[Reader-list] Fwd: VAMP Sign on letter to VBS.Tv reg. Prostitutes of God.

[Shilpa Phadke]

I need people to provide affiliations of organizations and/or degrees and
positions (whatever is applicable to them), otherwise it won't have any
effect. Individuals are welcome too but say activist, consultant whatever
pls.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: meena seshu <meenaseshu at yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 8:36 PM
Subject: [sexualityinstitute2002] VAMP Sign on letter to VBS.Tv reg.
Prostitutes of God.
To: feministsindia at yahoogroups.com,
paulo-longo-research-initiative at googlegroups.com, Global Working Group on
HIV and Sex Work Policy <sex-work-policy-list at nswp.org>,
nswp-member-list at lists.nswp.org, sexualityinstitute2002 at yahoogroups.co.in,
"2007 Sexuality, Gender and Rights Institute" <sgricrea at lists.creaworld.org>,
vawg-hivcampaign at googlegroups.com, nnsw at yahoogroups.com




If you can send your endorsements to *vampadvocacy at gmail.com - *even one
line saying yes! is fine. We will compile it and send it to VBS.Tv Please
forward to other lists.

An Open Letter to VBS TV

Last week four short films began screening on VBS.TV
(http://VBS.TV<http://vbs.tv/>)
<http://VBS.TV> <http://vbs.tv/> under the title "Prostitutes of God". The
film-maker Sarah Harris ingratiated herself with VAMP whose members agreed
to allow her to film them. What resulted are films that are both insulting
to the people who agreed to participate, and misrepresent the culture,
religion and context in which the women portrayed do sex work. It must be
noted that those portrayed did not sign release forms.

 To manipulate people to meet one’s own ends is reprehensible. To, in
addition disparage a culture and religious beliefs, as Sarah Harris and VBS
TV have done, requires either wilful ignorance or a determination to produce
work that panders to the worst type of sensation seeking. The end result is
a documentary that does not depict reality or raise issues related to sex
work in any meaningful manner.

Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad (‘Prostitutes’ Freedom from Injustice’) or
"VAMP" was set up in 1996 by SANGRAM, Sangli, Maharashtra. This collective
now works with a human rights perspective with more than 5000 women, men and
transgender people in sex work. The Collective covers six districts in
Western Maharashtra and two in North Karnataka. It has been internationally
recognised by groups like Human Rights Watch for its contribution to human
rights and for its work in limiting the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Instead of depicting this reality of empowered women going about their
important work of dealing with violations of human rights, women’s rights,
right to health and livelihood, Sarah Harris chooses to portray them as
pimps or helpless victims. One case in point is that of Belavva. The film
maker wrongly states that the "Devadasi" religious ritual demands that poor
families traffic their daughters into prostitution (that is dedicate them to
the goddess Yellama). She then implies that when Belavva was young her
family sent her to work for a landlord who asked her parents to dedicate her
- or pimp her out. This is not true, neither in the instance of the
individual concerned, nor with respect to the religion as practiced locally.
Then, and horrifically, without permission and in violation of all ethics,
she adds that Belavva has HIV and is infecting others, presumably on a daily
basis. The film maker then states (again without any evidence) that when
Belavva dies her 8 year old sister will take her place - presumably because
she will be trafficked by her parents or someone else.

Here are some of the statements made by Sarah Harris and published by VBS.
They are not based on fact and/or are calculated to belittle/sensationalise:

   - Girls dedicated to the Goddess Yellamma will become sex slaves;
   - 3,000 girls are dedicated each year;
   - Anita is a brothel owner (she is a sex worker not a brothel owner);
   - Religious ritual allows poor families to pimp out their daughters;
   - Devadasi ceremony condones child prostitution;
   - Families are offered a fee for their daughters;
   - Garish Hindu icons; and fat Hindu gods, blue skin and gold bikinis.



Unfortunately, there is more.



In response to this offensive racist film that is premised on baseless
allegations, VAMP has produced a 3.5 min clip (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16OGyssJTvo) countering the distorted
perspective in the film. The women from Sangli present their incisive views
about sex work; religion and faith; livelihoods; issues of consent; ethics
and cross-cultural sensitivities while making documentary films.



In the age of the Internet, women in countries far away who used to be the
objects of white people's gaze with no right of reply now have access to the
representations that are made of them, and the technological means to answer
back. A naive westerner may seize the headlines, but there's now scope for
there to be a debate and to bring those who in the past would have remained
voiceless victims into that debate to represent themselves. It is a great
opportunity to put the record straight.(The clip has been produced by *Sangli
**Talkies*, the newly-launched video unit of SANGRAM / VAMP).



While VAMP continues to explore possible legal and other actions to redress
the violations detailed above, we ask that you upload the VAMP film in the
comments section on your website. This would go some way toward not only
allowing voice to the women of Sangli, but also providing much-needed debate
on sensitive issues like sex work, livelihoods, choice and religion.



In solidarity,

1. Shabana Kazi,VAMP

2. Meena Saraswathi Seshu, SANGRAM









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