Workshop focuses on alternate livelihood for sex workers

SHILLONG: Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) recently organised a workshop titled ‘A Touch of Hope: Alternative Livelihood’ with an aim to sensitise sex workers and transgenders on the possibilities of career choices and lifestyle development.
The workshop, organised by the Department of English and Communication and the students of BBA fifth semester in the Department of Management and Commerce Studies in collaboration with MLCU’s NSS unit, was held on the university campus in Nongrah. Members of Lamjingshai, Manbha Foundation, an NGO, participated in the programme.
As many as 30 sex workers attended the workshop where they were informed about alternate livelihoods that can help them leave the sex trade and live and earn in the mainstream society.
The students gave presentations on different career choices that the women can opt for if they leave their current line of work. They also briefed the participants on the different loans and funding that they can apply for to start a business.
Project manager of Lamjingshai, Manbha Foundation, Samanda Phanwar said, “This workshop has been helpful to our ladies. It has given them a sense of hope that they can leave this current profession and still be able to earn and provide for their family in a respectable manner.”
She added that no other organisation or even the government has ever come forward to help this NGO, which mainly works towards helping the sex workers in the city.