Freeset Bags, made by former prostitutes, are being sold at the Cornerstone University bookstore.

“We started to get them in April 2008,” said store manager Rachel Measell.

Handmade out of jute – a plant native to India – the bags are made by former prostitutes in Calcutta, India. They come in generic varieties, but custom made bags can also be ordered on Freesetbags.com.

“A couple of students have commented that the bags have an earthy feel, but once they hear the story behind the bags, it’s amazing,” Measell said.

The company takes the women, who are outcasts in India’s caste system, and trains them to make the bags, according to Kerry Hilton – co-founder of Freeset – in a promotional video from Freeset, provided by Measell. Most of the women were kidnapped or otherwise forced into prostitution, he said. They come from Calcutta, India’s Songacchi district, an area infamous for the numbers of prostitutes filling its streets- over 6,000 women “sell their bodies” there, said Hilton. The business is located in the Songacchi district, and the employees still live in the area.

“They are paid double what they would get elsewhere,” said Hilton. The workers also get a healthcare package and “access to quality childcare services.” They learn valuable skills, such as weaving, reading and writing.

Though they have not been enormously popular – about 20 have sold since April – many of the students that buy the handbags buy them as gifts, Measell said.

“A lot of it is that people don’t know that they’re there,” said bookstore cashier Trevor Denning.

The bookstore has only received one shipment of the bags since it started selling them, Measell said.

The CU bookstore’s parent company, Tree of Life, has distributed the handbags to other stores as well, but the bookstore is the only Tree of Life outlet in Michigan that sells the bags, Measell said. Other stores have sold more of the bags, mainly because they are larger.

Better Way Imports is Freeset Bags’ United States distributor of the bags, said Denning.

Freeset Bags is not a non-profit, but they help their employees. The company was founded in 2001 by Kerry and Annie Hilton, missionaries to India from New Zealand.

They started out with 20 former prostitutes, and as of 2007, Freeset Bags employed over 100 women from the streets of Calcutta.

As the number of bags sold grows, opportunities for the women grow with it. As the business expands to meet demand, they can employ more women, giving them a chance to leave prostitution, and they are given opportunities to gain experience in business leadership, Kerry Hilton said.

The opportunity given to the women also passes on to their children, who learn from the example of their mothers, Kerry Hilton said.

“Each Freeset Bag tells a story of one woman’s journey to freedom. She used to stand with 6,000 other prostitutes in a small but well-known area of North Calcutta. She didn’t choose her profession; it chose her. Poverty does that. It robs people of their dignity and children of their innocence,” according to a statement on Freesetbags.com.

In the CU bookstore, a sign above the handbag display reads “Freedom in a Bag.” Although not Freeset Bags’ official slogan – which reads “In business for freedom” – it reminds shoppers of the story behind the bag.

According to Freesetbags.com, “By purchasing a Freeset Bag, you become part of the story of freedom.”