Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim countries in the world where prostitution is legal. The Kandapara brothel in the district of Tangail is the oldest and second-largest in the country – it has existed for some 200 years. It was demolished in 2014, but has been established again with the help of local NGOs. Many of the women were born there, grew up there and didn’t know where else to go when it disappeared.

Women waiting for customers in the Kandapara brothel (Sandra Hoyn)

Supporters of the brothel believe that sex work is also work – and that these women don’t want to do something else. The women themselves demonstrated for their rights as workers, and so at the end of 2014, the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association convinced the High Court that the eviction of the sex workers was an illegal act. The sex workers quickly returned to their homes.

Mim showers in the Kandapara brothel (Sandra Hoyn)

Today, the area’s “brothel district” is surrounded by a wall. In the narrow streets, there are food stalls, tea shops and street vendors. The brothel is a place with its own rules and hierarchies of power which are completely different from mainstream society. For example, inside the brothels, the women are weak but also powerful. The most vulnerable stage is when a young sex worker enters the brothel – she is called a bonded girl. Bonded girls are usually 12 to 14 years old.

Dipa crying (Sandra Hoyn)

Papia with two customers on a bed (Sandra Hoyn)

People congregate inside the brothel (Sandra Hoyn)

Priya teases a friend (Sandra Hoyn)

Twin babies of one of the workers in the Kandapara brothel (Sandra Hoyn)

A man tries to kiss Priya (Sandra Hoyn)

Asma with a customer. She was born here (Sandra Hoyn)

Kajol (Sandra Hoyn)

Kajol with her 6-month-old baby Mehedi and a customer on her bed (Sandra Hoyn)

Pakhi and Mim (Sandra Hoyn)

The Kandapara brothel in Tangail is the oldest and second-largest one in Bangladesh. It has existed for 200 years (Sandra Hoyn)