'Rina Apa was there when there was none'

Lota (not her real name) stopped coming back home when the outstanding rent totalled Tk 20,000 during the coronavirus lockdown as customers shunned the floating sex workers like her in Dhaka fearing infection. As a last resort, she and the others turned to their former colleague Rina Akter, who provided them with food. "Rina Apa (sister) stood by us when there were none," Lota said when bdnews24.com was speaking with Rina at Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka on Thursday. "She cooked and fed us for some days. She also gave us rice and lentil later," Lota said, reports bdnews24.com.

Rina said she had provided some 200 floating sex workers meals and a place to rest every day for around five months at Shahbagh, Suhrawardy Udyan, Gulistan, High Court area, New Market, Victoria Park, Sadarghat and different other parts of the city with the help of members of the public and NGOs. Now she has made it to the BBC 100 Women 2020 list in recognition of her work. The BBC list this year highlights those who are leading change and making a difference during these turbulent times.  

Rina began working for the sex workers with a private organisation called Durjoy Nari Sangha. Later, she joined the NGO - Lighthouse. She is still with the NGO and working to provide the floating sex workers with health care, legal aid, help for burial and funeral, and place for birth and rest at a drop-in centre. "When the coronavirus struck, I noticed that the number of girls seeking help dropped because of the physical distancing rules. They can't maintain physical distancing in their job," Rina said. "No-one came to our girls because of the stay-at-home order.

Where would they get their food then?" Her Facebook posts seeking help for them drew the attention of many. Besides Lighthouse and another NGO, Sex Worker Network Bangladesh, students and other people helped Rina with money and grocery in her work. Rina said she wants to work in a big way for the older floating sex workers and the education of the children of sex workers.

"The elderly sex workers are reduced to begging when they can't work, but the people who recognise them as sex workers do not want to give them anything," she said. The drop-in centre is not large enough but she wants it expanded so that the sex workers' children can stay there. In reaction to the recognition of her work by the BBC, she said, "I feel very happy. I've never thought I could achieve this."

But Rina also acknowledged that the BBC recognition has increased her responsibilities.She had first felt bad when she had thought that her photos would be published in newspapers after journalists had contacted her. "My colleagues gave me courage. They said it would be good for the girls. I was encouraged to think that it would help the girls. I will try to stand by them until the end," she said.