Mumbai bank helps prostitutes invest in property

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Mumbai: In the heart of Mumbai`s red light district several prostitutes sit on brown plastic chairs in a narrow room waiting to do something many have never been able to do before - deposit their savings in a bank.

The small bank, set up in the notorious Kamathipura area, is the initiative of the sex workers and aims to help them break the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation that keeps them indebted to brothel owners.

The simple act of squirreling away some money was previously out of reach for many customers of the Sangini Women`s Cooperative Bank. Prostitutes are often shunned by regular banks or lack residence documents or birth certificates officially required to open an account in India.

Text and Images: AP

Image:A sex worker waits to deposit money into her account at the Sangini Women`s Cooperative Bank in Mumbai.