The thesis examines the experiences of female sex workers (FSWs) and FSW activists living and working under a regulatory model in Delhi, India. It explores how FSW sand FSW activists navigate both their reliance on NGOs that are committed to the implementation of this regulatory model, with their lived experience of a model which has failed to protect them from systemic structural violence. To understand the impact of the regulatory model, the thesis explores the experiences of representatives of sex work NGOs, advocates, sex worker activists, and both former and current sex workers. The thesis employed a qualitative, interpretative methodology which had three specific strands: Firstly, an ethnographic study of the Red-Light district located in GB road was undertaken during an internship with Kat-Katha, a large NGO delivering services to FSWs in Delhi. This involved shadowing support workers engaging with key actors in the community inCluding FSWs, brothel owners and pimps. Secondly, online focus groups were conducted with representatives from twelve NGOs (at federal, state and local levels) also delivering services to FSWs. Thirdly, in-depth interviews were conducted with 33 sex worker ·representatives attached to the NGOs. This data was supplemented by documentary research gathered from archives at Kat-Katha. This data is understood through the lens of theories of southern feminism. Crucial, is the centring of the local expressed tluough religion, indigenous knowledge, diverse culture and patriotism which offers nuanced accounts of the participants in this study. In its rejection of universal categories of gender, southern feminism re-imagines the accounts ofFSWs and their advocates through their use of sisterhood and collective action by focusing on strategies of navigation and resistance in building new relationships with State power. The findings are organised around key intersections between FSWs, FSW activists and their advocates and state actors responsible for the implementation of the regulatory model. The thesis revealed how the prevalence of stigma and structural violence within government hospitals has contributed to poor health outcomes for sex workers leading to them to seek help outside of these institutions. The relationship with policing has also failed. While the government and supportive NGOs claim that their services can offer protection from police violence, the findings reveal that violence against sex workers is widespread with little access to justice. Again, FSWs and FSW activist's only recourse is to avail of protection through pimps locally on GB road. In conclusion, a grassroot regulatory model that honours the long historical context and sisterhood of Indian sex work while theorising the contemporary Indian sex work movement is proposed. It suggests transfonning the radicalisation observed in NGOs into in-between bridges, that can uphold institutionalised secularism, between the local community and the bureaucratic government. Ultimately, the thesis posits that generating collaborative grassroot knowledge will more effectively address the pervasive stigma and structural violence that this community consistently encounters.