<snip>

Bangladesh is one of the few majority-Muslim countries in which prostitution is legal, and the minimum age of the workers is 18. But that law is meaningless in a country so poor that parents are forced to sell their daughters for as little as $200, from as young as nine years of age.

That’s where Oradexon, a steroid meant for cattle, comes into the equation. This medicine meant to fatten cows has become the preferred drug among the madams of Bangladesh. They are using the pills to mask the real age of the underage girls working for sex in their brothels by making them appear older and at the same time making the more ‘seasoned’ sex-worker look plum and voluptuous.

The use of this cow steroid amongst prostitutes is Bangladesh is so widespread that the British charity, ActionAid, which has done some of the most extensive research in the field, reports 90% of commercial sex workers are addicted to the drug. Many of them were turned into addicts by their madams.

<snip>

This is a story of a continuous cycle of exploitation: The girls are considered “owned” by their madams, and if they want to get out of the commercial sex business, the girls have to repay their “purchase cost.” The “larger” they get, the more clients they get, inching them closer to freedom. At least that is what they hope, and that’s why many of the sex workers readily take Oradexon. They earn less than 60 cents per client.

<snip>