Did anyone watch the documentry on Devadasi?

[Normantebbit]

It was on Storyville on BBC4. The Devadasi are the lowest Indian caste and traditionally parents could give up their daughter to "serve the goddess" by being a prostitute. These women earn more than their brothers, support entire families and some consider themselves 'in charge' of their lives and families due to freedom from a husband's demands and a good independent income. The emotional costs were evident too, some refused to recall any past experiences, obviously buried for good reason.

There was an interesting group of women working hard to stamp out the dedications to the goddess(it is illegal now) and providing a small income for women so they don't have to prostitute themselves. Other women declared they liked their job and the independence it provided.

It's worth checking out on iplayer, totally fascinating.