Bangladesh EC recognises sex workers as professionals

"The Commission has decided to acknowledge 15 more professions including sex workers and journalists while the existing EC list named 25 professions," an Election Commission spokesman told PTI.

Chief Election Commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda yesterday took the decision which also recognised clerics, nurses, hairdressers, laundrymen, maids and domestic helps, gardeners, cleaners, cook, tailors, driver as job titles, he said.

Previously, they had to register themselves in 'Others' category in the list of professionals while filling up the prescribed forms for voter list and national identity cards. "If anyone wants to put sex work as a profession, we will recognise that," Election Commissioner Sakhawat Hossain said.

Sex is a taboo in Muslim majority Bangladesh, but a woman can register herself as a prostitute through district magistrates. No official figure was available immediately to ascertain the number of sex workers in the country.