essay on prostitution in india

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Legalization of Prostitution in India and its Impact on the Exploitation and Violence Against Women

Yuktha suresh.

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Student at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, India

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Prostitution is as old as civilization itself, and has been a part of Indian society ever since the idea of marriage came into existence. In recent days, prostitution has become synonymous with violence, discrimination and exploitation. Prostitution is often seen as a taboo in Indian society, and requisite attention has not been paid for its regulation. This paper examines the connection of prostitution with exploitation and violence, and looks into the possible effects of the legalization and regulation of prostitution on the exploitation and assault on sex workers. There have been various acts by the post and pre – independence governments regarding prostitution, and also various books and articles on its legalization. While these works examine a broader aspect of the problem, two very specific aspects are scrutinized in this research paper. Prostitution is here to stay, whether criminalized or not. Thus, it is better to address the elephant in the room and possibly find techniques to alleviate the problems faced by women and children in prostitution.

• Exploitation
• Legalization

Research Paper

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International Journal of Law Management and Humanities, Volume 4, Issue 2, Page 961 - 968

Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits remixing, adapting, and building upon the work for non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright © IJLMH 2021

I. Introduction

Prostitution can be defined as non-selective sex work done for money or other material assets. In the 21 st century, females are not the only ones practicing this profession. Men and transgender persons are also involved in prostitution, although in lesser number than women. In the context of India, there is a mention of prostitution in the Rig Veda [1] . In medieval India, the Tawaifs served the nobility in dance, music and the likes. This was a nascent form of prostitution, which later evolved into sexual favors for the common people. In the present era, this is called prostitution. The most significant question that arises with respect to prostitution is whether its legalization is for the better or for the worst.

Currently, Austria, some states of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium and Brazil have legalized prostitution. In India, prostitution is neither explicitly illegalized nor regulated. Associated work such as owning or working in a brothel, pimping, and organized sex work have been made illegal under The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 [2] (ITPA), colloquially known as the SITA act (hereafter referred to as the same). In this act, prostitution is referred to as ‘sexual abuse’. However, the act does not recognize men who have taken up the profession of prostitution.

Prostitutes often undergo healthcare because of the stigma about prostitution. This includes unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and other STIs among prostitutes. Thus, the regulation of prostitution and brothels will help in curbing this menace.

(A) Research Questions

The following are the questions dealt with in this paper:

• What is the potential effect of legalization on the exploitation of women in the name of prostitution?
• What are the laws which govern prostitution?

(B) Objectives of the Stud

The current research involves a descriptive and prescriptive approach. Hence, the following are the objectives of the study:

• To examine the status of prostitution in India.
• To analyze the effects of legalization on sex workers.
• To suggest policies and regulations relating to prostitution in India.

(C) Statement of Research Problem

There are many debates going on about whether prostitution should be legalized or not. There are pros and cons to both. The researcher has tried to analyze the effect of legalization on exploitation of women and children and has tried to establish what good it can do. Atrocities on women is gaining traction in recent years, and there have been many efforts to protect the rights of women and children. Considering this, the researcher has given their perspective on the effectiveness of legalization of prostitution on women who are victims.

(D) Research Methodology

In order to scrutinize the topic at hand and provide a better understanding of the legalization of prostitution, doctrinal research was conducted. The research conducted involved analysis of qualitative data such as books, articles, judgments, websites, and law journals. These were collected form online database and sources such as JSTOR, Hein Online and SCC online. The reference to the same provided opinions of various researchers and social scientists and also helped conclude the research. The advantages of such a method of research includes better analysis of the topic at hand and helps in identifying certain loopholes and ambiguities in it. The books, articles and case laws used are not restricted to a particular time period. This research paper spans legislations in various countries where prostitution is legalized and regulated and compares the situation in India. The analysis and interpretation of previous or already existing data fall under the range of doctrinal research. This is why doctrinal research is best suited for analyzing the impact and advantages of the legalization of prostitution.

(E) Significance of the study

Prostitution has existed in India since centuries. It has recently gained a lot of supporters for it to be made a legal and normal profession without any stigma. In India, prostitution rackets are run and this is often linked to trafficking and sexual abuse by men. The prostitutes involved are victim to societal isolation and are sometimes denied basic fundamental rights owing to the stigmatization. Legalization of prostitution in India is also associated with curbing health complications such as STIs and unwanted pregnancies.

In this context, there have been supporters of legalizing prostitution which includes sex workers themselves. Legalization, especially in India, will help ridding prostitutes of exploitation and lack of healthcare. The countries where prostitution is legalized have shown a prominent decrease in STIs. Thus the analysis of these policies in the current research can be taken as a precedent for framing policies in India. It analyzes and suggests liberal action plans regarding the legalization of prostitution. In this respect, the research can serve as a suggestion for the executive.

This study will benefit academicians, lawyers and students who would want to carry out further research on the matter, since prostitution is a sphere of society which needs more research and perspective of the aforementioned groups. It will help the general readers in viewing prostitution in the perspective of a victim, and also helps in gaining knowledge of the plight of sex workers and possibly clear the stigma.

(F) Scope and Limitations of the Study

The researcher intends to study the legalization of prostitution in the context of India. All states of India are covered in a general sense, and the recommendations made are also broad in sense. The research contains an account of the history of prostitution, making the timeline broad as well. The research however does not cover the effect of legalization of prostitution with respect to the health of sex workers, society in general, etc., and also refrains from taking into account the status of prostitution in other countries.

(G) Sources of data

There are many sources, primary and secondary, which the researcher has referred to. The primary sources of data include international as well as national statutes, acts and legislations. Articles, journals and books written by significant authors form the secondary sources of data. The above mentioned sources were taken from databases and online libraries.

(H) Literature Review

There are many related work available which is related to prostitution. The primary source of information is the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 [3] which lays down the definition of prostitution and provides the conditions under which prostitution can be practiced. It also contains the provisions for punishment in case the conditions are breached. The researcher has depended on this to analyze the status of prostitution in India. Bengal Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933 [4] by the Bengal government is also of similar nature as the ITPA. It imposes restrictions on prostitution in the state of Bengal. Contagious Diseases Act, 1868 [5] (now repealed) was an act in Colonial India which aimed to regulate prostitutes to curb the spread of diseases within the British navy and army. It was repealed in 1886.

The book ‘ Designing Prostitution Policy: Intention and Reality in Regulating the Sex Trade ’ [6] lays down an analysis of the stigma, paradoxes and the challenges in framing effective policies with respect to prostitution. It also analyses policy regulation on both local and national levels. It examines the national policies of Austria and the Netherlands, which will help the current research in implementing the advantages of the policies in India.

Some of the articles written by researchers and social scientists are ‘ For Debate: Should Prostitution Be Legalized and Regulated?’ [7] , which talks about the legalization of prostitution with respect to the health concerns is present. The spread of diseases like AIDS and other Sexually transmitted diseases through sex workers and their clients is analyzed, which is the very essence of the undertaken study.  Protection of Sex Workers [8] is another article in which exploitation and abuse of sex workers in the absence of adequate laws and regulation of prostitution is analyzed. This brings out the importance of regulation of prostitution and helps the undertaken research in this way. Prostitution in the United Kingdom in particular is subjected to scrutiny in this article. The harms of criminalization of prostitution is applicable even in the context of the spread of AIDS, and can be interpreted in the context of Indian society as well.

II. Prostitution: Exploitation and Violence

Prostitution as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary is, “the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment.” [9] . Prostitution is often regarded as one of the oldest professions in the world. In the 21 st century, females are not the only ones practicing this profession. Men and transgender persons are also involved in prostitution, although in lesser number than women. Prostitution can be of various forms, including street prostitution [10] , escort prostitution [11] and brothels [12] . The legal status of prostitution is different in different countries. Currently, Austria, some states in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium and Brazil have legalized and regulated prostitution. Prostitution is illegal in a majority of the African states, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Singapore and Sri Lanka, to name a few. In countries like India, prostitution is legalized but not regulated.

Prostitution can be traced back to the Ancient Near East Civilizations [13] , where there are depictions of it in temples. In India, Prostitution took its form first in Ancient India, with the emergence of illicit love affairs or extra marital affairs. The Rig Veda suggests the existence of prostitution with the mention of the “Sadharani” [14] , which is equivalent to the term “prostitute” [15] . With the existence of the institution of marriage, prostitution came along. Even in the Mohammedan period, dancing girls were appointed in the Courts of the Sultans, who were sometimes prostitutes. The Sultans also kept these girls for the entertainment of the army personnel. These women were called “Tawaifs”. During the British period, brothels were established for the troops [16] . The British Raj enacted the Cantonment Act of 1864 for the regulation of prostitution, which can be regarded as one of the first legislations with respect to prostitution in India.

Many contend that prostitution is a form of exploitation of women. This is true, at least in the context of India.  In India, prostitution is more of a subjugating profession for women where women are mostly forced into it, either passively or actively. This is on account of being trafficked or sold as child prostitutes by their own parents, or opting for prostitution as a profession to earn a livelihood out of it (as a necessity). In this way, women and children are being exploited and forced into prostitution. Vulnerable or poor women are targeted and are roped into prostitution on the pretext of marriage or job opportunities. Many a times, they are forced into the profession by their own family members. After being trafficked this way, they are subjected to the most gruesome form of torture by their clients, with can be deduced by the several interviews of Indian prostitutes by various researchers and social workers. The clients, mostly men, refuse to wear condoms which increases the rate of HIV/AIDS. They pay off the brothel owners to continue to exploit the women.

III. Legal aspects of Prostitution in India

In India prostitution is partially legal. Prostitutes can practice the profession privately, but solicitation and organized prostitution such as brothel keeping are illegal. Prostitution can be practiced away from public spaces. Moreover, only female prostitution is recognized in India.

The rate of prostitution is hard to determine because it is a shadowed profession, and institutions of prostitutions like brothels are rackets. Even though brothels are illegal per say, there is little effort made by the Government to track them down and bust the sex rackets. However, there are a few laws with respect to prostitution.

The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 is the main legislation drafted in view of prostitution in India. Section 3 of the Statute [17] imposes imprisonment for two to three years with fine for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as brothels. Section 5 [18] imposes three to seven years of imprisonment with fine for procuring a person for the purpose of prostitution without their consent. Section 7 of the statute prohibits prostitution in or near a public place. The act however is silent on the trafficking of children and on the violence and cruelty imposed by the clients on women. In the case of Smt. Afjal vs State Of U.P. [19] , the accused ran a brothel and detained minor girls for prostitution. The accused was found guilty under the provisions of the act, and the minor girls were rescued.

There are laws regarding prostitution in The Indian Penal Code as well. Section 366 Clause (A) of the IPC [20] talks about the procuration of a minor girl for illicit sexual intercourse and prescribes punishment for the same. Clause (B) of the same talks about the importation of a girl from an alien country for the purpose of prostitution. In the case of Fateh Chand v. State of Haryana [21] , a man was booked under section 366 for procuring a minor girl for prostitution. Section 372 [22] and 373 [23] of the IPC prohibit the selling or disposing of a minor girl knowing that such a girl will be roped into prostitution, and buying or hiring of a minor girl to force her into prostitution respectively.

Again, the law is silent on punishing clients or brothel keepers for subjecting a prostitute to violent harm. It also neither compels the use of condoms, nor contains provisions for the healthcare of sex workers, as a result of which there is a spread of HIV/AIDS and also pregnancy causing a population boom.

IV. Effect of Legalization of Prostitution on Exploitation and Violence

The question whether prostitution must be legalized or not has undergone moral, medical and legal considerations. As stated earlier, prostitution is legal in India when done individually and privately. What is required is the regulation of prostitution, with government control of brothels and related activities. Although there are laws against the establishment of brothels and pimping, they still exist and continue to exploit women. As the brothel owners pay off the police with a bribe, police raids are not necessarily helpful. This is obviously a result of supply and demand. If the government takes control of such brothels, supply and demand will also be met, and middlemen will also not be required. Apart from his, prostitutes must be allowed to carry out the profession discretely, which will help them earn a livelihood by staying out of the public eye.

Once prostitution is decriminalized, governance of prostitution will be easier. This will help in reducing forced prostitution of women and children. The existing system makes it difficult to determine whether there is consent of the women to carry out prostitution. Bringing prostitution under the legal eye will make it easier to control criminal activity and also provide aid to the victims. By regulating prostitution, minor girls can be taken out of the profession and pedophilia can also be checked.

Sexual assault and violence towards prostitutes by the clients happens with the permission of the brothel owners who are given more money to allow the clients to perform violent acts towards the prostitutes. Prostitutes practically have no relief or escape from this kind of violence. Replacing these inhumane middlemen with government control will do wonders in curbing such atrocities committed against women in the name of prostitution.

These measures will of course not eradicate exploitation of women completely. Regulation also involves active involvement of the police to bust illegal rackets which may still exist. The government must ensure that police corruption does not take place. If prostitution is regulated in this way, it can significantly curb social evils such as exploitation and violence in the sex industry.

V. Conclusion and Suggestions

Prostitution is one profession that has been considered shameful by the society, while the prostitutes are considered impure and shameless individuals. In India, laws related to prostitution are inadequate and have no clear approach. Due to this, there is an utmost necessity of regulation for such activities. Since sex work will still continue to exist, even after imposing strict laws, it is better to have regulations rather than banning the act completely. Prostitution is a profession that also brings along violence and exploitation in certain cases. However, for some individuals, it may help in running a family. Additionally, the people must be sensitized with respect to problems relating to women so that they do not commit such inhumane atrocities against them, which is where the key concern persists. Considering these aspects, the researcher feels that prostitution should be legalized with a regulatory body overlooking the practice and concludes by saying that legalizing and regulating prostitution ensures protection of sex workers and children, and their rights.

[1] Sukumari Bhattacharji, Prostitution in Ancient India , 15 Social Scientist 32, 32-34 (1987).

[2] The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, No. 104, Acts of Parliament, 1956 (India).

[3] Supra note 2.

[4] Bengal Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933, No. 6, Acts of Bengal State Legislature, 1933 (India).

[5] The Contagious Diseases act was by the British administration in colonial India.

[6] Hendrik Wagenaar et al., Designing Prostitution Policy: Intention and Reality in Regulating the Sex Trade (Bristol University Press 2017).

[7] Website of British Medical Journal, bmj, https://www.bmj.com/ (last visited Nov. 23, 2020).

[8] Michael D.E Goodyear & Linda Cusick, Protection of Sex Workers, 334 British Medical Journal 52, 52-53 (2007).

[9] Prostitution , Oxford English Dictionary (2d ed. 2013).

[10] Street Prostitution is a form of sex work wherein a sex workers solicits customers from a street.

[11] An escort is someone who offers companionship that may or may not be in the form of sex.

[12] A brothel is a place where people may engage in sexual activities with prostitutes, usually owned by third parties.

[13] Ancient Near East is the modern Middle East, which was earlier the home for many civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Babylonia, etc.

[14] Sadharani is the term for a courtesan, who was not possessed by a man as was the trend in Ancient India.

[15] Supra , note 1.

[16] Ratnabali Chatterjee, The Indian Prostitute as a Colonial Subject , 13 Canadian Woman Studies 51, (1992).

[17] §. 3, Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956.

[18] §. 5, Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956.

[19] Smt. Afjal vs State Of U.P., 2012 (77) ACC 7 (HC).

[20] The Indian Penal Code, 1860, §. 366, No. 45, Acts of Parliament, 1860 (India).

[21] Fateh Chand v. State of Haryana, (1977) 2 SCC 670.

[22] §. 372, The Indian Penal Code.

[23] §. 373, The Indian Penal Code.

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Legality Of Prostitution In India: An Analysis Of Policy And Social Implications

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• Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. Retrieved from http://legislative.gov.in/actsofparliamentfromtheyear/immoral-traffic-prevention-act-1956
• Kumar, S. (2009). "The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act: A Critique.
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• Altman, D. (2001). Global Sex. University of Chicago Press.
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Six Prostitution in India: laws, debates and responses

• Published: May 2006
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This chapter explains in detail the prostitution in India. The existing national laws and policy regarding prostitution and trafficking for prostitution are discussed. The chapter then examines the implementation of the laws by the police, and judicial pronouncements looking at the extent to which women in the profession have access to rights under the law. Additionally, it investigates the proposals to legalise prostitution in one state in India, and the extent to which patriarchal assumptions about prostitution are challenged or strengthened by the proposed laws. The chapter also probes the policy suggestions made by the central government that seek to combine politically correct language and feminist rhetoric with conservative notions of prostitution and women in prostitution. There is little consensus on whether legalisation or decriminalisation would benefit women and children in prostitution.

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Shriya Patnaik

March 22nd, 2021, the invisible voices of india’s informal sector sex workers.

2 comments | 80 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

The condition of sex-workers in India is extremely poor, and the industry faces several structural barriers. The existing state rehabilitation projects often violate their bodily autonomy and act as moral discipliners, leaving them vulnerable to violence. Shriya Patnaik discusses the core issues whilst also throwing light on grassroots-level movements advocating their inclusion into society.

The legal statute governing the rights of sex workers and trafficked persons in India is The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act (1956), amended in 1986 as The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act . According to this, while sex workers (also referred to as “prostitutes”) can conduct their trade in private spaces, they cannot legally solicit customers in public places nor engage in forms of pimping, hotel services or rings of sex workers: so, while prostitution per se is legal, a multitude of activities surrounding it like public solicitation, brothels, kerb-crawling, minor sexual commerce, trafficking, pimping and pandering, are illegal . Despite the existence of “Red Light” districts in cities, laws governing sex workers are somewhat vague. They are not safeguarded by labour laws or trade unions but can seek rescue and rehabilitation by national organisations. Since male prostitution is unrecognised/disallowed under Indian law, this post deals primarily with female perspectives.

Debunking Myths with Narratives

Experiential accounts from the sex industry itself debunk many of the humanitarian myths surrounding policy and developmental discourses. One such example is the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee , an NGO in West Bengal that works towards identifying and challenging underlying structural factors that perpetuate social stigmatisation, material deprivation and civil society exclusion against subjects. Its social workers (many of them sex workers themselves) strive towards demanding the dignity of sexual labour, addressing of HIV and STIs infecting the community, awareness strategies and emancipation campaigns as inevitable steps towards eliminating the pervasive gender-based discrimination afflicting them. DURBAR workers also advocate for the legalisation of the sex industry in India as they believe that its clandestine nature enhances networks of crime, police brutality, and simultaneous workers’ marginalisation. Similarly, Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM) is a rights-based, collective action NGO that promotes insider community participation as an intrinsic measure towards providing non-intrusive healthcare paradigms. It has also designed empowerment programs like the formation of Self-Help Groups, where members can collectively negotiate loans with financial institutions to fund skills development programs.

DURBAR’s film-project, Tales of the Night Fairies records the life stories of sex workers in West Bengal’s slums, together with case studies from feminist non-abolitionist NGOs, to advocate for their legal and healthcare rights. It was featured on several platforms like the Asian Film Festival in Rome, Association for Women’s Rights in DevelopmentInternational Forum in Mexico and the San Francisco Sex-worker Film Festival, thereby mobilising feminist organisations globally towards rights of sex worker. Set in Kolkata’s Sonagachi district (one of Asia’s largest Red Light districts), the interviewed workers in this documentary underscore some of their predicaments alongside debunking many myths surrounding sex work policies in India. They advocate for a recognition of the underground, informal sector industry under labour laws, along with the self-participation of workers themselves as a means of bringing about holistic change. Take for instance one woman who says: “ The government is reluctant to give us labour rights. We want Self-Regulatory Boards in order to stop the entry of minor girls into the trade. New entrants will have to be scrutinised by us before they start work. ” Another comments on the brutality of law enforcement agencies: “Since I joined the line, I have worked hard to earn money. I don’t beg. I don’t steal. I’m a law-abiding citizen who pays my rent and all my expenses, yet still get beaten up by the authorities. Tell me, where do we go for safety? I am very angry with the police for violating our rights, involuntarily holding us in police custody and causing our stigmatisation in society?” These stories are indicative of the need to encapsulate the lived experiences of actors in the profession, instead of an imposition of arbitrary top-down policing mechanisms that violate rights-based principles.

My ethnographic research from Odisha (reliant on the accounts of trafficked persons and some former sex workers) similarly highlights some of the limits of state welfare programs and institutional frameworks. In 2016, as part of the Davis Peace Projects Award , I had the opportunity to build a rehabilitation program for homeless and trafficked persons living on the railway stations of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

Homeless Persons, Social Workers and Healthcare Professionals at a workshop to discuss the making of Shelter Homes as part of the ‘David Projects for Peace’ initiative.  ©  For copyright and consent information, see below.      

My interviews with my subjects highlighted certain concerns. Firstly, some interviewees remarked how governmental rescue schemes were accompanied by moral policing paradigms that sought to correct their “deviant” behaviour instead of investigating the socio-economic exigencies driving them. Secondly, after being rescued, despite receiving some healthcare treatments, they objected to intrusive bodily examinations they were subject to, oftentimes without consent. They further critiqued the protectionist guise of state approaches in presenting women as helpless victims or vulnerable subjects devoid of any agency. The emotive representation of sex workers as victims duped by traffickers and devoid of any consent, while a powerful metaphor towards galvanising humanitarian support, ironically enables coercive law enforcement policies, which curtails their freedom of movement or bodily autonomy. This can also lead well-intentioned NGOs to continue the objectification, reification and re-traumatisation of rescued persons, culminating in a dangerous precedent that it is only through close regulation and surveillance in state-sanctioned shelters that women’s recovery can be achieved.

The author with homeless persons and victims of trafficking as part of the ‘Rescue, Revive and Resurrect the Dignity of Railway Station Children’ project under ‘David Projects for Peace’ Shelter Home Building Project, Odisha, 2016.  ©  For copyright and consent information, see below.

In the implementation of the Davis Projects, women opened up to us about specific issues like menstrual hygiene, pregnancies, safe contraception, awareness of consensual intercourse, and the need for psychological counselling in cases of abuse or trauma. Finally, they posited the need for economic self-sufficiency, along with vocational training initiatives that would enable integration into the market economy, instead of rehabilitation programs that merely relied on moralistic disciplining approaches.

Centring Marginal Voices

The role of such oral histories to account for the missing voices of marginalised actors cannot be discounted. They help record complex modalities of subversive agency, resistance and mobilisation that contest mainstream development models. Additionally, as analysed by Urvashi Butalia and Veena Das , in conditions of structural violence, the recollection of suppressed silences can also serve functions of catharsis and emotional unburdening, especially for historically under-represented communities. The power of oral narratives is useful for recording the life circumstances of subaltern actors, many of which are absent from the historical record, towards reconceptualising limits to human rights protocols.

The Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center is an initiative that provides legal and social services to individuals who engage in sex-work (regardless of whether they do so by choice, circumstance, or coercion) alongside takes an approach that is grounded in human rights, harm reduction along with incorporating the real life experiences of trafficked persons, towards debunking mythical representations that result in faulty interventions. Its 2009 Report surveys the problematic implications of raids on brothels and rescue operations, resulting in subsequent proceedings of punishment and forceful rehabilitation rather than a rights-based approach. It further exposes how over-sensationalised accounts result in a simplified public perception of all sex workers in binary terms of “victimised” or “deviant” subjects and the police as heroes, reinforcing existing power relations as well as disciplinary panopticons of the state. Take, for example, a woman who works as a sex worker on the side to pay for going to college. A brothel raid, instead of rescue, can become the source of her physical trauma as she is not brought into the public sphere and exposed to family and acquaintances who were unaware of her work in the first place. As stated by anthropologist Patty Kelly in her book Lydia’s Open Door: Inside Mexico’s Most Modern Brothel , “The raids on clandestine prostitutes and the control of prostitution in general are expressions of power that reinforce already existing inequalities of gender and class […] It is a way to harass poor women and men through detention and the gathering of information, and to create the illusion of the control of visible prostitution by the state.”

The Rescue-Myth narrative of the nation-state hyperbolically presents the brothel as a pervasive site of crime instead of a workplace, and can therefore erroneously present all sex work as evil, and prolong a cycle of abuse by adopting a crime-based approach to rehabilitation. Besides, it robs the woman of her agency or the desire to construct a successful and happy future for herself, devoid of the protectionist guise of the state. Post rescue, the sex worker cannot become a successful worker, carry forward with a happy relationship, or become a role model for other women. She must fit into the typified account of the psychologically damaged figure whose identity is solely marked by her former occupational role.  Therefore, in controlling their bodily autonomy, the state seeks to discipline gendered minorities in establishing its pedagogical norms of citizenship as well as its control over informal economies of sexual commerce. Such policy mediations concurrently disregard complexities in situational factors and legitimise a punitive policing mechanism that merely projects the brothel as a site of crime, thus disregarding other forms of informal sexual commerce in private sites. The experiential narratives of women showcase how under the guise of welfare programs, such exclusionary models, can become complicit in the criminalization and human rights deprivation of socially marginalised groups.

Analogously, as studied by Svati Shah in Street Corner Secrets: Sex, Work, and Migration in the City of Mumbai , the urban “pull” factor of cities facilitates an exodus of rural migrant workers with limited education and skills sets who, finding no better financial prospects, get dragged into indentured labour and/or sex work as a survival strategy, especially in slum localities like Mumbai’s Kamathipura district. One needs to deconstruct the violent politics of sexual regulation, especially as the local police sporadically harasses sex workers towards protecting respectable residential localities, in tandem with Real Estate agents who are sanctioned to arbitrarily check the residential quarters of suspects. In the name of welfare and protection projects, state authorities consequently become complicit in the criminalisation and human rights deprivation of disenfranchised actors. Subsequently, sex workers’ participation in civil society is highly restricted vis-à-vis barriers to workplace opportunities, upward socio-economic mobility, healthcare coverage, and/or labour laws through which inequalities are naturalised, normalised and institutionalised.  

Integrating Experience into Policy

In light of the limitations of the above-mentioned trafficking and sex work frameworks, Anne Gallagher (Trafficking Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former-manager of OHCHR’s Anti-trafficking Program ) and Elaine Pearson (from Human Rights Watch ), instead hypothesise the merits of a bottom-up, inclusive approach of integrating individual voices and experiential accounts. This would lead to better prevention, interception, rehabilitation and integration efforts. In their 2008 Policy Report on the limits of institutional shelters, they discuss how it is this experiential aspect that has been rendered moot in most regional and national efforts. In suggesting improvements to the international legal regime surrounding trafficking and sex work, they further underscore how it is imperative that human rights protocols by nations should not discipline adult consensual prostitution at the risk of minimising rights-based principles. Some of these principles are: a lack of gendered discrimination upon rehabilitation; the rights of shelter detainees to dignity; legal counsel; autonomy of movement; adequate healthcare including counseling and psychological services; and Monitoring & Evaluation mechanisms free from political interference.

The author with minor victims of trafficking rehabilitated as part of ‘Rescue, Revive and Resurrect the Dignity of Railway Station Children’ project under the ‘David Projects for Peace’ initiative, Odisha, 2016.  ©  For copyright and consent and consent information, see below.

In conclusion, then, though India has had periods of economic growth, modernisation, scientific and technological advancements, and macro-level peace initiatives since independence, its institutional structures have not comprehensively addressed micro-level development and the concerns of its most disadvantaged segments. Therefore, India’s sex workers, though constituting an integral part of its informal sector economy, are rendered voiceless under patriarchal power structures. Notwithstanding a lack of labour rights and healthcare coverage, their life histories remain invisible from the realm of law or policy. Although the struggles of analogous disenfranchised groups challenge dominant notions of development, sex workers remain largely excluded from mainstream society, but there is an urgent need to pay attention to such voices.

© All photographs Shriya Patnaik. Consent to publish these photographs is with the author.

This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the South Asia @ LSE blog, nor the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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About the author

Shriya Patnaik is pursuing her doctoral research at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Her research focuses on the historical genealogy surrounding discourses surrounding sex work in India through the lens of the matriarchal community of Mahari-Devadasis, and is reliant on oral histories along with colonial-period archival records. Her research is supported by the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship.

Very good write up.

well explain amazing post

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Viability in Legalizing Prostitution in India

11 Pages Posted: 29 Aug 2013

Payal Lamba

Amity Law School

Date Written: August 29, 2013

Prostitution is the crudest manifestation of societies where women have been driven to sell their bodies as means of survival. Such women are expected to satisfy the uncontainable vice of male sexuality. Prostitution has been a part of our society since time immemorial. The article goes back into history of prostitution in India. The paper further examines the meaning of the term "prostitution" and the laws that define and deal with prostitution in India. The IPC lends a helping hand to the special laws enacted to curb prostitution by attacking the source of this evil. The paper examines those special laws and digs out the reason for their failure to curb this menace. At present, India has no stand as to legality of prostitution. Recently in the year 2012, Supreme Court while hearing a case suggested that the government should regulate and channelize the trade. The article further brings into light the debate on whether prostitution should be legalized or not and the pros and cons of legalizing and not legalizing. The article further examines the scenario of different countries status as to legality of prostitution. The article further dwells into examining the countries where prostitution is legalized and the scenario in those counties.

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Amity law school ( email ).

F-1 Block, Amity University Campus Sector 125 Delhi, Uttar Pradesh 201005 India

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(Essay) An Essay: Legalising Prostitution in India

An Essay: Legalising Prostitution in India : Introduction Welcome to a world trapped between 'illegal' and 'immoral': Prostitution might be illegal in India, but the business of life goes on. Calling it illegal is a superfluous formality and denouncing it as an immoral blotch on society. Recognizing it as a profession will at least reduce the real illegalities that come with it, like child prostitution, drug abuse, and crime. National scenario Societies in which prostitution is legal have concluded that it is best to regulate a profession, which will never disappear. India should learn from these societies, rather than pretend that prostitution doesn't exist here. Especially when figures reveal that the business of sex-workers takes a dip when it is vacation time for colleges. There are over 2.5 million prostitutes in India and a quarter of them are minors! Child prostitution is one of the issues facing our country today. The increasing incidence of the HIV virus is on the verge of a threshold, which, if crossed, could see the epidemic affecting, perhaps, everyone in the world. This profession makes the sex-worker the most vulnerable. Global scenario Globally prostitution is legal in Canada, France, Wales, Denmark, Holland, most of South America, including Mexico (often in special zones), Israel, Australia, and many other countries. It's either legal or tolerated in most of Asia; Australia has a sex-service company whose stocks are traded on the stock exchange. Pros of legalisation No governments, no matter how hard they have tried, have been successful in abolishing prostitution. Prostitution is a reality and the chances of eliminating it are practically nil. By legalising prostitution, we also legalise the fight against Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and the AIDS epidemic. Just like laws have managed to do with untouchability, legalising prostitution will give dignity to sex-workers and save them from living as second grade citizens. A separate hub can be created for it and health of sex workers can be monitored. Legalisation will deter police from extorting money from the helpless sex workers who are forced to give a part of their income to the policemen to let them live in peace. Legalisation of the profession will at least give a human face to the profession, where prostitutes are, otherwise, are treated as outcastes. Norms should be laid out for registration in terms of space, hygiene and medical facilities available. There should be periodical medical check-ups, and it must be made mandatory for every individual in the profession to possess a proper health certificate. Brothels should also be taxed like any other business house, and a certain amount should be earmarked by the government for providing medical facilities to sex workers. Their families and especially their children should be taken care of. A rehabilitation programme for sex workers wanting to opt out should also be worked out. Sex workers should be made to work only in the alloted areas or zones. Brothels must be situated away from residential areas and educational institutions. In India women are forced into prostitution due to poverty and illiteracy. So women in this profession become carriers of AIDS and other deadly diseases. To combat with this situation, women’s organisations can be brought in to work at the grass-root level and to form a link between the sex workers and the government. Cons of legalisation As it is said, “Every coin has two sides.” Legalisation too has some shortcomings: Legalising prostitution would benefit the facilitators and the pimps, not their victims. In India, where women are coerced into the trade and kept in it almost like bonded labour, such a move will not benefit them. Commercial sexual exploitation is a form of slavery and slavery cannot be legalized. India should not compare itself with other Wesren countries, where prostitution enjoys legal status because our societal customs are most unlike those in the West. Since abortion is illegal in India, there is no question of legalising prostitution. So giving this business a legal status only means society is giving approval to the flesh trade. Some critics say, prostitution wrecks personality and affects marriage relationships. Prostitution affects family life, communicates diseases and thus brings social disorganization. Conclusion Closeting the flourishing profession of prostitution as a morality issue not only amounts to ignoring the exploitation of the commercial sex-workers, who feed on the income they generate, but the larger issue of AIDS. What is required is a practical approach. By according legitimacy to the sex-worker, millions of women who enter into this trade to feed their families will be freed from the clutches of pimps, brothel-owners and cops on the take. Legalising prostitution will see these women, who live life on the edge everywhere, gaining access to medical facilities, which can control the spread of AIDS. Timely sex education to sex workers can make them aware of venereal diseases attached with this profession. Employment opportunities for women, who have no alternative than to enter this profession, can play wonders. Removal of widow marriage, the social custom that is still followed in most of the Indian villages, can help curb prostitution. There is a very strong need to treat the sex industry as any other industry and empower it with legal safeguards, which would rid this workplace of exploitative and unhealthy practices. The rising number of AIDS cases in India and the number of innocents being forced into the flesh trade are alarming. The time has come for lawmakers to be more serious about this issue. Legalisation is the answer.

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Prostitution In India-Concept and its implications

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Ishita Gupta

History and Archeology, ( N.S.) Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 81-104.ISSN: 2320-0170.

Rekha Pande

In this paper we made an attempt to study of growth and decline of the institution of temple girls, the sanis in medieval Andhra desa between the 12’th and 18th centuries. Devadasis were the women who were dedicated to the particular temple deity or any specific symbol. A devadasi was considered nitya sumangali, a woman eternally free from the adversity of widowhood as she was married to God and married forever. In that auspicious capacity, a devadasi was not governed by the strict rules of sexual morality as applicable to married women. She was married to a deity or god, but that did not mean that she had to live her life without the normal pleasures of sex and childbearing. She was a respected member of the society. These devadasis were performed ritualistic and non- ritualistic performances and were at the height of their glory from 12th to 16th century. However, by 17th cen. we find that the devdasis were moving away from the temples into the secular spaces. Now they were no longer confined to the temples and by 18th century.the distinction between the devdasi and the courtesan becomes blurred. Due to the lack of any kind of patronage to the temple this institution also declined and devdasis moved into other spaces.

umeshwari dkhar

Abstract The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few years. From a largely unknown status in ancient times through the low points of the medieval periods, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful. A woman in true sense is the progenitor of human race. But she is not treated on par with men. Discrimination and crime against women are increasing day- by-day. Many statutes are enacted to curb these evil practices yet the condition of women has not improved as yet. In this Paper, Devadasi system and its practices have been analyze from the Historical period, the main objective is to explore the devadasi practice were the minor are dedicated, in the name of marriage to the deity but they are force to provide sexual favor to the others and thereby felt into the prey of trafficker for sex trafficking and later to the brothels for prostitution. This paper is divided into five parts; the second gives an overview of the history of the devadasi practice in India. The third part deals with the present status of the devadasi in India. The fourth and fifth part of this paper, focus upon the legislative initiative towards the practice of devadasi system in India and respectively to conclude and to suggest some recommendation.

Economic and Societal Impact of Organized Crime: Policy and Law Enforcement Interventions

The practice of 'marrying' young girls of lower castes to gods and goddesses is one of the oldest cultural practices in India. This practice is called the devadasi system in which minor girls belonging to the Scheduled Castes are sexually exploited by temple priests and other high caste men in the name of religion. The term 'devadasi' is a Sanskrit word which means 'female slave of God'. The devadasi system is also seen as religious sanctioned prostitution in India. Despite the practice being abolished by various state legislations in India, there are approximately more than 48,000 devadasis in the country according to the data by the National Commission for Women in New Delhi. Per the National Human Rights Commission, the state of Andhra Pradesh alone recorded over 25,000 devadasis in 2015 with girls as young as 12 years pushed into prostitution in the nearby states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. This paper therefore aims to highlight the reasons behind this social evil (often referred to as an organised prostitution) considering the broader interconnections between law and religion.

Dr. Uday Dokras

Sexual exploitation in Temples of ancient times

International Journal Advance Research Ideas and Innovations in Technology (IJARIIT)

Dr. Prashanth G Malur

Understanding humans across the globe seem to be simple on the surface level, however, it is quite difficult to understand the complexity of human nature every one exhibit. This depends on the person himself and the person with/ to whom he is communicating, situation, gender, feelings, place of exposure, lifestyle & culture, social exposure, the family upbringing which altogether makes a person think and react at that particular moment, resulting in action. However, inclined sexual instincts among both the genders get them connected through one or the other ways with mutual benefits, which is popularly known as an illicit or extramarital affair. While there is also a large section of women who irrespective of their sexual inclination serve people with their physical needs for mutually agreed money; has been a trade for survival to many of them. While these kinds of relationships between the two genders are not those emerged in the recent centuries, they have references of previous ages survived on the earth. India, since then has witnessed the social culture of an illicit affair between the two genders in various forms such as devadasi, extramarital affair with one or many, which later turned to prostitution. Though the prostitution and devadasi system in modern India is constitutionally banned, the devadasi tradition persists to be in the remote rural areas while prostitution has mushroomed across the country irrespective of their geographies. With a lot more of scholarly articles available, this study attempts to present few cases of women who were interviewed with an effort to understand the lifestyle, earnings, social background, reason to be in prostitution, the treatment and respect they receive and the challenges they encounter every day.

IOSR Journals

The Devadasi system was once prevalent right across India. It was known by different names in different places such as Devarattiyal in Tamil Nadu, Mahris in Kerala, Natis in Assam, Muralis in Maharashtra, Basavis and Muralis in Andhra Pradesh and Jogatis and Basavis in Karnataka. The word " devadasi " is derived from two words, " deva " meaning God and " dasi " meaning slave or servant-woman. Every devadasi therefore, is a slave of God. Almost in all the parts of India, there is an ancient tradition of offering young boys and girls to deities; the tradition is prevalent in many rural areas. Particularly southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka state young boys and girls of tender age are offering to the Goddess Yallamma (or Renuka), whose main Shrine is situate in village " Soundati " in the nearby Belgaum district of Karnataka State (South India). These living sacrifices are known as " Devadasi " and they lead a wretched life. The word " Devadasi " might connote " Servant of god " , but in reality a girl child who is dedicated to the goddess is no more than a prostitute. For centuries the repressive tradition of Devadasi system has been prevailing in many parts of India. Devadasi system is not only exploitation of men, women and impotents but it is the organizational exploitation of lower castes Dalits in the religious rituals. Sanction given to prostitution of helpless economically and socially deprived young girls and women; it is the glorification of humiliation of women.

Feminist Studies

Lucinda Ramberg

Rights and Development Bulletin

Philip VARGHESE

Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health

Giridhara R Babu

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