A Unique beauty contest is in the works. Unlike most beauty pageants, this one will draw contestants from only a certain profession, the oldest there is.

Sex workers will take part in the beauty contest to be held later in the month, the first event of its kind in the city. And the theme is celebration of womanhood. Organised by city-based NGO Saheli, which works for commercial sex workers along with Innocent Heroes Foundation, the scale of the event may not be too big but the organisers plan to make it a star-studded event.

Sex workers thrilled
Excited over the prospect of decking up for a beauty contest, sex workers say the pageant would be fun.
"There's always a lot of competition over who looks better, so this kind of a contest is welcome and will be a hit," said Sridevi (name changed), a sex worker from Budhwar Peth.

The contest is open to all kinds of sex workers -- non-brothel, brothel-based or escorts -- and the auditions begin from Monday.

"We decided to celebrate Women's Day for sex workers in a different manner," said Tejaswi Sevekari, who runs Saheli in the city. "We are finalising a venue and looking for sponsors. Though the scale of the event will be small this time, we hope to make a decent start to what we would like to be an annual event. We hope to get local celebrities and actors to grace the event."