The Badi women of Mudha let customers know they are ready for work – which is prostitution (“pesha”) – by wearing thick, blood-red lipstick. We visit them on our way to Tikapur, in Eastern Nepal, where we have arranged to meet with the Community Support Group, a Dalit advocacy organization that is trying to help Badi women escape from prostitution.

The Badi sub-caste is relatively high on the pecking order of 22 Dalit sub-castes, but over the years they have fallen in the esteem of Nepalis. The Badi traditionally provided music and entertainment for the Royal families before they gradually drifted into prostitution. It is, as always, difficult to get a sense of numbers. We are told that there are 60,000 Badi women doing pesha in Western Nepal, but that is only a rough estimate.

The ladies of Mudha are certainly among the best known, and our friends from the Jagaran Media Center are quite keen that we visit them. They feel that the Badi are one of the most poignant casualties of Nepal’s caste system, and I’m inclined to agree. The idea that an entire sub-caste should be trapped in prostitution by centuries of tradition is quite startling.

Direndra, who reports from this area for the Jagaran Media center and has met with these Badi women many times, assures us there will be no problem. They are always interested to meet people who want to help, he says. This turns out to be naпve on our part.

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We are met by a gentle woman with a striking face and a scarlet sari to match her lipstick. She quickly wipes off her lipstick and explains that she dressed up to visit the market. We don’t believe her for a minute. Go ahead and ask whatever you want, she says, as a small crowd forms. Ask about pesha. Ask about anything.

Opposing prostitution: Uma Devi Badi heads the Community Support Group in Tikapur

We grab a few facts before it all begins to degenerate. Mudha lies beside the main road, which used to make it a target for frequent police raids, because prostitution is illegal in Nepal. The police almost never come now because there is a large Maoist presence in this area. The Maoists have been known to pass by, chastise the women for their immorality, and then make off with some of them to the jungle.

Each woman services as many as 12 clients a day, at rates of between 50 and 200 rupees per customer. This means they can earn over 1,000 rupees a day, which is many times more than our driver earns for negotiating the treacherous roads. It is little wonder that he soon retires to the car in disgust.

These women are clearly earning a serious wage by Nepalese standards, and it makes me wonder whether they are indeed trapped in a demeaning occupation from which they cannot escape, like other Dalit sub-castes, or exercising their right to chose a profession and doing just fine. Prostitution always throws up this question. It is particularly hard to answer in an impoverished and caste-ridden society like Nepal.

One thing we do learn, and that is that the Badi men of this community do not work. I’m not sure why this should be, but there are certainly many of them hanging about looking useless. We’re also told that the Badi women do not do pesha once they marry, although this is harder to confirm. Several middle-aged ladies appear to be wearing lipstick.

It is impossible to get any real insights into something this sensitive in a short visit, and foolish to try. One woman is particularly angry, and interrupts repeatedly, spittle flying from her mouth. Enough of the questions, she asks. What are they going to get out of this visit? Good point. Being near the road, these families receive many unwelcome inquiries and see many cameras. They have come to expect something in return.

Or perhaps this woman is just tired of being associated with prostitution. Whatever the reasons, she brings the others around and the mood changes from mellow to truculent. The women press us for money as we leave. Feeling guilty, I hand over something, which they receive with disdain and surprise. They seemed practiced at making visitors seem guilty.

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Tikapur is a long, tough drive on a dreadful road. The Maoists have attacked the town on several occasions and the army patrols look alert and wary, even though the Maoists have declared a cease-fire.

The committee members of the Community Support Group (CSG), in Tikapur, are dismayed that we have visited the women of Mudha. They view the women as totally unrepresentative of Badi as a whole, who are struggling to escape from prostitution. The CSG is quite clear that the Badi are forced into pesha by poverty and the pressure of society.

I’m not sure how one would check this out short of a detailed investigation with individual Badi, but the CSG has certainly launched an impressive program of work.

As with other Dalit advocacy groups, the CSG tries to help the Badi understand their rights through a series of 23 “pressure groups” that it has established in the villages. They are also using the Reflect syllabus, which proved so useful in convincing the Dalit of Lahan that they were entitled to enter the temple. The CSG also runs 3 “child awareness” centers, currently holding 75 children, which serve as part day-care and part primary school for the children of Badi women. CSG also runs ten “savings” groups, which help Badi to save and invest.

This is a rounded and imaginative program, and it appears to be having an impact. In 2000, the Group conducted a survey of 185 Badi women who were doing pesha. When they checked again this year, only 80 were still in pesha. This is far more successful than the efforts to liberate the Balighary, and it must hold some important lessons for the larger struggle to liberate the Dalit.

At the very least it shows that many Badi women would gladly escape from pesha if they were given an alternative.

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As the CSG chairperson, Uma Devi Badi, explains the program, I can understand why out hosts are irritated that we have allowed the women of Mudha to sew the seeds of doubt. There is a personal edge to this. One of the Mudha women is Uma’s sister and Uma is upset and embarrassed that she is still in pesha. Although Uma is grateful for our visit, it must add to her frustration that we allowed ourselves to be diverted by Mudha.

As we leave, I realize that we have spent almost no time understanding where Badi men fit into all of this. I got a very unfavorable impression from the men of Mudha, who seem content to leech off the prostitution of their sisters and daughters. But what of those Badi men who are ashamed at the association?

Samjay Bikram Badi, who left government service to work in the Community Support Group, is one of them. Kamal Badi Rokaya, who has his own computer and email account and also works in the Group, is another.

Kamal is educated, savvy, passionate, committed – and deeply irritated. “I am proud to be a Badi,” he explains, in a slightly strangled voice. If more men felt the same way, the Badi might indeed have a future other than prostitution.

Tomorrow: Dalit activism in the West