Mumbai bar dancers tell their stories– it is not about sex work (Watch video)

October 15, 2015, NewsCrunch

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed an amendment of the Maharashtra Police Act and allowed the dance bars to open in Mumbai and other cities of the state.

The Maharashtra government had banned dance bars in 2005, which had been challenged in the Bombay High Court. Upholding High Court verdict, the Supreme Court had earlier said the ban violated the constitutional right to earn a living.

Though closely associated with sex work in public mind, dance bars provide employment to desperate women.

Many of these women come from broken families and have dependents – from aged parents to little children – to support. Many of them are married and typically may have a husband unwilling or unable to work.