Sex worker beaten, child attempted suicide after video went viral: Sex Workers Network
The organisation called for a press conference condemning the assault
The child of a female sex worker tried to die by suicide after a video of the woman being beaten by a youth went viral on social media, said Sex Workers Network, a platform of 29 organisations representing sex workers of all genders and different localities in Bangladesh.
In a statement, signed by the Network's President Aleya Akhter Lili, issued today (4 September), the platform said, "On 29 August 2024, a group of youth ganged up and physically assaulted floating sex workers. A video of one such incident that took place in Dhaka's Shyamoli has gone viral across the country through social media platform Facebook. A young man can be seen beating sex workers in the video."
The platform also states that sex workers were also robbed of their cash and mobile phones in addition to the beating.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"After the video went viral, the child of a sex worker has become traumatised and tried to die by suicide," reads the statement.
The video has caused "bitterness and tension in the relationship between the child and the mother", the statement added.
"Moreover, we have come to know that sex workers are being physically assaulted daily in different places of Dhaka, including Jatrabari, court area, Shaheed Minar, Mirpur, Farmgate, Asad Gate, Uttara, Kuril and Badda. Many have become physically ill," the Sex Workers Network stated.
Several videos of youths chasing and beating women, deemed to be floating sex workers, in different areas of Dhaka, have been circulating on social media platforms recently.
The actions of the youth have drawn criticism from netizens.
The platform announced that it will hold a press conference tomorrow (5 September) at the National Press Club in this regard.
