Using NGO data to understand marginalization, stigma and empowerment: the case of USHA multi-purpose cooperative in Kolkata The project will contribute, both conceptually and empirically, to understanding the link between poverty, marginalisation and stigma on the one hand, and economic and health outcomes, on the other. There are two prongs to the project. First, working in collaboration with USHA Multipurpose Cooperative, it will construct a unique panel data set of 10,000+ sex workers in Kolkata, India by merging three existing data sets containing, respectively, financial information (savings accounts, loans obtained and repayment history of individual sex workers), health related data in 9 intervention sites in Kolkata alone (health seeking behaviour, regular check-ups, condom use, findings of the clinical examination and treatment received, lab investigations data on HIV and sexually transmitted diseases), (iii) contextual data  collected through Self-regulatory Board [SRB] for all new entrants in sex work (including age [determined by Radiological examination], report of clinical examination, socio economic status, family background, reasons for choosing sex work and  any underlying coercion forcing the entrant to choose sex work etc) and exposure to training provided by USHA. This novel data set will be used to examine how financial and health behaviour correlate with each other, how initial conditions (age,  variations initial socio-economic status, family back ground, exposure to coercion) matters for the financial and health outcomes of sex workers over time. It will also enable an examination of the of how the contracts  used by sex workers impact on their welfare.    Being poor or marginalized often brings with it considerable stigma, which can greatly distort a person's self-image, resulting in a 'spoiled identity' (Goffman, 1963). As this author notes in his classic work on stigma, "[t]hose who have dealings with [the stigmatized individual] fail to accord him respect and regard ...; he echoes this denial by finding that some of his own attributes warrant it". In a randomized control trial (Ghosal et. al. 2019), the impact of a psychological intervention, "dreambuilding", pioneered by Durbar (the sex worker's collective which set up USHA) was evaluated. It was found that exposure to dream building resulted in significant improvements in participants' self-image, as well as their savings and preventive health choices. Additionally, changes in savings and health behaviour persist up to 15 and 21 months later respectively. In work partially funded by a IAA GCRF NGO DATA AWARD (ES/S501323/1), a data set for a sample for a sample of 600 women (300 of whom had been exposed to some form of dream building and 300 who hadn't) USHA systematically gathered existing records, going back to the past three years (after the initial fieldwork), of women belonging to the community of sex workers in Kolkata and elsewhere in West Bengal with a focus qualitative and quantitative evidence relating to outcomes by linking their existing data sets (the number of women exposed to dream building workshops, impact on psychological outcomes, what the women have done subsequently in terms of savings, housing, educational choices for their children, participation in various collective activities etc). The second prong of the project will, via novel quantitative modelling, merge and (re)analyse these two sets, together with the novel panel data set, to quantify the effects of exposure to dreambuilding on the welfare of sex workers over time The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.