Shivdaspur is a
census town and a
red light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...
in
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
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* The city has a syncretic t ...
in eastern
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It resides on periphery of Varanasi city, surrounded by Lahartara, Manduadih.
Demographics
As of the
2001 Census of India
The 2001 Census of India was the 14th in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1871.
The population of India was counted as 1,028,737,436 consisting of 532,223,090 males and 496,514,346 females. Total population increased by 18 ...
, Shivdaspur had a population of 11,432. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Shivdaspur has an average literacy rate of 59%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 68%, and female literacy is 48%.14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Red-light district
In the 1970s the red-light district in Dalamandi, near the
Kashi Vishwanath Temple
The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is located in Vishwanath Gali of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in India. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganga, and is one of the twelve Jyot ...
, was closed and the sex-workers moved to Shivdaspur.
[Navbharat Times]
> The area has declined as the number of customers has fallen, partly because the fear of
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
. There have been calls from locals and politicians for the area to be closed.
See also
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Prostitution in India
Prostitution is legal in India, but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pimping and pandering are illegal. There are, however, many b ...
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Prostitution in Asia
The legality of prostitution in Asia varies by country. There is often a significant difference in Asia between prostitution laws and the practice of prostitution. In 2011, the Asian Commission on AIDS estimated there were 10 million sex worker ...
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Prostitution in Kolkata
Prostitution in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is present in different forms and Kolkata's sex industry is one of the largest in Asia. Prostitution may be brothel-based or non-brothel based as in the case of call girls. India is regarded as having o ...
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Prostitution in Mumbai
Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), is a city in India which contains the neighborhood of Kamathipura, one of the largest red-light districts in Asia. India is regarded as having one of the largest commercial sex trades globally. These neighbor ...
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Sonagachi
Sonagachi is a neighbourhood in Kolkata, India, located in North Kolkata near the intersection of Jatindra Mohan Avenue (north of C.R. Avenue) with Beadon Street and Sovabazar, about one kilometer north of the Marble Palace area.} Sonagachi is ...
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All Bengal Women's Union
The All Bengal Women's Union was started in the 1932, when a group of women in West Bengal formed a cadre of like-minded women to help their helpless, exploited and victimized fellow women.
The genesis of the group lay in the fact that trafficki ...
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Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee
The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee ( bn, দুর্বার মহিলা সমন্বয় সমিতি ''Durbar Mohila Shômonbôe Shomiti'' "Unstoppable Women's Synthesis Committee"), or simply Durbar, is a collective of 65,0 ...
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Male prostitution
Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pro ...
References
Census towns in Varanasi district
Cities and towns in Varanasi district
Prostitution in India
Neighbourhoods in Varanasi
Red-light districts in India
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