Miss Easther, a social worker, and I visited Sonagachi, one of the largest and oldest red light areas in Calcutta, in June '98.

The health care scenario for women, especially apropos reproductive health, is highly exploitative, with extensive human rights violations. Women are treated as expendable entities.

Lack of systematic date from India regarding an important aspect of women's mental and reporductive health necessitates an in depth evaluation and assessment of this area.