Human rights violations persist worldwide, particularly targeting oppressed and marginalized communities. Among these groups, sex workers face egregious challenges. Despite the legality of voluntary sex work in India, societal stigma persists, depriving sex workers of their fundamental human rights. This prejudice and mistreatment have led to numerous violations of their dignity.
One such barbaric practice is Virgin Cleansing, prevalent not only in India but also in other countries. The Virgin Cleansing Myth falsely purports that sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS can be cured by engaging in sexual intercourse with a virgin girl. Originating in Zimbabwe and South Africa during the height of the HIV epidemic in the 1990s, this myth perpetuates the belief that the act of “raping” a virgin will cleanse the blood of the infected individual. Such beliefs perpetuate harm and disregard the basic human rights of both sex workers and the individuals affected by these diseases.
According to Betty Makoni, member of the organization ‘Girl Child Network’, in Zimbabwe, the myth of virgin cleansing is perpetuated by traditional healers who advise men contracted with HIV/AIDS that their disease can be cured for sure if they have intercourse with virgin girls. According to UNICEF, a major factor that helps in promoting this myth is the culture-based gender roles that prize innocence and ignorance in girls, and promiscuity in men. The false belief gradually spread to other parts of the world, especially in South East Asia and India.
The Vulnerable Lives in Sonagachi
Over time practice became common in different red light areas across India, Sonagachi in Kolkata being the most popular among them. Sonagachi is one among South Asia’s top trafficking hubs. It is reportedly the largest red light district in the whole of the Asian continent. Sonagachi is a maze of alleys and visibly ruined brothel buildings, with an estimated population of around ten thousand to fifteen thousand sex workers, and even their children.
‘In a small community centre in Sonagachi run by Apne Aap, a group of sex workers and children huddle around a weekly community session. When asked about the practice of virgin cleansing, one sex worker nods, then gestures at the room-she doesn’t want to talk about it in front of the children.” (Brown, 2017d)
In the mid-2000s, social workers in Sonagachi began noticing a new trend among men coming to the brothels. They began demanding specifically for virgin girls, and were ready to pay extra amounts for the same. When enquired further, it was understood that these men were affected with STDs, and believed that having sex with a virgin would cure their disease. Sonagachi, being Asia’s largest red light district, with nearly tens of thousands of women sex workers, this practice put the health and lives of all these women at risk.
According to a 2021 health report published by the National AIDS Control Organization, India has around 2.4 million people affected with HIV. Annual New Infection (ANI) are estimated at 62.97 thousand in the country.
Another aspect to be considered is the mental trauma of the girls. Often, it is girls as young as 8-10 who are being forced to subject themselves sexually to the men who demand virgin girls. Apart from the sexually transmitted disease including AIDS that these men transfer to these girls, the level of physical and sexual abuse that these young girls have to bear is often beyond explanation. Various personal accounts reveal how brutally these desperate men treated the girls, without even considering their age. Hence it results in creating deep personal traumas that get etched into these girls’ minds, which completely deteriorates their mental state later in their lives.
Migration and Poverty: Major Drivers
Migration is a major factor contributing to the practice of virgin cleansing. The increased number of migrants moving to Kolkata from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal results in easy access to trafficked children from India. This is another reason that encourages men to engage in sexual intercourse with young girls. Though West Bengal had set up a task force to combat the increasing cases of sex trafficking, cases are still being reported on a regular basis.
Hazarilal Patra, a science activist from Minakha, says: “There have been regular instances where adolescent girls are being trafficked. In many cases of elopement, the girls are being trafficked to brothels, as was seen in the recent case of Riya Khatun. The only daughter of a carpenter, she was lured by strangers, abducted, and finally rescued from a brothel in Howrah. She was only 13 years old and a class 9 student at her school,” (Chakraborty, 2023)
Poverty is another reason why more girls are being victims to the phenomenon. Parents often push their girl children into sex work, in return for decent amounts of money. This would help them set up a good living and send their children to schools. The desire to create a better life for their family, in terms of material well-being, often weighs over the emotional vulnerabilities of the parents.
An entire industry of pimps is also behind igniting the practice of marketing young girls for sex work. Manju Biswas, a prostituted woman from Kolkata, was sold for US $30 by an exploitative neighbour, to a brothel keeper. She was then drugged and raped and marketed as a child prostitute. All these while she was just 13 years of age.
As per official statistical reports, 400 women and children went missing every day in India in 2015, and reports estimate that there are somewhere around three million to nine million victims of sex trafficking all over the country. A report by the National Crime Records Bureau NCRB released in December 2023 revealed that around 47,000 children went missing in India since 2018, with 71.4% of them being girls.
Laboni Basu, a member of the ‘Apne Aap Kolkata’, an NGO working against sex trafficking, says in an interview that: “There are no figures on this, but the local girls are telling me it’s widespread. These are rich men who do this. They’ll invest a lot of money to get a suitable virgin. They’re ready to pay almost anything for a girl: 50,000-100,000 rupees more, if needed.”
Sahjana Das Gupta, a social worker who has been working across Kolkata’s red light streets for over thirty five years, says, “It is very common. The virgin will get infected and it is getting worse.”
The Lingering Stigma as a Major Challenge
A major challenge while combating this issue is the stigma lingered around sexually transmitted diseases. People, especially those who live in and around red light areas like Sonagachi are still reluctant to discuss and speak openly about STDs. Once they come to know that they have contracted an STD, most people try to conceal the fact and try to find ways to self-medicate. These often end up in the employment of pseudo-scientific techniques such as the one we ate discussing here.
According to Dipesh Tank, project director at ‘Rescue Foundation’, a group that rescues girls from sex trafficking in India, believes that the best way to combat the practice of virgin cleansing is to challenge the very myth that feeds it. He feels that government intervention is important to cease this issue.
Dipesh Tank is right in his opinion about government intervention on virgin cleansing. It is only with well ideated and executed government programmes that we can curb this challenge. The government administration at the local levels have to come up with awareness campaigns that make people understand the seriousness of the issue, and enable them to stand up against this practice.
However, this is not something that can be achieved in a day or two, especially considering the fact that most of the women in the brothels are not educated, and hence it requires extra effort and special attention to make them aware of how problematic and inhumane the issue is.
It is also equally important to give ground level awareness to the local people, including the men who are involved in the practice. They have to be made to understand that virgin cleansing is based on a false myth with no logical foundation.
Further, men have to be given proper education about the health implications it would cause to these women, while making them take proper health care to combat the medical situation they are in. Other unaffected men, who are still actively approaching the brothels, must also be given proper education about using contraceptives while having sexual intercourse.
Wrapping Up
The success of these awareness policies requires the combined effort of the government authorities, local people, sex workers, and social workers including NGOs.
However, a major limitation regarding the inquiry and practical efforts to combat virgin cleansing is that there has not been enough literature addressing the issue that has been published in the past 8-9 years. Most of the research and studies found online are older ones, and one cannot find adequate secondary data (which is essential prior to conducting a primary research or ground level project)
Hence, it requires additional effort to actually look into the contemporary status of the issue, and work on it. We can hope that an ardent dedication towards the eradication of this evil, combined with an incorporative effort, as discussed earlier, can contribute towards the eradication of such evil practices from our society.
About The Author
Ardra R has graduated in Political Science (Honours) from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. She is currently pursuing her master’s in Politics and International Relations from the School of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. She has worked as a research associate to various organizations including the Korea Centre, NIICE, Nepal, WICCI India-France Council, international Institute of Justice and Police Sciences. Content writing and volunteering has also been her niche. Her areas of interest include Gender, Inclusivity and Politics. .
A tragic and harmful myth with real-world consequences. The Virgin Cleansing practice in Sonagachi highlights the dangerous beliefs that put sex workers and vulnerable individuals at risk.
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