With Pune now the Covid-19 hub in the Indian subcontinent with the maximum number of infections, practitioners of the world's oldest but most condemned profession now desire a change in their lives.

With a series of lockdowns over the past six months and more, the demand for the sex trade has drastically abated, leaving commercial sex workers (CSWs) on the verge of starvation, said a new study by city-based NGO, Asha Care Trust (ACT).