Di tanah suci, Arab Saudia,dan negara-negara Islam tidak kurang lonte., .
----- Original Message -----
From: ndeboost
To: proletar@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 10:43 PM
Subject: [proletar] Re: Poverty Drives Pakistani Women to Prostitution
Dinegara makmur pelacuran ga ada ya.
--- In proletar@yahoogroups.com, "sunny" <ambon@...> wrote:
>
>
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30\
56&Itemid=197
>
>
> Poverty Drives Pakistani Women to Prostitution
>
> Written by Naeem Sahoutara
> Friday, 11 March 2011
> Pakistani sex workers ask God to hear their prayers
>
> It's midnight on the ninth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic
calendar. In Karachi's red light district hundreds of prostitutes and
eunuchs are singing religious mourning poems or Nohas. Barefooted and
wearing black dresses, they beat their chests.
>
> Humera, a 25-year-old sex worker explains why. "During the first 10
days of the sacred month of Muharram, there is no singing or sex work
here. All such activities are suspended during the sacred month.
Prostitutes themselves refuse to do such things because they know what
sacrifices were rendered by the martyrs of Islam. Instead, one can hear
religious and mourning poems being played everywhere. Everyone respects
this month," says Humera.
>
> The fact is that despite Pakistan's growing reputation for Islamic
conservatism, the country is teeming with sex workers. Karachi is
believed to have up to 100,000 female sex workers alone, according to
data gathered by Pakistan Society, a local NGO. Lahore is believed to
have as many as 75,000, almost all of them driven into the profession by
poverty. Prostitution and homosexuality are banned in Pakistan and sex
workers are often called defamatory names such as ghashti, or whore.
>
> Karachi's red light district has been around since British colonial
times. It was once famous for nurturing performing arts such as singing
and dancing, but difficult economic times forced performers to switch to
selling sex.
>
> Babra, a young singer and sex worker is happily reciting religious
poems at the gathering. "I've been reciting Nohas since my childhood.
Every year we have a mourning procession. Everyone is in mourning. Some
males will even take part in flagellation because we forget everything
during the mourning of Hussain," says Babra.
>
> Karachi resident Mohammad Shafiq watches the procession uneasily from
the other side of the road. "Our religion doesn't permit prostitution.
It is an unethical act. It must be stopped. Prostitutes are not forced
to do this. If someone wants to help them, OK, give them financial
support but don't use their services," he says.
>
> A group of young people form a security ring around the participants
to allay fears of an attack by a vigilante Islamic group. "If people
hear me reciting a religious poem they might beat me," says Baba, with
fear visible on her pale face.
>
> Akhtar Balouch, a journalist conducting research on male and female
prostitutes, says Pakistani society has double standards. "Pakistanis
don't want to disclose having relations with sex workers or their
tendencies toward sex (outside wedlock). But, it's a fact that many
people in our society have sexual relations," he says.
>
> Commercial sex in Pakistan was banned in the early 1970s by then Army
dictator General Zia ul Haq. "Zia was a so-called Muslim who tried to
convince people he was a rigid religious person," Akhtar said. "That's
why he banned red light areas. But, what happened? Now, in each and
every colony you can find prostitutes. Just make a call and it won't be
a problem to have a girl for sex."
>
> Mirza Aleem Baig, president of the Gender and Reproductive Health
Forum, an organization that helps female and male prostitutes, says many
Pakistanis become sex workers because they have very little choice.
>
> "One type of is hereditary; a mother, then her daughter and then her
daughter. Others are poverty stricken and don't have enough to eat or
drink. A father might unwillingly bring his daughters here and hand them
over them to a pimp who will pay them US$400 to $500 a month. Some
daughters also offer themselves for sale because their siblings are
hungry. Many such girls financially support their families through
prostitution," says Baig, who calls the brothels a "market of miseries."
>
> "I don't call it the bazaar of beauty but the bazaar of oppressed
women, the bazaar of orphans and the bazaar of diseases. These women
don't love their clients. When a customer comes they ask them to do the
work in a hurry. That's only because this will light stoves in their
houses," she says.
>
> The silent journey of faith by the sex workers ends when they reach
Sangeet Mehal or the Music Palace. Fifty-year-old sex worker Hina says
they hope this year will bring them blessings.
>
> "It's wrong that people say our prayers will not be answered and
religion is the property of a single person. I'm firm in my belief that
Allah responds to our prayers faster than other people because he knows
we are helpless and vulnerable. Whenever I beg, he has honored my
prayers," says Hina.
>
> This article was first broadcast on Asia Calling, a regional current
affairs radio program produced by Indonesia's independent radio news
agency KBR68H and broadcast in local languages in 10 countries across
Asia. You can find more stories from Asia Calling at www.asiacalling.org
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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