December 08, 2007	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 27, 1428

MUMBAI, Dec 7: A bank run by sex workers in India’s biggest red light area is so successful it is not only helping prostitutes escape poverty that keeps them indebted to brothel owners but also build homes and educate children.

Located in Kamathipura, Mumbai’s red light district, the bank was started by a handful of sex workers driven by a desire to save for a time when their bodies stop earning.

With most of them without birth certificates or residence documents, prostitutes rarely are able to open accounts in banks.

Although prostitution is illegal in India, it is a thriving underground industry and voluntary groups estimate that there are about two million women sex workers, most of them trafficked or forced into the work by crippling poverty.

With most of their lives spent repaying the investment of the brothel owners, sex workers find it almost impossible to break away from the cycle of poverty and exploitation, and often turn to private moneylenders who charge exorbitant interest rates. Most of the new bank’s customers say they are saving to build houses in their hometowns and villages.—Reuters