Motherhood in Sonagachhi: Sex work, belonging and the fraught intimacies of community

2026/03/06 by Mahima Mukherjee · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Sex work and related issues #South Asian Cinema and Culture #Water Governance and Infrastructure

paper · doi:10.1177/01417789261417126

openalex publication_date 2026/03/06 · openalex created_date 2026/03/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/28

Abstract

This text blends semi-transcription and personal reflection, documenting a conversation I had with two sex workers in Sonagachhi, Kolkata’s red-light district (India). Facilitated by Namita Bhattacharya, founder of Umar Swapno foundation and an activist by profession, this piece focuses on translating and recording these women’s voices rather than engaging in extensive academic analysis. It reflects on their complex lives, dynamic notions of motherhood, the instability and fallacy of international borders and how the nation-state constantly interrupts intimate spaces of belonging.

Discussions

• Motherhood in Sonagachhi: Sex work, belonging and the fraught intimacies of community By Mahima Mukherjee #FR143: doi.org/10.1177/0141... [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]

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