Tearing down an old red-light district in Goa displaced traditional prostitution to other sites, and possibly resulted in new forms of sex work. The research report (from Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Goa, by Arz, an NGO based in the city of Baina) also includes a classification by place, with details on who works there, with which customers, via what contacts. Price is only mentioned for one category. CSW stands for commercial sex worker, a redundant name that many do not like but is still sometimes used. Many sex workers in Goa come from India, so this is also a migrant story (migrant clients are mentioned, too).

Massage parlours

Place: Mostly in the coastal belt

Operate from: Stalls erected behind beach shacks, hotels, lodges and rented houses. While some are high-class massage/beauty parlours, others operate from dingy rooms. There are registered as well as unregistered parlours that traffic. A security guard at most places facilitates entry into the parlour.

CSWs: From Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nepal. Of late, Goan girls have also been found working in such parlours.

Customers: Domestic, foreign tourists, even local youngsters have been found visiting those located in Bardez taluka.

Modus operandi: Customers do not approach massage/beauty parlours directly. They are solicited by mostly young boys. After soliciting, the customers (either alone or in groups of 2-4) are brought to the parlour via private or commercial vehicles. In a majority of cases, vans are used to transport the solicited customers.

Price: Varies from Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000

Hotels & lodges

Place: Almost everywhere in Goa

CSWs: Predominantly from Maharashtra (mainly Mumbai, Pune and Sawantwadi), Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nepal. Young, smart, modern, fashionable and Hindi-speaking girls are preferred.

Modus operandi: The girls are accommodated at the hotel or in a nearby rented house. After agents fix a deal with customers, the girls are made available. Those put up in rented premises are contacted over their mobiles and picked up from their residences.

Agents in hotels and lodges also contact girls who openly solicit in markets and beaches. On receiving the details, the girl proceeds to the hotel/lodge.

In another variant, in Bardez taluka rooms are rented to girls on an hourly basis.

Some hotel managers also have contacts with CSWs from other states in order to meet demand. If the girl does not have money to travel, she is instructed to board a particular bus where the ticket is paid for directly at the travel agency by the hotel manager. She disembarks at the said destination and is taken directly to the hotel.

Customers: Domestic and foreign tourists

Rented Rooms

Place: CSWs are kept in rented rooms and houses in villages

CSWs: From Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nepal.

Modus operandi: The girls are brought to Goa by bus or train on contracts that range from a week to a month.

In Bardez taluka, they are mostly picked up from the Mapusa bus stand or Thivim railway station.

They are not allowed to leave the rooms/houses. Whenever they are taken out, vehicles with black tinted glasses are used. After the contract period they are paid and sent back.

Fishing trawlers

Place: Fishing jetties and nearby market areas. Though entry into fishing jetties is restricted, the girls are permitted.

CSWs: Mostly from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Modus operandi: Soliciting is done by the CSW herself. The room is often a trawler anchored a distance away from the jetty.

Though cash is paid, in many cases the girl gets fish or prawns which she later sells.

Customers: Migrants from Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, who work on contract basis with trawler owners.

Brothels

Place: Baina, Vasco

Modus operandi: Customers are solicited by motorcycle pilots and taxi drivers at bus stands, railway stations, markets, gardens and brought to Baina beach.

Here, a deal is made with the madam’ (brothel owner) and once finalized the girl is sent with the customer to a nearby, pre-determined room.

The amount paid is shared by the pimp, room owner, madam and the CSW. At times, the CSW is forced to solicit customers herself.

Isolated places

Place: Prime areas include the KTC bus stand, Municipal garden, Railway bridge and railway station in Vasco city. Also Sada, Bogda, the Japanese garden, Kharewada, Birla, Zuari Nagar, Verna industrial estate, Kelsim and Thane and Cortalim.

CSWs: Mostly those displaced after the demolition of the red light area in Baina.

Modus operandi: CSWs solicit customers on the roads and take them to nearby hotels, lodges or thickly forested areas.

Highways

Place: Highways passing through some of the state’s interior talukas. Mostly in highly industrial and mining areas.

CSWs: Mostly from migrant populations settled in slums or rented houses.

Modus operandi: CSWs solicit at different locations along the highways. The customer is taken to a room or the girl travels to another location in the latter’s vehicle.

Customers: Mostly truck drivers and helpers.

– Laura Agustín, the Naked Anthropologist