Sex industry

My Red Light in Amsterdam is almost entirely run by former or current sex workers. And it’s designed to ensure that those who rent rooms there aren’t being trafficked or exploited. But some maintain that the work itself is inherently exploitative.

Durga Chauhan, 19, was once forced into prostitution after her marriage ended. Chauhan belongs to the Bacchara caste, a community in Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India, where women are the primary breadwinners in their families and often work as prostitutes. Today, she’s in school and is helping other women opt out of sex work.

Prosecutors from Massachusetts to Minnesota detail cases where mostly foreign-born women work seven days a week, 12-24 hours a day, sleeping in parlors or nearby flophouses, and are managed by a network of interstate traffickers and business people.

Nam has a dream to open her own produce store someday. But it will take her at least four more years in Thailand’s sex industry to make it happen. Here’s why.

It’s easy to say sex workers are in the wrong line of work in Thailand. But what if there are no better options?