In Madhya Pradesh's Banchhada community, girls are celebrated at birth — then pushed into sex work

Savitri, a 40-year-old former sex worker from the Banchhada community in western Madhya Pradesh, recalls the moment she decided her daughters would not follow her path. 'When my girls turned five and seven, I knew I had to leave the profession. I wanted them to live with dignity,' she says. Her husband, a former client, abandoned the family years ago. Savitri continued working for a few more years to support her children, but eventually quit. Today, her elder daughter works with an NGO and is preparing for the police examination, while her younger daughter is studying for medical entrance tests in Indore.

The Banchhada community, a de-notified tribe with an estimated population of 25,000 across 78 villages in Mandsaur, Neemuch and Ratlam districts, has for generations practised a system where girls are expected to enter sex work upon reaching puberty. Unlike many Indian families that celebrate the birth of a boy, the Banchhadas welcome a girl with sweets and firecrackers. Girls receive better nutrition, expensive clothes, and are not told they will have to marry and leave home. The reason, however, is tragic: they are raised to become earners through sex work, with family members often acting as pimps and living off their earnings.

Akash Chouhan, founder of the Jan Shaurya Social Welfare and Development Society, an NGO based in Neemuch, estimates that at least 10,000 women, including about 3,000 girls, remain trapped in this form of exploitation. 'Girls are forced to drop out of school after Class 8 or 9 and pushed into sex work by their own families,' says Akash, who belongs to the community. 'Community elders protect the practice in the name of tradition.'

Radhika, a sex worker, explains that girls are conditioned from childhood to believe in this tradition. 'We are told it is our responsibility to ease the family's financial problems. I quit school on my own after Class 9 and began working,' she says. 'But if a girl refuses, her family forces her through physical or emotional abuse.'

A drive along State Highway 156, connecting the three districts, passes through several villages where girls wearing bright lipstick stand along the road, while older women sit on cots outside their homes, watching children play. As evening approaches, they gesture to men. In Jaitpura village, an elderly woman approaches a parked car and offers three girls — two of them her granddaughters — for ₹300 for 10 minutes, with ₹100 as her tip. Most girls, including those who appear underage, claim they are around 20 or recently turned 18, though conversations reveal they have been in sex work for about four years.

Several highway dhabas are also involved in brokering deals. A dhaba owner in Ratlam's Dhodar village claims he can 'arrange girls' at different prices depending on location, duration and age, and lists facilities such as an air-conditioned room.

While the practice persists, Savitri's story offers a rare example of change. Her daughters are pursuing careers that would have been unimaginable a generation ago. However, for the thousands of girls still trapped, the cycle of exploitation continues. NGOs and activists call for stronger enforcement of laws against trafficking and for educational and economic opportunities that can break the tradition.