Social Exclusion of Female Sex Workers: Concerns of Development

The book is an attempt to explore the exclusion of female elderly commercial sex workers aged 45 years and above. Empirical investigation adopted qualitative methodologies along with quantitative techniques to bring out a holistic perspective. It reveals that the risk of poverty and hunger, victimization over human trafficking, evil practices like commercial sex work and Devadsasi system push them into sex work. The women belonging to families of small and marginal farmers, poor families, widows, and deserted, separated, orphan, destitute, neglected, unmarried mothers, women belonging to scheduled caste, backward caste and minorities are vulnerable to this practice. They are the weakest among the weaker sections being women, commercial sex worker, stigmatized, socially excluded and elderly. Since they enter the profession soon after puberty, they grow as illiterate and unskilled adults having no formal schooling. They are systematically marginalized and excluded from the mainstream society.