Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

March 1, 2020

This month, DSW honors Ms. Seema Fokla as our Sex Worker Hero of the Month. Ms. Fokla is the current president of the Durbar Mahila Smanwaya Committee (DMSC or the Durbar), which translates to “The Unstoppable Women’s Synthesis Committee.” The Durbar is a collective of 65,000 sex workers, which functions as a forum for female, male, and transgender sex workers in West Bengal, India. DMSC is managed exclusively by sex workers and their children to create solidarity and collective strength within the sex worker community and other marginalized groups.

Since its founding in 1995, DMSC has been a beacon of collective citizenship and shared empowerment within the international sex worker rights community. It was the Durbar that established March 3 as International Sex Workers Rights Day. In 2001, the collective organized a festival that brought together more than 25,000 sex workers from around the world in Kolkata. DMSC’s mission is to integrate sex worker rights into the broader human rights movements.

No one has fought harder for the collective’s values than Seema Fokla. Under her leadership, the organization has pioneered sex work as a labor issue, incorporated transgender/non-conforming and LGBTQ rights into its work, and championed the separation of sex work from the environment of discrimination that surrounds it. Ms. Fokla is a former sex worker, as are all of the members of DMSC’s executive board. She sees the organization’s primary mission as one of fundamental respect. “If our profession becomes legal, then we will be treated with dignity. People will stop harassing us. Our children won’t be looked down upon,” Ms. Fokla said to a BBC reporter in a 2015 interview.

India has one of the largest sex work markets in the world. Prostitution itself is not illegal in the country, but the act of soliciting a client is. With more than 3 million sex workers working across Indian cities, more and more are participating in protests to demand licenses to work. Much of this organized activism is credited to the work of the Durbar.

Leaders of DMSC appear with the Mayor of Kolkata, India. (Photo: DMSC, 2017)

Seema Fokla speaks to a BBC reporter on the Durbar’s work in Kolkata and beyond. (2015)

DMSC activists demonstrate on the streets of Kolkata. Their collective includes male, female, and TGNC sex workers, as well as the children of sex workers who also face stigmatization.

DSW Newsletter #12 (March 2020)

Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around COVID-19 Crisis

March 30, 2020 The COVID-19 virus is a global crisis. There is not a single community that hasn’t been impacted by this pandemic. Businesses are shutting down, people are being...
Read More
Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around COVID-19 Crisis

DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance

February 13, 2020 DSW’s Kaytlin Bailey sat down with the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA) at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. ASWA is a Pan-African alliance of sex worker-led organizations....
Read More
DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance

Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

March 1, 2020 This month, DSW honors Ms. Seema Fokla as our Sex Worker Hero of the Month. Ms. Fokla is the current president of the Durbar Mahila Smanwaya Committee...
Read More
Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity

Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker Rights Day

March 3, 2020 Sex workers and allied communities celebrated International Sex Worker Rights Day, a holiday that commemorates the tireless efforts of harm-reduction advocates around the world. The holiday began...
Read More
Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker Rights Day

DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass the #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal

March 3, 2020 On International Sex Worker Rights Day, the Walking While Trans Coalition gathered at the Million Dollar Staircase in the Albany Statehouse to speak out about trans rights...
Read More
DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass the #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal

Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets: International Women’s Day in NYC

March 8, 2020 The International Women’s Strike, also known as Paro Internacional de Mujeres, is a global movement of coalitions in more than 50 countries, organizing around International Women’s Day...
Read More
Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets: International Women’s Day in NYC
Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around COVID-19 Crisis Sex Worker Rights Community Rallies Around...
DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet With the African Sex Workers Alliance DSW Travels To Nairobi to Meet...
Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla, International Symbol of Sex Worker Unity Hero of the Month: Seema Fokla,...
Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker Rights Day Honoring Our Movement: International Sex Worker...
DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass the #WalkingWhileTrans Repeal DSW Rallies With Activists To Pass...
Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets: International Women’s Day in NYC Our Bodies, Our Labors, Our Streets:...

DSW Newsletter Archive