Walking With Pride: How Durbar’s 30-Year Journey Brought Sex Workers To the Fashion Ramp?
The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a movement born in the red-light areas of Kolkata three decades ago, will mark its 30th anniversary on Sunday.
Published : July 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM IST
Kolkata: In the serene surroundings of Rabindra Kanan Park in Kolkata, their resistance is going to find a new voice. Dressed in colourful apparel and wearing high heels, they will walk on the ramp. The fashion show will see women wearing vibrant drapes, swirling in the air. The show is not just for fashion, but for their dignity, organisers said.
The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a movement born in the red-light areas of Kolkata three decades ago, is going to mark its 30th anniversary on Sunday. According to organisers, the fashion show is not just a celebration but a statement. Women, who had once been pushed to the dungeon-like rooms, and excluded from the glam shows of society.
This Sunday evening, they will claim the stage, not as outcasts, but as 'icons'. The organisation's secretary, Bisakha Laskar, said that her organisation wanted to ensure the dignity of those women, who were pushed to the brink. "The idea behind allowing them to participate in a fashion show along with dance, song and drama is nothing but instilling in them a belief that they are no pushovers. The voice for recognising sex workers as workers is in the spirit of the Supreme Court's verdict. It's time to honour them and let them celebrate their life just like any other citizen does in normal circumstances," she added.
Thirty years of unapologetic resistance
After three decades, 'Durbar' can still be said to be irresistible and indomitable. Because Durbar is not only an inspiration for the struggle of sex workers in Bengal, but across the country, Laskar pointed out. Not only from India, sex workers from all over the country are taking part at the show. Several sex workers from Nepal are participants in the fashion show. Maya Tamang, Bimala Gurung, Swapna Sunar and Laxmirana Bhat, who are from Pokhara in Nepal have come to Kolkata.
Maya Tamang, 38, said, "We are just like others and no different. We participate in dance, song, drama and acting. Our sons and daughters are also highly educated. So, why can't we participate in the fashion show? We want to showcase ourselves. We don't want to be left behind."
Nepal's sex workers' organisation, Goreto's office bearer Laxmirana Bhat, who arrived here, said, "We have participated in fashion shows in Nepal before. We will participate here too. We will appear in front of everyone wearing Nepali traditional clothes and Bengali sarees. Unlike Kolkata or India, we do not get customers from the streets. We mainly communicate in hotels or online."
Cross border sex workers
Sex workers from Nepal, Bimala Gurung and Sapna Suna, couldn't hide their joy at the prospect of participating at the ramp walk. "It is a special joy to participate at a fashion show. Just like celebrities do, walking at the fashion show, wearing western clothes with Indian clothes is good fun," they said.
Laskar said, "Many of us are secretly engaged in this profession. Sex workers too have an artistic nature. They want to participate in fashion shows, dance, song, and drama. " Durbar first made its debut on July 12, 1995, under the leadership of the late Smarjit Jana. Formed by the united efforts of women, transgender and male sex workers, Durbar has been continuously fighting for the rights, dignity and recognition of sex workers since its inception. Leaving behind a life pushed to the margins of society, sex workers have forged a path of struggle for health, education, culture, sports, prevention of trafficking and equal rights. After the fashion show for sex workers on Sunday, a fashion show for the children of sex workers and transgender individuals was organised at the same place on Monday. Transgender people from different parts of the state will also participate there.
Sweety Singh, a sex worker from Priyaganj Colony in Cooch Behar, could not hide her pain. She said, "Despite the government and legal recognition, we are still being looked down." She further said," Once our children get equal opportunity, they can flourish just like kids of other people."
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