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Learn moreTaboo!: The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area is a journey of discovery into the infamous red-light district of Lahore, Pakistan, known as the Shahi Mohalla (the Royal Bazaar) or Heera Mandi (the market of diamonds). The phenomenon of prostitution coupled with music and dance performances has ancient roots in South Asia. Regardless of the stigma attached to prostitution, it has for centuries given rise to many well-known performing artists. Here author Fouzia Saeed paints a more realistic picture of the phenomenon through the stories of the people living there: the musicians, the prostitutes, and their pimps, managers, and customers.
Fouzia Saeed earned a PhD in education from the University of Minnesota and has spent the past twelve years in positions related to the task of engendering social change in Pakistan, with organizations such as the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, Aga Khan Foundation, and the United Nations Development Program, Pakistan. She was a founder of the first private organization in Pakistan providing direct services to women in psychological crises, especially those related to rape and domestic violence.
Reviews
“The book breaks the myth propagated about prostitutes in the society and presents the reality of their lives as they exist.”
“An extremely gripping book, bristling with facts.”
“Fouzia Saeed’s work is original and extremely significant. It is one of those rare undertakings which a bold and enterprising researcher comes up with, once in decades.”
“A product of authentic, honest, and unbiased research, narrated in the form of an ethnography, which is an important tool for taking one aspect of a society as a window into the larger system.”
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