Repressive fundamentalist Muslim laws not only shun these women’s existence but also in some areas make their actions punishable by death. However, unlike any other place in Pakistan, in their brothels the women are the breadwinners. This underlying dualism surfaces in portraits of the women sitting proudly on the same beds where they not only service their customers but share with their husbands and children. It was these paradoxes that drew me in, forcing me to set aside my Western expectations of how things should be or appear, to deepen my understanding of this culture and its complexities.