Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Sex workers on Sunday demanded the state’s recognition of their profession to protect their rights and improve life standards.
Leaders of Sex Workers Network of Bangladesh, an alliance of different organizations of sex workers, placed the demand at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) auditorium in Dhaka. 
They organized the press conference protesting the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to not include their occupation in the application form for voters.
The alliance President Jaya Sikder said the EC took an initiative to include their profession like other professions in the voter application form where voters fill in their occupation.
But later the EC discarded the initiative for unknown reasons that drove the situation into darkness, she added.
She also urged the civil society, donor agencies and human rights activists to extend their cooperation for the rehabilitation of sex workers, The Daily Star, a local newspaper, reported.
 
BBN/SI/AD-30Aug10-1:52 am (BST)