India is home to countless professions which are deemed praiseworthy in the society. However, there are some occupations that are always treated with a bit of scrutiny. One such profession is prostitution which feeds thousands of Indians across the country. The Supreme Court of India recently declared that private prostitution is legal in India but the lines about the same are always blurred. What does the Supreme Court of India really mean by the legality of private prostitution? Are the red light areas in India are now completely legal to operate? Can the police still prosecute you for indulging in intimate activities? These are all the questions of which the answers will always be debatable. But before we begin this list of the biggest red light areas in India let us inform you that red light areas are completely illegal in India and you should never ever visit them if you are not a fan of police and the law. Sonagachi in Karnataka is the largest red light area in India. Here we have covered everything you need to know about all the famous and biggest red light areas in India that you should choose to avoid.
Top 10 Biggest Red Light Areas in India:
Sonagachi, Kolkata
Sonagachi in Karnataka is the largest and most famous red light area in India. In fact, it is the biggest red light area in entire Asia. The Sonagachi street is among the most searched queries on Google in India as people are curious about the big scale of this red light area that harbours more than 12,000 sex workers. An Academy Award winning documentary Born into Brothel has explored the lives of Sonagachi prostitutes. The grave conditions in which the workers operate in this red light district will make your heart and soul numb.
G.B. Road, Delhi
The biggest red light district in Delhi is home to more than a thousand sex workers. The area is known for its notorious criminal activities at night. There are many instances of snatching and other sorts of crimes in this area in the past. It has several hundred multi-storey brothels that have shops at the ground floor. These brothels become operational at night after the shops on the ground floor gets closed. However, in the day the G.B. Road is a highly commercial area where you can shop for automobile products and more.
Chaturbhuj Sthan, Muzaffarpur
Located in the state of Bihar and inside the district Muzaffarpur, Chaturbhuj Sthan is a red light area with more than 4,000 sex workers. The prostitution runs rampant in this district and the government cannot seem to find a solution for the same. The area is based around a kilometer long lane where female sex workers perform the Mujra dance for their clients. According to the historians, the Chaturbhuj Sthan is the oldest red light area in India. It has existed since the Mughal period and still continues to flourish even after hundreds of years of the Mughal period.
Budhwar Peth, Pune
One of the most densely populated and the largest red light districts in India, Budhwar Peth in Pune has more than 5,000 sex workers and 700 currently operational brothels. The area is often viewed as the failure of government. In the past various cases of HIV emerged from this particular red light area. However, the cases of HIV have gone down after the introduction or safety measures.
Shivdaspur, Varanasi
You would have never guessed that there is a red light area in Varanasi in India. Shivdaspur became the most popular red light district in Varanasi after the sex workers migrated to the area in the 1970s. The move was taken due to the closing of Dalamandi red light area near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The area is on a decline due to the potential fear of HIV in recent times. There have been several calls from the influential people to completely close down this place.
Jawaharkhana Ghaas Mandi, Jodhpur
Jawaharkhana Ghaas Mandi in Jodhpur is among the most popular red light areas in Rajasthan, India. The cheap prostitute at the place have often even fascinated the foreigners. This red light district is also known for being quite rowdy. Police often raids the brothels at this place and catches the sex workers only to release them a few days later after receiving some favours. The old age corruption story runs rampant in this red light district that harbours more than 500 sex workers.
Also read: Sex Work is Legal. According To The SC, Police Cannot Intervene Or Take Criminal Action
Tilawala, Jaipur
Tilawala in Jaipur is another famous red light area in India that has gained a lot attraction for the cheap rates at which you can hire the prostitutes at this place. This area has many prostitutes hanging around the walls at night waiting for potential customers. Not much info is known about the place other than the fact there are more than 500 sex workers who operate in this red light district in India.
Kabari Bazaar, Meerut
One of the biggest red light areas in North India, Kabari Bazaar became hugely populated with sex workers when Mumbai Court banned the dance bars in the state. Many prostitutes migrated from Mumbai to Meerut and turned this place into a large red light district that has over a thousand active sex workers. Similar to other red light districts, this place is also known for its high crime rate and corruption.
Reshampura, Gwalior
This area is particularly known for a huge rate of sex trafficking. Females who are involved in the prostitution at this place are trained by the brothel leaders and sold to the brothels of Mumbai. There are reports of women being sold to the Middle East countries as well from this red light district. It is just a sad reality which over 2 million sex workers in India face everyday.
Ganga Jamuna, Nagpur
More than 500 sex workers operate in one of the most famous and largest red light areas in India in Ganga Jamuna, Nagpur. Police often raids the area and in fact there are rumors that the raids are conducted in a very frequent manner to curb the prostitution at the place. Even then the prostitution continues to plague the city and newborns of the active sex workers are left to live in a dark reality.