Silent argument in a public space.

Leena, a photographer, finds herself in one of the red-light (pleasure) districts in India. Upon entering the district, she feels very empathetic toward the women that she sells herself “there is a lot of work to do and so many stories to be shared”.

She realizes that “the pet peeve was that the public which is the biggest stakeholder in an issue of a girl getting traffic is far away from all the conversations. They are saying where there is a demand there is a supply so if you see girls standing on the road it’s because there is a demand being created by the local john or by johns”. “Everybody’s talking about the prostitute or the victim but nobody’s talking about every john who goes and buys sex” she says.

Leena did a whole summer residency on public art and she created the missing girl silhouette which was declared as a silent argument in a public space by the curator. “Beautifully said” she says.

The work that Leena has done on studying these women and allowing them to tell their stories has a tremendous effect on others who have been in similar situations. Knowing that there are several organizations that help these women is a breath of fresh air. Others who want to help women exposed to this lifestyle have various avenues and organizations at their disposal.