Shobha Somappa Tarvgol, 18, sits in her one-roomed home in Modhur, India. Shobha became a Devadasi sex worker because there are no men in her family and she had little other means of supporting her sister, sick mother and grandmother.

Young girls in south India continue to be “dedicated” to village temples and then forced into prostitution despite laws banning the ancient ritual, researchers said.

The devadasi system, which involves putting a beaded necklace around girls and often leads to a life of sex work and slavery, goes unchecked in Karnataka state, according to two reports released this month.