MUDA, Nepal (WOMENSENEWS)–Four years ago, Taruna Badi, 38, a member of the Badi community, one of the most marginalized groups in Nepal, thought her days of prostitution were over.

In 2007, she and dozens of other Badi women traveled from Kailali, a district in the far west of Nepal, to Kathmandu, located across the country, to join protests by Badi activists seeking government help to lower longstanding economic and social barriers. For many women, this meant coming up with alternatives to prostitution.

The government agreed to study the Badis’ situation and to provide aid in the form of land grants; employment training; free education for Badi children; health services; citizenship with the caste of their choice; and declaration of the end of prostitution within the community.

But today, many of the women say they’ve barely received any support and have gone back to the only work available to them.

“What else to do?” Taruna Badi asks in desperation. “Prostitution is the only means of earning so far for us.”

Badi women say they earn between 70 cents and $2.75 for a sexual encounter.

Read more: womensenews.org