International Competition

Banishanta is a brothel island. The prostitutes live and work on this tiny sliver of land just 100 meters long and 10 meters wide in the Bay of Bengal, South Bangladesh. Each of the women came here for a different reason, whether through a sister, because of the need for money following the death of a father, or in search of love and affection. The reality of everyday life is far tougher than they ever could have imagined. The nature of their work denies them even basic rights - though they are trying to secure them through a network of fellow workers. Their children are teased because they live in a brothel. And there is one more major and urgent problem: the modest size of the island means that the women are fighting for survival at the front line of climate change. Rising river levels, soil erosion, and cyclones are steadily destroying what is left of the island. Razia, Khadija, and Shephalie are three of the last 65 women who live here. They are fighting for their houses and the future of their families. And all the while, they are still searching for that one true love.