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Underage sex worker Bristi applying heavy makeup to appear more mature for her evening clients at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the banks of the Padma river.

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A client bargains for an underage sex worker in Daulatdia, Bangladesh on the banks of Padma River

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Sex workers cover the faces while waiting for customers in the central alleyway of Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River

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Sex worker Mushimi poses for a portrait before working the night shift in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River

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Underage sex worker Sonia waiting for customers in the main alleyway in Daulatdia, Bangladesh. Sonia has up to 12 clients a day.

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Male clients and shop owners in an alleyway in Daulatdia brothel in Faridpur on the Padma river. The brothel is the largest in Bangladesh.

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Sex workers wait in a corner shop to dance for clients in Daulatdia brothel in Faridpur on the Padma river. The brothel is the largest in Bangladesh

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Underage sex worker Sonia applying makeup to appear more mature for her evening clients at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the bank of the Padma river.

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Portrait of underage sex worker Sumi at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the banks of the Padma river.

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Children of prostitutes from the Daulatdia brothel in a classroom run by Save the Children in Faridpur , Bangaldesh

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A prostitute lies in the corner shop medic with an IV due to dehydration.

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Daily life along the Padma river next to the Daulatdia brothel in Faridpur, Bangladesh.Trucks carrying rice, jute, sugar cane and fish from the west and south-west of the country queue here for two or three days at a time to cross the river for the drive to the capital, Dhaka.

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A young boy looks on as an underage sex worker passes in the alleyway of Daulatdia, Bangaldesh's largest brothel on the banks of the Padma river

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Underage sex workers waiting in the alleyways for customers in the central alleyway of Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River

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A truck driver sleeps in one of the boarding houses in the alleyways in Daulatdia brothel on the banks of the Padma River. Trucks carrying rice, jute, sugar cane and fish from the west and south-west of the country queue here for two or three days at a time to cross the river for the drive to the capital, Dhaka.

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A young prostitutes handbag hangs on the wall along with her toothbrush in her sparse room which she uses to service clients.

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Portrait of an underage prostitute in a dark alleyway in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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A customer approaching underage sex worker Sonia in the busy alleyway in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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The daughter of a prostitute gets dressed for a birthday party. Female children born to their mothers are initiated into prostitution by the age of 12 or 13.

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Misumi lies with her boyfriend in the early morning in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River. In the brothel, "boyfriend" usually means he is a regular client and less likely to use a condom.

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A prostitute washes holy colors off her body after passing out from dehydration in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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A customer approaches an underage sex worker in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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Underage sex worker Jessna, taking a nap in her room before working the night shift in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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A shop owner and client looks out of a grated window in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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Young girls born into the brothel play in the fields by a small lake in the back of the brothel that also serves as a graveyard for prostitutes. Female children born to their mothers are initiated into prostitution by the age of 12 or 13.

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A view of Birds on electrical wires in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River. The alleyways of the brothel are a suffocating place densely packed with people where temperatures can soar to over 50 degrees

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A underage sex worker tries to persuade a customer to choose her services in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River. The prostitutions have learned to be aggressive because of fierce competition.

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Underage sex worker Sonia prepares for her evening clients at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the banks of the Padma river.

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A prostitute waiting for a customer in a dark alleyway in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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A sex worker taking a nap in her room before working the night shift in the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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Workers repair roads for trucks arriving on the ferry from Dhaka. Trucks carrying rice, jute, sugar cane and fish from the west and south-west of the country queue here for two or three days at a time to cross the river for the drive to the capital, Dhaka. Truck drivers make up the largest number of men who visit the brothel.

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A man gets a shave outside the country's largest brothel in Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River.

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Underage sex worker Bristi waiting in the alleyways for customers in the central alleyway of Daulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River

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Underage sex worker Sonia applies makeup to appear more mature for her evening clients at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the banks of the Padma river. As younger girls dominate the sex worker industry in Bangladesh, maintaining their youthful looks is the only guarantee the older women keep earning their living.

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A primary school for children of prostitutes from the Daulatdia brothel run by Save the Children in Faridpur , Bangaldesh

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A sex worker relaxing on her bed in the afternoon in Daulatdia brothel in bangladesh

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Underage sex worker Sonia prepares her room for evening clients inDaulatdia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River

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Young girls doing the washing in the back of the brothel that also serves as a graveyard for prostitutes. Female children born to their mothers are initiated into prostitution by the age of 12 or 13.

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An intoxicated and exhausted prostitute smoking a cigarette in the early morning after servicing two men the previous night in Daulatdia, Bangladesh's largest brothel on the banks of the Padma river

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Underage sex workers waits in the alleyway for customers in Daulatdia, Bangladesh's largest brothel on the banks of the Padma river

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An underage prostitute runs in the fields by a small lake in the back of the brothel that also serves as a graveyard for prostitutes. Female children born to their mothers are initiated into prostitution by the age of 12 or 13.

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The room of an underage sex worker adorned with posters of idols and babies in Daulatdia, Bangladesh's largest brothel on the banks of the Padma river

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A child relaxes in a corner shop in the alleyways of Daulatdia brothel. Female children born to their mothers are initiated into prostitution by the age of 12 or 13.

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A view of the Daulatdia brothel at dusk

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Children play in a primary school for children of prostitutes from the Daulatdia brothel run by Save the Children in Faridpur , Bangaldesh

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Underage sex worker Sonia reapplies her makeup for her evening clients as a man finishes business with another prostitute at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the bank of the Padma river.

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A prostitute in one of the many alleyways at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the bank of the Padma river.

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View of a prostitute's room with a slight breeze blowing at Bangladesh's largest brothel in Daulatdia, on the bank of the Padma river.

Imagine a young girl, no more than 13 years old playing dress up, putting on heavy makeup to disguise her youth beneath a mask of paint. Imagine the smile on her face and her innocence. Imagine, that instead of playing make believe she must go out and sell her body to male clients up to 12 times a day.

This is the daily routine for underage sex worker Bristi, who lives with her mother, a former prostitute in Daulatdia, Bangladesh’s largest brothel. Bristi has been actively working for no more than 3 months but, like most girls who are brought up in the brothel, she was most likely sexually active or abused at a very young age.

Because of Bristi’s youth, she is one of the most popular sex workers. All the money she earns must go to her mother, who beats her if she does not fulfill the wishes of the customer, which is most likely not to use a condom. When asked what Bristi wants to be when she grows up, she says “A madam, so I can make a lot of money”. This is the terrifying and vicious cycle for so many of the girls who are either born into the brothel or brought here against their will.

In the village of Dauladtia, Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River, the landscape is flat dusty and dotted with corrugated roofs. The air is filled with the sounds of trucks’ horns, train whistles, and the orchestral hum of humans buzzing through the village. At first glance this does not look any different to countless other poor villages in this country, which is one of Asia's poorest and most congested.

But just off the main street down a narrow alleyway, is a densely packed collection of tin shacks, shops, cafes and narrow streets lined with prostitutes, mostly underage, fiercely competing with one another for customers.

It is the largest brothel in Bangladesh, with over 2000 servicing 3000 men every day. They have usually been kidnapped by gangs, sold by stepmothers, or lured here by boyfriends with promises of good jobs. In the brothel hierarchy, those who are bonded have the least freedom, but even those who chose to come here feel they have no alternative. Despite Muslim strictures on sex outside marriage, there are 100,000 women selling sex in Bangladesh and clients are surprisingly open about the fact that they visit them.

The brothels are like ghettos where sex workers are confined in order to keep what is considered an “unbearable business” from spoiling the social environment. Such places are deliberately kept in obscurity and hidden from the eyes of the mainstream society. Inside their narrow alleys and crumbling lanes, a life full of hardship, extortion, rape, abuses and harassments of any kind, are an everyday occurrence.

For the underage girls, the Madams prescribe a drug called Oredexon, a “cow-fattening” steroid to make the girls look older, despite the dangerous side effects on their health. Sex workers in Bangladesh are considered to be owned by brothel madams and have to repay their “purchase cost.” Sex workers themselves want to use Oradexon because the plumper they are, the more clients they get, and the closer they come to buying their freedom.

What does the future hold for these children?

By delving deeply into the tragic lives of the women and children, I hope to reveal greater human truths about this vicious cycle and the complex nature of women’s choices and the women of Daulatdia as a global community.

Being a woman living with the luxuries of the western world, I want to try to understand the hardships of these suffering young women, being a humanist, I want to understand and consequently shine a light on the plight of suffering children. It is this desire to explore, to experience and try to understand things other than what I know that informs my work.

There is more to see, surely--something different and revealing and instructive and beyond the mere fact of suffering. All lives, even those many consider wretched and deprived, are "lives" still and there is beauty and courage and yes even joy in them. My intention is not to only shed light on their struggle, but present the full spectrum of their experiences and capture deeper, truer visual references that are distinct and personal.