Kamathipura (also spelled Kamthipura) is a neighbourhood in Mumbai, India known for prostitution. It was first settled after 1795 with the construction of causeways that connected the erstwhile seven islands of Mumbai. Initially known as Lal Bazaar, it got its name from the Kamathis (workers) of other areas of the country, who were labourers on sexual sites. Due to tough police crackdowns, in the late 1990s with the rise of AIDS and government's redevelopment policy that helped sex workers to move out of the profession and subsequently out of Kamathipura, the number of sex workers in the area has dwindled. Since then, Kamathipura has experienced gentrification, and as of 2017, Kamathipura had less than 2,000 sex workers. Real estate expansion has pushed the brothels into only two of the 14 lanes which they originally occupied. In 1992, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recorded there were 45,000 sex workers, which decreased to 1,600 in 2009 and 500 in 2018. Many sex workers have migrated to other areas in Maharashtra, in part due to real estate developers taking over increasingly valuable land. In 2018, the Maharashtra government sought tenders to demolish and redevelop the area. At one point during this period it was home to a Chinese community, which worked as dockhands and ran restaurants. By the late 19th century it all changed. In the nineteenth century the area developed in the main red light district of the city of Mumbai. In the words of a visiting missionary, "...the ground floor open to the road, like native shops. In these lower as well as in the upper rooms were native women calling to the male passers-by of various nationalities." Kamathipura became established as one of the "comfort zones" in Mumbai for British soldiers, and this is embedded within the local origin stories. The most well-known brothel in the area, Pila House, is the hybridisation of its original word: Playhouse. The first venereal disease clinic of Bombay was opened in 1916, being taken over by BMC in 1925. Nearby, Bachchuseth ki Wadi on Foras Road was famous for its kothewalis or tawaifs and mujras.
When India gained independence, a larger number of sex workers moved into the area. In recent decades, large numbers of Nepalese women and girls have also been trafficked into the district. Over the years under Indian government rule, the sex industry in Kamathipura continued to flourish. Trafficking and economic circumstances also brought women from different parts of the country there. Eventually it became Asia's largest sex district.
The brothels in the area are crowded. Sex workers wait outside to pick up customers and then rent an available bed. The estimated 3,000 buildings in the area are largely dilapidated; safe drinking water and sanitation is scarce as well.
The area is also home to a small cottage industry of about 200 women who make a living rolling beedis (hand-rolled Indian cigarette).
Demographics
Kamathipura is divided into roughly 14 lanes and divided according to regional backgrounds of the workers. Most of the workers come from other Indian states. There is little interaction between areas, which makes it harder for social organizations to organize them into a movement or union. Further, lack of public opinion, political leadership or social activism which is empathetic towards them means a tough time forming unions.
The area had 55,936 voters in 2007.