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Synopsis Carolyn Sleightholme and Indrani Sinha write with rare perception and sensitivity about the lives of sex workers in Calcutta who have shared their stories with them. Through interviews and surveys, and case studies, they interrogate the double standards of sexual morality that govern the lucrative sex trade in India, thus making visible the more than twenty thousand mothers, heads of households, and community members whose activities and voices have been silenced so that others may profit from their activities. Linking the social and economic vulnerability of sex workers to the trade’s supply, the authors reveal the harassment, economic insecurity, health hazard and stigmatization these women face, and they offer recommendations for intervention programmes by government and other organizations so that their needs may be addressed and their exploitation halted.