Bangladesh: From Child Brides to Sex Trade
Allison Joyce captures some of the darkest sides of humanity, pulling back the vail on parts of society many of us are ignorant of or choose to ignore. | Photos by Allison Joyce
Samira parties with customers at a brothel. She was married at 12, trafficked to a brothel two weeks later.
A madam counts money in a brothel
Mia, 15, sits with her new 27-year-old groom during their wedding. ‘My family has been saving for my wedding for a very long time. I am a girl, so they always knew they would need to give me away.' Five or six months ago, her parents found Mia a groom, a 27-year-old man who works in a garment factory. 'I am nervous,' Mia says, quietly. 'I think I will miss my family'
Yasmin waits for customers
A girl shows her self harm scars
Women wait for customers
Habiba waits for customers. The 14-year-old has been in a brothel for three years
‘I ran away from my husband after seven days. He was only about 15 or 16, but he raped me so violently that one morning, when I knew he was asleep, I slipped out of the house as quietly as I could, and ran,’ Samira says. ‘I ran back to my house, but I was too frightened to go inside because I was covered in blood and bruises. My mum died when I was 11, so my brother and sister had arranged the marriage because they could not afford to look after me any more, and I knew leaving my husband would make them angry. So I asked a rickshaw driver to take me across (the town) to my friend’s house, but he told me I should be ashamed of myself, and dropped me off at the brothel instead’
A customer enters Yasmin’s room
A police officer stops to speak to a woman outside a brothel
A customer fights with girls at a brothel