In this part of Nepal, however, there is little other work to be found.
Even many of the women who have abandoned the sex trade, like Kokali Nepali, live off it, working as educators for SAFE and other groups.
All the women insist that they practice protected sex and say they have educated customers to do the same. Sunni Nepali even lamented that her use of condoms made it difficult to fulfill her desire to conceive a child to raise on her own.
About 236 HIV cases have been identified in the middle and western parts of Nepal, said Dr. Raj Shakya, the president of the Nepal STD and AIDS Research Center in Nepalgunj.
He said he had not identified HIV cases among Badis, but that he was almost sure there were some.
Many of the women refused to be tested, he said, for fear that a positive result would further stigmatize them and their community.
Using the AIDS threat as leverage, the Badis have been seeking government help to move into other lines of work, but without success.
"We are in a position to leave prostitution if the government is ready to announce we are not prostitutes and provide alternatives," Suk Lal Nepali said.
His organization has opened hostels for Badi girls, hoping that a different environment will keep them from following their mothers into the sex trade.
But some girls remain. Kokali Nepali's 7-year-old daughter was around as the women did business. So was Gomati Nepali's 12-year-old, Rabina, who said she wanted to be a nurse.
Gomati Nepali got into prostitution at 15, when her parents were sick, the family poor. She works out of her mother's house.
"In an environment like this," Gomati said of Rabina, "I'm afraid she will go into this."
RSS