Behind Kamathipura's Closed Doors
4 days ago
- #urban-marginalization
- #spatial-injustice
- #sex-work
- Kamathipura, India’s most notorious red-light district, is a culturally and economically vibrant space shaped by marginalized communities and sex workers.
- The area emerged in 1795, settled by lower-caste construction workers, and later became a 'tolerated zone' for European sex workers under British colonial rule.
- Colonial-era laws like the Cantonment Acts and Contagious Diseases Acts enforced strict regulation, surveillance, and confinement of sex workers.
- Post-Independence, Kamathipura became stigmatized as a slum, with sex work expanding due to poverty, lack of alternatives, and police complicity.
- The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) of 1956 criminalized aspects of sex work, reinforcing Kamathipura’s image as an immoral and crime-ridden area.
- Kamathipura’s architecture consists of century-old chawls (tenement housing), repurposed as brothels and informal residences, with extreme overcrowding and poor living conditions.
- The Maharashtra Rent Control Act of 1947 (updated in 1999) froze urban renewal, leading to physical decay as landlords abandoned maintenance.
- Mumbai’s 1991 Development Plan triggered redevelopment pressures, threatening displacement of residents while financial and legal hurdles stalled progress.
- Sex workers face legal ambiguity—while the Supreme Court recognized sex work as a profession in 2022, ITPA restrictions and policing persist.
- Redevelopment plans promise better housing but risk erasing Kamathipura’s working-class communities and cultural identity.
- Kamathipura’s marginalized groups resist displacement through informal occupation and survival tactics, demanding their right to the city.
- Similar spatial injustices plague other Indian red-light districts like Delhi’s GB Road, reflecting broader urban inequality.