A Cup of Cold Water

Seventeen Year Old Temple Prostitute, Belgaum District, India, 24" X 34" -In the Devadasi tradition, a girl in her prime services as many as five customers a day. This seventeen-year-old has had her body sold for the benefit of the Temple for five years (temple priests receive all the money). 2007-2012

The “A Cup of Cold Water Project” is a photographic, social documentary work, addressing issues of forced prostitution, especially as it pertains to children and young women in India; those who are or have been sold in sex trafficking, regardless of any social objectification. Many of us in the West do not believe, or, are unaware that forced prostitution continues to thrive for social and economic reasons. Seeing the faces of those enslaved and the faces of those who are at risk plays a critical role in getting them the help that they desperately need.

Suvarna, Former Devadasi Temple Prostitute, 20" x 30" -Suvarna, began her life in the role of a prostitute at the age of 11 or 12 (she's unsure of the exact age). 2007 .

Suvarna at 45, lives with her six children, whose fathers are all unknown. Her extremely poor parents, like those of most other temple prostitutes, sold her for 10,000 Rupees (approximately $250 USD). She was the eldest of five sisters.

She explained that there was no formal training for temple prostitution; one was simply “baptized” into the role. For over 30 years, she was forced to have sex with 3 to 4 men daily, with only one day off a week. Her parents were proud of her because she could send them money, and she was treated better by the priests due to her ability to please many men, unlike those who did not attract as many “happy devotees.”

Suvarna escaped four years ago (2003) and found refuge with Operation Mobilization an N.G.O., which provided her with food and shelter. The temple priests searched for her for only three weeks, as they were not overly concerned about her departure, considering she is past her prime earning years. Unfortunately, younger girls and women are not as fortunate; if they attempt to leave, they are caught and confined until they agree to continue being exploited.

Grandmother and Children, Yadgiri Bandi (Rock Cutters), Village of Dalits, 20" x 30" -near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2008.

This grandmother has lived her entire life in the Yadgiri Bandi slum outside the city of Secunderabad, in the southern Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. In this village the only means of income, for both men and women, is the backbreaking task of cutting huge rock formations, using primitive hand tools. They then break them into progressively smaller pieces. The rocks are then sold to a higher caste middleman, to be sold again to another middleman for either export or to building trades within India.

The Yadgiri Bandi do not have running water, sewage disposal, access to health care, do not even make enough to shop in the local markets (except for rice). Because of the nature of their rock cutting methods, it is rare to see any worker past age 40 without obvious physical deformation. Female rock cutters are usually paid half the wages of their male counterparts. The three children in this photograph, because of their birth as a Dalit (formerly Untouchable), will grow up and their only survival option will be to work in the quarry until they are to old or deformed to continue. Hopefully their children or grandchildren will earn enough to help feed them.

Sony, Near Her Home in the Pipe Village, 19" x 28" -Secunderbad Dalit Slum, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2008

In some photographs I show the deplorable living conditions that are a factor that lead to forced prostitution. Always the problem arises from the depths of poverty; the daughters and sons of the rich are never sold – it’s always the children of the poor. The largest population of the destitute poor are Dalit. There are 250 + million of these people living under the social stigma of caste, making them worthless in the eyes of many of the higher Indian castes, regarded as less than slaves or livestock. There are countless others at the bottom of the caste system, part of what is referred to as Other Backward Castes (O.B.C.’s). When a family is literally starving to death they will do almost anything to save their families and themselves, even selling their daughters into prostitution. With their choices narrowed to starvation or human trafficking, many are forced to choose the latter.

Boy, Tent Home/Brothel, 16"x24". 2009-2012

I have worked with many non-profit humanitarian groups (along with many dedicated individuals) within India, these Non-Governmental Organizations (N.G.O.'s) are usually the most successful when run by Indian people. These people were indispensable in helping me tell this small part of the story. They are the ones on the front line; the ones who provide working and living options for those fortunate enough to escape the barbaric sex trade. This work is available for exhibition without charge.

Dalit Muslim Brother & Sister in the Pipe Village, 19.5”x 29.5” -Secuderbad, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2006-2007

It is a common belief in South Asia that a virgin can cure HIV; this partially explains why the children being sold, kidnapped and raped, keep getting younger. Children caught in the sex trade are now as young as three-years-old. They have no option but to continue their lives as sex workers until they are discarded by their captors because of age, or more frequently, because they become too sick to be of value. With an estimated 80% of current brothel workers testing positive for HIV, premature death is imminent due to lack of protection and medications.

Baby Girl Surrounded by Other Juhi Children, 24" x 16". 2009

In the Juhi Village Slum near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, children are trapped in bonded labor – essentially living as slaves. They rarely escape the work that keeps them indebted. Most of these children are illiterate and are often sold into forced labor by their parents to pay off small debts. By the time they reach adulthood, many are crippled from working 12 plus hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week. They are frequently beaten and raped by their employers and have no voice with local authorities. The vast majority of these children are Dalits (the Untouchables).

Adolescent Girl, Lal Bangla Village Slum, 20”x30” -Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. 2008

Children in bonded labor are tied to their employers in exchange for a loan and cannot leave while in debt. They earn so little that most will never be free of it. Their illiteracy, including a lack of basic math skills, prevents them from understanding how long it will take to repay the debt. These countless children work 12 plus hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week in agriculture, rag picking, and brick making. Due to their small hands, they are ideal for polishing gemstones, rolling “beedi” cigarettes, packaging firecrackers, working as domestics, sewing intricate embroidery, laboring in the silk industry, and hand-weaving carpets.

This forced labor often leads girls, some as young as five years old, into forced prostitution, resulting in early deaths from rampant sexually transmitted diseases.

Jerry McGrath

Jerry McGrath

Jerry McGrath

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