The red light district in Madaripur city is thought to have been in operation for at least 150 years

A sex worker at a brothel in Madaripur, Bangladesh. Panic has gripped some 500 sex workers who live in southern Bangladesh’s largest and oldest red light district since about 10,000 people led by a new Muslim group called Islahe Kaom Parishad (the National Reform Council) rallied outside the rambling complex to call for it to be shut down