Makeshift brothels crop up in Sri Lanka as women adopt prostitution to make ends meet

Economic crisis has broken the backbone of the Sri Lankan people and poverty has now become a compulsion across the country. Reeling under the crisis, women especially in textile industry in Sri Lanka have been forced to adopt prostitution to make their ends meet.

Makeshift brothels are blooming across the country with 30 per cent rise in prostitution in last few months.

Speaking about the crisis, Executive Director of Stand-up Movement Lanka (SUML) which is working for the rights of sex workers and their betterment, Ashila Dandeniya said, “Due to the current crisis, we have noticed that many women are going into makeshift prostitution and the business has increased by 30 per cent, most of them are from textile industries. After COVID, the textiles industries were effected and there were many job cuts. Now the current situation is forcing them to adopt sex work for their livelihoods.”