Sweatshops in slums and illegal sex trade continue despite repeated bans. Where will India go next?

When talking about India, the first things that come to many people's mind are probably the dirty and messy streets, the caste system that is not much different from "slavery", and the outrageous rape cases that often make the news.

Don’t blame netizens for their stereotypes. According to statistics released by the National Crime Bureau (NCRB) of India, there were 31,516 rape cases in India in 2022, equivalent to 86 cases per day.

But don't think that there are only so many rape cases in India. Since most victims are "too embarrassed to report the case", the actual number will only be higher. Since January 2022, India simply stopped collecting data on the grounds of "statistical difficulties" and "affecting the country's image", and directly gave up.

Various bizarre rape cases may occasionally arouse public opinion due to media reports, but the various sweatshops hidden in the slums and the countless illegal sex transactions are the "biggest tip of the Indian iceberg" that we cannot see.

The sweatshops in Dharavi and the tears of low-caste women are not the "necessary price" of economic development, but the shame of civilized society. Only when this country learns to put "people" at the core of development can India be considered a country in the 21st century.

Today, let’s talk about what India should do next.

In the city center of Mumbai, India's largest commercial capital (the Mumbai that Indians call "Little Mumbai of the East"), close to the railway in the Dharavi area, Asia's largest slum, the "Dharavi Slum", was born.

In this place of less than 2 square kilometers, which is not even as big as a village in northern my country, there are more than 1 million poor Indians living there. They live in shacks made of iron sheets and plastic sheets all day long, with thousands of people sharing one toilet, next to garbage dumps and sewage.

There is no clean drinking water in Dharavi. Women who want to wash clothes can only go to a nearby stinking pit. If they want to cook, they have to walk 2 kilometers to buy water on the "black market", which is quite magical.

The vast majority of people living here are "Shudras", the lowest caste, which the Indian government officially calls "untouchables".

These Shudras are almost all native Indians in terms of blood. After being conquered by the Aryans in history, they willingly became "slaves" from generation to generation and were not allowed to engage in service industries or "high-end occupations" in the eyes of Indians, such as drivers and nannies.

India "lives on garbage dumps and eats garbage dumps". In the Dharavi slum is the largest garbage dump in Mumbai. Every day before dawn, trucks loaded with garbage gather from all directions.

Most of the garbage transported here is domestic waste, including leftover food, plastic waste and various discarded household appliances and daily necessities. Therefore, many Indians come here to "open treasure chests" every day.

Over time, a huge industrial chain has formed around the garbage dump in the local area.

Since 1950, some poor people have been making a living by picking up garbage. Later, some workshops for recycling and reprocessing used daily necessities gradually emerged. Today, Dharavi slum has 15,000 handicraft factories, ranging from leather processing, textile sewing to electronic waste dismantling, which can provide nearly $1 billion in GDP for Mumbai every year.

Without exception, all of these factories are "sweatshops". Workers need to work more than 12 hours a day, but their daily wage is only a pitiful US$3, which is about 20 yuan in RMB.

Low-caste women are the main force in these sweatshops. According to official Indian statistics, 70% of slum women in India were engaged in informal labor in 2024, and more than 30% of child laborers were under the age of 14.

Under the shadow of the caste system, they have been deprived of the right to education and development opportunities since birth and can only enter factories as "untouchables".

In the tanneries in Dharavi, women workers sort leather contaminated by chemicals with their bare hands, working hard even with festering hands. In the electronics recycling plants, they dismantle parts containing lead and mercury without any protection, and many of them do not live to be 40 years old.

When sweatshops cannot meet survival needs, sex trade becomes the "last resort" for many women.

In 2020, the Indian government claimed that there were 700,000 registered sex workers in the country, but the actual number may be more than 8 million.

In the Dharavi slum, because the official law enforcement power cannot reach the grassroots level, gangs are rampant. They have their own territories, are responsible for "maintaining social order", and even help the government collect taxes.

The Indian government has vested interests and has been condoning their existence, which makes life miserable for the poor women living here.

Here, underage girls are sold to the red-light district for 150,000 rupees (about 200 US dollars), and have to serve dozens of clients every day. The "madams" even call it "commissions if you do a good job."

Although Indian law explicitly prohibits sex trade, local police collude with pimps and condone the existence of this industry by collecting "protection fees".

In 2023, a rescued 16-year-old girl cried, "I was deceived to Mumbai by my boyfriend. He said he would find me a tailoring job, but he sold me to a brothel. The police came, but the boss gave them money and they left..."

This systematic oppression actually reflects the deep divisions in Indian society. The caste system and patriarchal culture are intertwined, completely pushing low-caste women into the abyss.

Unlike in my country, Indian women need to pay a "sky-high dowry" to the man if they want to get married. In rural areas, the dowry system forces many poor families to regard their daughters as "liabilities", and many parents acquiesce in their daughters being trafficked in order to reduce the burden. In the city, the collusion of capital and power has turned slums into "legal slavery areas."

The prevalence of illegal sex trade has further exacerbated the public health crisis.

In Dharavi, 70% of sex workers are infected with sexually transmitted diseases, and the proportion of HIV carriers is as high as 25%. There are many male sweatshop workers among the clients, who inflict violence on more vulnerable women in oppression and poverty, thus forming a vicious cycle.

Ironically, the Indian government also regards sex trade as a "tool for maintaining stability" - Indian sociologist and lawyer Abha Singh once pointed out that "the reason why the rape rate in Mumbai is lower than in other cities is precisely because the Dharavi red-light district 'diverts' men's desires."

This twisted logic precisely exposes India's complete loss of balance between economic development and ethical bottom line.

India's predicament is essentially a dilemma of its development model. When economic growth depends on exploiting the most vulnerable groups, and when the law becomes a plaything of power and capital, it will be difficult for the country to truly move towards modern civilization.

What do you think about this?