Activists working with sex workers have estimated that there are over two lakh sex workers in Karnataka, and around 25,000 in Bengaluru.
The sex workers’ community is among several marginalised sections of society struggling with the complicated process and technical hurdles of the ongoing SIR in Karnataka.
Documentation and progeny mapping have been particularly hard for women in sex work, as they are generally uneducated and have lost connection with their respective families for decades.
Those who cannot map themselves to their parents in the 2002 list can still fill their form, which will place them in the draft voters’ list. In that case, however, they will be sent notices and asked to produce one of the 11 documents prescribed by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
This is likely to be a major problem for many sex workers, since they are unlikely to have the necessary documents.
On Thursday, DH visited an enumeration camp set up at Sampangiramanagar in Bengaluru to help sex workers fill their enumeration forms.
“They are seeking proof of parents and grandparents. Since we left home 30 years ago when we were young, we don’t have proof of the family. What’s the guarantee they (family and relatives) will give details when we go and ask?? They should have one rule for those who have documents and another for those who don’t,” a sex worker, who wished not to be named, said.
Another sex worker, also speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that neither her father’s details (said to have voted in Mumbai in 2002) nor her mother’s were available.
“We are born and brought up in Karnataka, and have spent all our time here. Does the lack of specified documents suddenly mean we are not Indians?” she sought to know.
Activists working with sex workers have estimated that there are over two lakh sex workers in Karnataka, and around 25,000 in Bengaluru.
Poorna Ravishankar, a member of the My Vote My Right campaign, who’s helping sex workers enumerate themselves during SIR, noted that dual names of sex workers could potentially become a challenge during document verification.
