work is one of the only options left to earn money do is now the only home these women will ever know people are pissed we're filming here they're yelling and they're upset they don't want us here at all for the thousands of women in dela harassment and abuse are part of daily life whether trafficked tricked or sold into prostitution they become trapped in Bangladesh's largest broel locked into a cycle of sex slavery [Music] [Music]

Channel: VICE News

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Keywords: sex slavery drugs bangladesh, vice news documentaries bangladesh, Sex, slavery, prostitution, Bangladesh, drugs, steroids, cows, health, death, Daulatdia, people trafficking, underage prostitution, pimp, STD, madam, Sexual Slavery, Drug, Sexual Intercourse, VICE News, news, VICE, VICE Magazine, documentary, documentaries, interview, interviews, journalism, world news, breaking news, happening now, culture, wild, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, vice news bangladesh

Id: jgaltnLfxo8

Length: 25min 51sec (1551 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 04 2015