G.B. Road sex workers fear exclusion from Delhi voter rolls amid SIR

The ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Delhi has raised concerns among women sex workers in Garstin Bastion (G.B.) Road brothels. Many of these women do not possess the documents required by the Election Commission (EC) to verify their details, nor do they have an extract from the previous SIR listing their names or those of a blood relative. This is largely because many were trafficked to the brothels at an age too young for them to remember their place of birth.

Along with the fear of losing their vote comes another worry — that they may be asked to leave the area. But where would they go? No one can say. For many who have spent decades on G.B. Road, shifting between brothels, the uncertainty over what exclusion from the SIR might mean is growing every day.

One sex worker, Rita*, in her 40s, told The Hindu that she has voted in every election since the 2010 Delhi Assembly poll. “It made me feel equal in some sense. Life is already challenging for us,” she said.

A large section of G.B. Road’s 2,800 sex workers — who live in cramped lanes with limited access to basic amenities — are aged 40 or older, and only 650 of them are on the electoral roll. A Booth Level Officer (BLO) said she has marked 783 voters as “shifted” in her booth, which has more than 1,300 voters. Of those marked “shifted”, 450 are sex workers.

None of the 14 women interviewed for this story were in touch with their family, making it impossible to check their details against the previous SIR. They have never been enrolled in school and only possess Aadhaar, PAN and Voter IDs as identity proofs. However, these documents are not included in the EC’s list of acceptable verification documents when an elector is not linked to the previous SIR during the enumeration phase. According to the commission, the motto of the exercise is to “ensure that no eligible voter is left out, while no ineligible voter is included in the roll.”

Basanti*, who has been a sex worker for over 30 years, was only 12 when she was allegedly trafficked from Bengaluru (then Bangalore) to G.B. Road. Though she knows little about the SIR exercise, she said her form was filled out, but she did not receive any acknowledgement slip. On hearing about the potential outcome of the exercise, she echoed the concern of many in her position. “So, if I don’t have a birth certificate or if I never took a matric exam, I cannot vote? Will we be asked to leave Delhi?” she said. At 52, she has been in rehabilitation for the past four years and has stopped sex work. “I have spent all my life here. I only remember my father’s name. I don’t even know if he is alive or dead.”

Among the 100 returned forms, the BLO said fewer than five electors had been mapped in the previous SIR. “The names of those who return the form will be published in the draft roll. If mapping hasn’t been done, they will receive notice to submit any of the 12 documents listed by the EC. However, most of these women don’t have any of those documents, such as a birth certificate, a Class 10 or 12 school certificate, or a permanent residence ownership document. Their names will likely get removed,” the BLO said, adding that nearly 100 more forms are yet to be returned.

Sunita, a social worker associated with Kat-Katha NGO, said that most sex workers were trafficked to the area as teenagers, losing contact with their families. “Access to all women here is also very restricted. It depends on whom they are working for,” she said. She added that marking sex workers as “shifted” is wrong. “They switch brothels, which means changing floor, building or a different room. But they are not moving out of the area. It is very common here. The BLO should know that,” she said.

Safrin*, in her 30s, who moved to Delhi from Meerut eight years ago, said she voted for the first time in the 2024 general election. “All of us are at the mercy of landlords and NGOs to help us,” she said. The women’s reliance on intermediaries underscores the systemic barriers they face in exercising their constitutional right to vote.