‘The Autobiography of a Sex
Worker'
PRESENTATION BY
SHANTANU RAGHAV
RAMNIK SINGH MALHI
ANKIT LEKHRA
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
 Best-selling author and sex
worker whose outspoken views of
sex work as an ordinary career
choice have stirred controversy in
conservative India
 13,000 copies in 100 days,
Jameela has so far earned 84,000
rupees (US$1,830) from book sales
Nalini Jameela (50) holds her book
'The Autobiography of a Sex Worker' in the southern
Indian state of Kerala December 14, 2005
 "I have written this book for
other sex workers. I wanted to talk
about it to remove the stigma,"
Jameela said
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
Says V.C. Harris, a professor at Kerala's MG University: "This is
not a victim's book. One of the most striking things about the
book is the confidence and inner strength that exudes from it.“
I am nalini. Was born at Kalloor near Amballoor. I am forty-nine
years old.” … condemned the work, calling it a “prurient moneyspinner”
Despite mixed reactions from various circles…sold 13,000 copies
in 100 days…. Later withdrew the first version of the memoir and
rewrote it. Today, as Westland Books brings us J. Devika’s
English translation of the memoir,
Now, Jameela shares space on the webpage of Kerala-based DC
Literary Agency with such eminent names
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
She also speaks as a daughter, wife, mother and
friend; and as a public figure, with a name and a
face, rather than remaining anonymous.
The photograph on the back cover shows a
pleasant, firm and faintly smiling face — this is the
tone of the memoir as well.
In brisk and matter-of-fact sentences filled with
nouns and verbs rather than adjectives,
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
Chapter : A New Job
“I started sex work after my husband's death, when
his mother began demanding a really large sum
from me daily to support my children... My motherin-law asked for five rupees every day”
Sex work paid more than she was earning as a
factory worker
“You'll have to 'go along with' a man, she replied. No
one would openly mention sleeping together or
sex..”
Her first client is a police officer; but with the
beatings that follow in the police station the next
morning, she experiences the double standards of
life as a sex worker
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
Chapter : The company House
“In general, those were happy days that
flew by fast. I used to send home money
very regularly.”
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
Chapter : At Mangalore
“my husband's younger brother …was
sending plenty of money back home. So they
had decided not to accept my money.”
“It was painful to cut my ties with them for
good; but they were living well, and I found
some happiness in that”
“Now that responsibility had ended; I began
to think of other options, including that of
leaving the trade”
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
After two more marriages and with two
more daughters, Jameela finds herself
back in the profession — but this time
with a house of her own in Kozhikode’s
Bangladesh Colony….
She joins an organisation of sex
workers, speaks out in public, and
makes documentaries on their lives.
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
Chapter : Rehabilation
“A question often raised ..of our 'rehabilitation'... I
want to ask these people whether they have ever
tried to find out about sex workers' family ties,
social ties. Is it possible to build afresh their
domestic ties and social ties through rehabilitation?
Won't this merely leave the sex worker all the more
isolated and helpless?”
“We demand that sex work be decriminalized. ... By
'decriminalizing', what we mean is this: if two
people want to have sex by common consent, if this
is in no way a nuisance to others, then it should not
be questioned.
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
"Autobiography of a Sex Worker" has brought a degree of
fame, money and respect. Jameela's 24-year-old daughter
Seena, married and pregnant with her first child, is happy
with her mother's fame.
"Earlier, people used to say that because my mother is a
prostitute, I must also be one. But now when they call me
Nalini Jameela's daughter I feel very good," Seena says.
Neither Seena, nor her sister Latha, have followed their
mother's footsteps, although Jameela says that she would not
have stopped them from becoming prostitutes if they had
wanted to.
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
The book is not a salacious account of sexual exploits — even
while writing of an encounter with a tantric, she only says that
he wanted “the standard sort of sex” — nor is it a story of
victimhood.
Jameela is firm about her need for dignity, and about setting
the rules: “I wouldn’t wiggle my hips or arms to catch anyone”.
Yet,there is a quiet anger against the hypocrisy of a system
that criminalises sex work and punishes the sex worker while
letting off the client
against the so-called “rehabilitation” that does not recognise
that sex workers also have families, personal lives and
struggles that are as real as anyone else’s
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
Prostitution is outlawed, but India has more
than 2 million sex workers living on the fringes
of society. They have few rights and abuse by
both customers and the police is common
Commercial sex is one of the main drivers of the
spread of HIV/AIDS
Many prostitutes are pushed into the trade by
traffickers and by poverty and some, including
thousands of girls smuggled in from Nepal each
year, are held as sex slaves for a decade or more
‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker'
Thank You