Fluidity and Ambiguity in Sex Workers’ Experience in Bangladesh

Abstract

In Bangladesh, sex workers have historically been seen as the fallen ones—referred to as potita. This dominant image was challenged by the sex workers’ movement of the 1990s. Based on fieldwork in a Bangladeshi brothel, this article argues that the brothel-based Bangladeshi sex workers’ lived experiences cannot be explained by a rigid framework of agency versus victimhood. This article shows how gender norms, poverty, familial relations, and dominant social values intersect in the sex workers’ lives, shaping their experiences with contradictions, fluidity and ambiguity. This paper contributes to the growing body of literature on global sex work by highlighting the nuances and complexities of sex workers’ experiences from the global south.