Inside Asia's largest red light district with hundreds of multi-storey brothels home to prostitutes - from 72-year-old women who can't bring themselves to leave, to wives fleeing violent husbands

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The pictures of women applying their make-up, waiting in their rooms and playing with their children offer a rare glimpse into the lives of the sex workers who ply their trade in Asia's largest red light district.

They are the residents of Sonagachi, in the western city of Kolkata, an area swamped with hundreds of multi-storey brothels, housing roughly 14,000 prostitutes from all over India.

It is thought as many as 1,000 women arrive every year to work in the brothels, and each of them have their own tale of how they came to live in the sprawling red light district.

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Sex workers: 'Rani' applies lip gloss at her room before attending a customer at the Sonagachi brothel where she works

Thousands: 'Dipali' poses for a photograph at her room. She and Rani are among 14,000 prostitutes who work in Sonagachi

Lifetime: Maya Banarjee, 72, dries her hair after a shower in the Sonagachi brothel. A number of women have lived their lives here

Exhausted: A sex worker sleeps in her small room. Many of the women have been trafficked, and are forced to work throughout the night

Many are not there out of choice, trafficked into the profession and forced to sleep through the day and work tirelessly through the night.

But other women have made a conscious decision to join the trade, the promise of more money being too good to turn down.

While checking the playlist on her newly bought smartphone, a Sonagachi sex worker named Baishaki said: 'I used to work as a domestic help where I earned about £15 per month, whereas now I am earning £170 to £180.

'I have come across people who have taken this profession up as a family tradition.'

Kolkata in West Bengal is nicknamed the City of Joy and is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in India.

But the sprawling streets and nocturnal life of Sonagachi appear to buck the trend. 

At weekends the red light district buzzes with customers of all ages from a range of different professions. 

Choice: 'Santoshi' and 'Sikha' spend time at Santoshi's room. Some of the women working here choose this as a career

Falling down: The ornate railings hint at the wider city's beauty, but the crumbling facades around it suggest extreme poverty

Hard life: 'Jhumur' waits for customers at the brothel, while 'Baisakhi' who claims to be 23-year-old, poses for a photo at her room

Family life: 'Jyoti', 30, feeds lunch to her three children, who live with her in the brothel - and are by far not the only children in the area

Owner: Shankar, a room owner, smokes outside his room. The balance of power is more than likely tipped in his favour

Each sex worker has their own story, with some claiming to have found a better life since arriving in Sonagachi.

Prostitute Bina, 30, said: 'I was married to a drunkard for seven years.

'He used to beat me up every day. I was staying with him for the sake of my daughter.

'I have found love with one of my customers and I am very happy about it.'

Others have used the profession to improve the prospects for future generations.

A sex worker known as Das was forced into the city by poverty, but once there, she found a way to ensure things would be different for her own children. 

She told Al Jazeera: 'Both my children have completed their education and are working now

'Would I have been able to pay for their studies if I had stayed at home? Society should first look at itself before condemning us… Did anyone give us a good job? Society has failed people like me.' 

Growing up: Pinki, daughter of a sex worker practices dance steps. Some people go in to prostitution as the family business

Future: 'Santoshi' at her room. Some women have saved the money they earned in the brothels to pay for their children's education

Together: A sex worker smokes a cigarette while sitting at the balcony of a brothel. The women do have a sex workers union

Beautiful: The pictures from 1956 and in more recent years show how glamorous 'Sabita', now 70, was during her youth

Still working: Maya Banarjee, 72, waits for a client at her room in the Sonagachi brothel. She says she is now too old, but won't leave

Generations: Asish, grandson of a sex worker, and Priya, sit in a flat in Sonagachi

But it is not always a route out of poverty - especially as others take advantage of the high wage they earn.  

Local businessmen are known to up what would be the normal price of commodities when it comes to the women of Sonagachi.

Others have not been able to leave the place which has become their home. 

Maya Banerjee, 72, spent years working as a prostitute but says she is now too old for the sex trade.

Despite no longer being able to work, Maya chooses to remain in the red light district where she has spent most of her life.

She said: 'A simple fish that costs 160 rupees per kilogram everywhere else is sold at 250 rupees per kilogram here. 

'This is how their life goes on.'

Influx: 'Baisakhi' and 'Rima' at the Sonagachi brothel. Between 800 and 1,000 women arrive here to work every year

Help: 'Barsha', 24, prepares vegetables at her room for 'Kabita', a prostitute turned social worker

Rest: Rani waits in her room, looking far less glamorous than in the previous pictures

Crime: 'Barsha', 24, is among the women working in a profession which is technically illegal

Prevention: Packs of condoms arrive at a brothel, keeping the women safe from sexually transmitted diseases

Several NGOs and government organisations operate in Sonagachi to help prevent the spread of STDs - including AIDs.

Although prostitution is illegal, the trade flourishes and the women who work there are shunned by society.

The sex working community often falls victim to rapes, robberies, and extortion.