In shadowy sex work, KYC is an unknown must-have

Among the worst affected by the cash crunch are those whose existence remains confined to the margins. These are people who live far from the world of plastic, banks and KYC. They are folks whose lives are spent in shadows, chasing crumbs — without official documentation.
Commercial sex work may be the oldest profession in the world. Dubbed illegal, it may never enter the "white" world.But despite their unacknowledged existence, sex workers are equally affected by social, political and economic changes like the rest of us. A recent jolt to them has been the demonetisation of currency.
While the high-end ones have kept their wits about, others are counting their losses. Without cash, their profession cannot thrive.
TOI spoke to a cross section of sex workers in Chennai on how they are managing to stay alive and afloat. "I have no option but to accept the old notes and use my friend’s identity to change the currency," said Pinky, a sex worker who lives in Red Hills.
"We just don’t know how to deal with the situation. Earlier, the customer would give us change. Some customers try to con us with currency notes of other countries which are lesser in denomination. Even our regular customers are thinking twice before calling us," says Baby.
"The situation for sex workers is very bleak. The number of customers for these poor women has come down drastically. They are having to go to customers instead of them coming. We have tried to chip in to help them by obtaining change for them. Most of the sex workers do not have any official identity card and find it difficult to exchange the old currency even if they have a few," says A J Hariharan, secretary of Indian Community Welfare Organization, an NGO which works for sex workers.
A few bold ones have, however, jacked up their prices. Since smaller denomination notes are unavailable, they are demanding more, in `2,000s. "When customers call I make it clear that I will not accept the scrapped notes and demand currency in 100s or `2,000 notes. With business at its all-time low due to the scrapping of the old currency even customers are keeping away. I do not have a bank account and even if I am paid in `1,000 and `500 where will I go exchange it," says Poornima, based in Saligramam.
Some of the sex workers are refusing to go the houses of customers and are instead calling them over to a designated location. Only after money changes hands do they go any further with them. "We know who is a cheat and who is not. We first take the currency, give it to a friend or a relative, and then go to the houses of customers," says Amudha, based in Anna Nagar. And she insists on getting the autorickshaw fares reimbursed — to and fro. Some, however, are still accepting the old currency notes as they have no other option, says Hariharan.