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December 18, 2009

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Indian Men Volunteer to Marry Sex Workers

Over 1,000 members of a religious group have promised to marry sex workers. The Dera Sacha Sauda says it has almost 1,200 “wedding volunteers” who want to take prostitutes out of their industry by marrying them. The sect’s spokesperson Dr Aditya Insan told the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper that society looked down on these women. Many of the men have signed promises with financial and personal details. Dr Insan said: “There are so many volunteers coming forward….We are determined to succeed.” Some of these men include Indian sports stars. One of them said: “At first my parents, especially my father (who is a manager with Delhi Tourism), were taken aback by my decision. But it didn’t take long for them to be happy. They have faith.”


The leader of the sect, guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, started the campaign in a speech he made in November. He told his followers that "all women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters". One volunteer explained: “I am not marrying a sex worker; I am marrying the daughter of our sect head...There’s no better match I can look forward to.” Another follower, business graduate Ashish Sachdeva, explained why he became a wedding volunteer. He believes it is his chance to repay his debt to humanity and society. "I am very well settled and it will be the greatest honour for me to respond to Guru-ji's call," he said. Dr Insan explained that the biggest challenge was for the women. He said they needed a lot of courage to come forward and ask for a husband.


 
 

WARM-UPS

1. SEX WORKERS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about sex workers. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

 

religious groups / weddings / volunteers / prostitutes / promises / being happy / faith / leaders / sects / speeches / followers / repaying debt / challenges / courage

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. VOLUNTEERS: Why might you need volunteers for these things? Complete this table. Talk about what you wrote with your partner(s) Change partners and share what you heard.

Volunteers for…

Why volunteers needed

Why I would (not) volunteer

single parents

 

 

murderers

 

 

frogs

 

 

drug addicts

 

 

refugees

 

 

bullied children

 

 

4. PROSTITUTION: Students A strongly believe prostitution will disappear from our world one day; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. MARRIAGE: Would you marry anyone? Rate these and share your ratings with your partner: 10 = absolutely no problem; 1 = absolutely no way. Change partners and share your ratings again.

  • a prostitute
  • someone a different colour
  • an 80-year-old
  • a 4-time divorcee
  • someone a different religion
  • someone with a criminal record
  • someone a different nationality
  • a very poor person

6. SEX: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘sex’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.


 
 

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.

Indian men will marry prostitutes to rescue them from the sex trade.

T / F

b.

A newspaper said Indians looked up to prostitutes.

T / F

c.

Some of the men marrying prostitutes are famous in India.

T / F

d.

The father of one of the men was happy with his son’s marriage choice.

T / F

e.

A religious leader started the marry prostitutes campaign a year ago.

T / F

f.

The religious leader told his followers prostitutes were his daughters.

T / F

g.

A follower believes it to be an honour to marry a sex worker.

T / F

h.

A spokesman said the biggest challenge was for the male volunteers.

T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.

promised

a.

triumph

2

industry

b.

bravery

3.

looked down on

c.

pushed

4.

succeed

d.

sneered at

5.

taken aback

e.

privilege

6.

campaign

f.

vowed

7.

forced

g.

union

8.

match

h.

trade

9.

honour / honor

i.

crusade

10.

courage

j.

shocked

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.

1,000 members

a.

personal details

2

society looked down

b.

honour for me

3.

financial and

c.

by my decision

4.

We are determined

d.

the sect

5.

taken aback

e.

come forward

6.

The leader of

f.

debt to humanity

7.

women forced to live

g.

of a religious group

8.

repay his

h.

as prostitutes

9.

the greatest

i.

to succeed

10.

they needed a lot of courage to

j.

on these women


WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Over 1,000 members of a religious group have ____________ to marry sex workers. The Dera Sacha Sauda says it has almost 1,200 “wedding volunteers” who want to ____________ prostitutes out of their industry by marrying them. The sect’s spokesperson Dr Aditya Insan told the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper that ____________ looked down on these women. Many of the men have signed promises with financial and personal ____________. Dr Insan said: “There are so many volunteers ____________ forward….We are determined to ____________.” Some of these men include Indian sports stars. One of them said: “At first my parents, especially my father (who is a manager with Delhi Tourism), were ____________ aback by my decision. But it didn’t take long for them to be happy. They have ____________.”

 

 

 

succeed
details
take
faith
promised
coming
taken
society

The leader of the sect, guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, started the ____________ in a speech he made in November. He told his followers that "all women ____________ to live as prostitutes are my daughters". One volunteer ____________: “I am not marrying a sex worker; I am marrying the daughter of our sect head...There’s no better match I can look ____________ to.” Another follower, business graduate Ashish Sachdeva, explained why he ____________ a wedding volunteer. He believes it is his chance to ____________ his debt to humanity and society. "I am very well settled and it will be the greatest honour for me to ____________ to Guru-ji's call," he said. Dr Insan explained that the biggest challenge was for the women. He said they needed a lot of ____________ to come forward and ask for a husband.

 

 

became
campaign
forward
respond
repay
forced
courage
explained

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Over 1,000 members of a religious group ___________________ marry sex workers. The Dera Sacha Sauda says it has almost 1,200 “wedding volunteers” ___________________ prostitutes out of their industry by marrying them. The sect’s spokesperson Dr Aditya Insan told the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper that ___________________ on these women. Many of the men have signed promises with financial and personal details. Dr Insan said: “___________________ volunteers coming forward….We are determined to succeed.” Some of these men include Indian sports stars. One of them said: “___________________, especially my father (who is a manager with Delhi Tourism), were ___________________ decision. But it didn’t take long for them to be happy. They have faith.”

The leader of the sect, guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, started the campaign ___________________ in November. He told his followers that "all women ___________________ prostitutes are my daughters". One volunteer explained: “I am not marrying a sex worker; I am marrying the daughter of our sect head...There’s ___________________ I can look forward to.” Another follower, business graduate Ashish Sachdeva, explained why he became a wedding volunteer. He believes it is ___________________ his debt to humanity and society. "I am very well settled and it ___________________ honour for me to respond to Guru-ji's call," he said. Dr Insan explained that the biggest challenge was for the women. He said they needed a lot of courage to come ___________________ a husband.


 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘wedding’ and ‘volunteer’.

wedding

volunteer

 

 

 

  • Share your findings with your partners.
  • Make questions using the words you found.
  • Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

  • Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
  • Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

  • promised
  • industry
  • looked
  • forward
  • taken
  • long
  • speech
  • forced
  • match
  • debt
  • challenge
  • ask

STUDENT SEX WORKER SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about sex workers in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

 

STUDENT 1

_____________

STUDENT 2

_____________

STUDENT 3

_____________

Q.1.

 

 

 

 

Q.2.

 

 

 

 

Q.3.

 

 

 

 

Q.4.

 

 

 

 

Q.5.

 

 

 

 

  • Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
  • Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

SEX WORKERS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)

What did you think when you read the headline?

b)

What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘prostitute’?

c)

What did you think of the idea of wedding volunteers?

d)

Do you think this idea will work?

e)

What do you think of the idea of prostitution?

f)

Do you look down on any members of your society?

g)

Who do people look down on in your society?

h)

What do you think of the men who volunteer to marry a prostitute?

i)

What would you think if your son became a wedding volunteer?

j)

How do you think the women feel about this?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)

Did you like reading this article?

b)

Do you think this idea will spread?

c)

What do you think of the guru’s words?

d)

What are the dangers of this idea for the sex workers and the volunteers?

e)

Do you think prostitution should be legal or illegal?

f)

What do you think of Ashish’s reason for marrying a sex worker?

g)

Do you hope this idea works?

h)

Why might people campaign against this idea?

i)

Is the biggest challenge for the sex workers or volunteers?

j)

What questions would you like to ask guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

(1) ____ 1,000 members of a religious group have promised to marry sex workers. The Dera Sacha Sauda says it has almost 1,200 “wedding volunteers” who want to take prostitutes out of their (2) ____ by marrying them. The sect’s spokesperson Dr Aditya Insan told the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper that society looked (3) ____ on these women. Many of the men have signed promises with financial and personal details. Dr Insan said: “There are so many volunteers (4) ____ forward….We are determined to (5) ____.” Some of these men include Indian sports stars. One of them said: “At first my parents, especially my father (who is a manager with Delhi Tourism), were taken aback by my (6) ____. But it didn’t take long for them to be happy. They have faith.”

The leader of the sect, guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, started the campaign in a speech he (7) ____ in November. He told his followers that "all women (8) ____ to live as prostitutes are my daughters". One volunteer explained: “I am not marrying a sex worker; I am marrying the daughter of our sect (9) ____...There’s no better match I can look forward to.” Another follower, business graduate Ashish Sachdeva, explained why he became a wedding volunteer. He believes it is his chance to (10) ____ his debt to humanity and society. "I am very well settled and it will be the greatest honour (11) ____ me to respond to Guru-ji's call," he said. Dr Insan explained that the biggest challenge was for the women. He said they needed a lot of courage to (12) ____ forward and ask for a husband.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.

(a)

Over

(b)

In excess

(c)

More

(d)

Plus

2.

(a)

industrial

(b)

industrialized

(c)

industry

(d)

industrious

3.

(a)

up

(b)

right

(c)

left

(d)

down

4.

(a)

came

(b)

coming

(c)

comes

(d)

come

5.

(a)

success

(b)

successes

(c)

successful

(d)

succeed

6.

(a)

decide

(b)

deciding

(c)

decision

(d)

decider

7.

(a)

spoke

(b)

made

(c)

took

(d)

was

8.

(a)

forced

(b)

forcing

(c)

forces

(d)

force

9.

(a)

head

(b)

face

(c)

skull

(d)

brain

10.

(a)

payment

(b)

paid

(c)

repay

(d)

payee

11.

(a)

of

(b)

with

(c)

by

(d)

for

12.

(a)

go

(b)

come

(c)

be

(d)

do

WRITING

Write about sex workers for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about sex workers. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. SEX WORKERS: Make a poster about the sex industry in different countries. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. MATCH: Write a magazine article about a match between a sex worker and a wedding volunteer. Include imaginary interviews with both.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to a sex worker. Ask him/her three questions about his/her industry. Give him/her three suggestions on how to live a happier life. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.

promised

a.

vowed

2

industry

b.

trade

3.

looked down on

c.

sneered at

4.

succeed

d.

triumph

5.

taken aback

e.

shocked

6.

campaign

f.

crusade

7.

forced

g.

pushed

8.

match

h.

union

9.

honour / honor

i.

privilege

10.

courage

j.

bravery

PHRASE MATCH:

1.

1,000 members

a.

of a religious group

2

society looked down

b.

on these women

3.

financial and

c.

personal details

4.

We are determined

d.

to succeed

5.

taken aback

e.

by my decision

6.

The leader of

f.

the sect

7.

women forced to live

g.

as prostitutes

8.

repay his

h.

debt to humanity

9.

the greatest

i.

honour for me

10.

they needed a lot of courage to

j.

come forward

GAP FILL:

Indian men volunteer to marry sex workers

Over 1,000 members of a religious group have promised to marry sex workers. The Dera Sacha Sauda says it has almost 1,200 “wedding volunteers” who want to take prostitutes out of their industry by marrying them. The sect’s spokesperson Dr Aditya Insan told the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper that society looked down on these women. Many of the men have signed promises with financial and personal details. Dr Insan said: “There are so many volunteers coming forward….We are determined to succeed.” Some of these men include Indian sports stars. One of them said: “At first my parents, especially my father (who is a manager with Delhi Tourism), were taken aback by my decision. But it didn’t take long for them to be happy. They have faith.”

The leader of the sect, guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, started the campaign in a speech he made in November. He told his followers that "all women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters". One volunteer explained: “I am not marrying a sex worker; I am marrying the daughter of our sect head...There’s no better match I can look forward to.” Another follower, business graduate Ashish Sachdeva, explained why he became a wedding volunteer. He believes it is his chance to repay his debt to humanity and society. "I am very well settled and it will be the greatest honour for me to respond to Guru-ji's call," he said. Dr Insan explained that the biggest challenge was for the women. He said they needed a lot of courage to come forward and ask for a husband.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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