Video

A bank in India is helping sex workers save their money for a brighter future. MOREINFO: The bank was started by a sex-worker collective in the heart of Mumbai's red light district. More than 1,200 sex workers now hold accounts at the Sangini Women's Co-operative Society bank, which will soon introduce low-interest loans. SCRIPT: India's financial capital Mumbai is a beacon for sex workers from all over South Asia, yet prejudice and red tape has locked them out of the banking system. Many sex workers lack proof of identification which excludes them from opening up bank accounts and those who do have the necessary documents say they're often made to feel unwelcome at banks. Now a new bank especially for sex workers removes the traditional obstacles SOUNDBITE: Unidentified woman "I have two children, a boy and a girl. The girl is married and the boy is small. I want to educate him so he can get a good job so that he can marry and be happy, that's my dream." Many investors are saving their way out of prostitution. Shilpa Merchant who helped to set up the banK says some women want to return to their villages, but have no savings and need to keep working to pay off loan sharks. SOUNDBITE: SHILPA MERCHANT "This is a way for them to finally get out of the vicious cycle of being dependent on the madame or being dependent on the money lender and being able to refuse a customer who doesn't wear a condom. They do not have this fear of where is my next meal coming from." Some investors are saving up to buy their freedom. Many of Mumbai's sex workers are sold to brothels and must pay large sums to leave If a woman is confined to a brothel the bank will pay her regular visits to collect her savings. The bank provides no immediate way out of sex work, but by investing as little as fifty cents a day, many women can contemplate retirement and even set up businesses. In Mumbai, I'm Alana Rosenbaum reporting for Reuters.