Prostitution: A State of Dilemma

Introduction

Today, one of the most serious issues from the perspective of an under developing Economy such as India and which doesn’t come in limelight is the Profession of Prostitution and the Condition of Sex workers. There are lots of questions such as whether it should exist in a Civilized Society? Whether it is Ethically correct or Moral? Whether it should be Legalized? Whether the profession should be even recognized? Does the state should interfere between two consenting individuals in which one is trading his/her body in exchange of money from the other? Many more questions like this are there to be answered. In addition, the recent developments that took place in some of the Western and European countries in this area, the nature of their societies and the level of development of their Economy should also be considered while answering the Questions.

Why is this activity prevailing as a profession in the country?

There are some reasons as to why females are found in this profession on such a huge scale. The very first reason is due to the large scale of illegal Human Trafficking taking place in the country. The traffickers lure the females, especially minors with a false romantic relationship or promise them a job or abduct or kidnap them. Due to this they land in the vicious trap of this profession. In an instance of Rajasthan, where police raided a brothel in the countryside, a girl aged 12 years was giving such services to clients of around 30 years. She was reportedly from the State of West Bengal and was kidnapped on one night from a street of a town named South 24 Pargana. Several children similar to the above case are kidnapped and trafficked almost every day from one state to another for this purpose. Women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh are often tricked into accepting fraudulent jobs in India, only to become trapped in sex trafficking. Traffickers also exploit women and girls from Central Asia, Europe, and Africa for commercial sex in Goa State. The second reason as to why so many females’ years are in this profession is due to the dismal financial condition of their home. Being a single earner of the family along with some other conditions such lack of education to find a suitable job, being from a lower caste, no reach of any Govt. Scheme which provides employment by doing manual labor, piling of high interest debts, pushes them in this job. They see it as a way to instantly earn money for the well-being of their dependents, not by choice but by their poor family condition and willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly they are trapped in a matrix which they can’t leave once entered.

Is the Profession Ethically, correct?

Suppose there are two individuals in a closed room and whatever happens between them is not disclosed to any third person then it doesn’t matter, if any sexual intercourse happens between them in lieu/exchange of money, that is, a female/male takes money in exchange/consideration of providing the sexual service. If this happens without any third person being informed about this, then there is no problem as such at prima facie. But when the same thing is known by every member of a society that there is also this profession through which one can make money and create an industry of 8 billion Dollars then it not only goes on increasing, but the sufferers get suffered and the profession gets itself normalized in the eyes of society. A civilized society should not tolerate the presence of such a profession in which there is such a high level of exploitation of women as well as minor girls by trading their body as any commercial product.

Demand that “Sex Work should be Legalized” is Reasonable?

If one looks at it deeply, then from the perspective of India, it can be observed that the women/man is obviously doing this out of any serious cause which is majorly an Economic cause. She/he is not able to deal with it through other means, hence this means is chosen to generate some income. it can be observed that if a person is regularly engaging in sexual activity as a profession, then she will be absolutely not “enjoying” the same. Some protestors are not able to understand that in demanding Right to Choose as a Fundamental Right is nothing wrong but if one looks from the perspective of India, then there is no “choice”, but the women are compelled to opt this profession due to reasons caused by either any Economic Factor or Human Trafficking or any Other Cause which are also being impossible to be curbed by the State. If this profession gets Legalized in India, then it will act as a havoc on the vulnerable groups of women who stepped into this profession not by choice but by some unfavorable circumstances. One of the most serious consequences will be that the same profession which was being illegally carried out without any rules and regulation will now be legal. The perpetrators will now run the industry under the garb of “Rule of Law”. Regulating such industry in which there is no clear data about some important questions such as who are the hirers? who are being hired? whether they are being hired by their choice or not? whether they get proper salary or not? whether their health condition is proper or not at their “workplace”? whether they are even citizen of India or not? will be a very difficult task.

Majority or can say 90% of the women who are in this profession work in a condition which is the worst of the worst for any employee to be employed at her workplace. Various documentaries can be found which clearly show the conditions in which they are forced to work. One such instance is of a woman named Urmila from GB Road, Delhi, one of the most famous Red Light Areas in the country. She says that she receives clients of any age, it doesn’t matter whether they use protection or not, she has to only provide her service for money which can easily go in vain if any of the STD such as Syphilis, AIDS, Gonorrhoea, etc catches her. All the money which was earned through this job was lost through the same. Rashmi another sex worker from the Red Light Area of Mumbai which is famous as one of the biggest in South Asia shares some of her terrible experiences. She says that the clients use her as an object as she gets sexually tortured with brutality on a regular basis by some of his clients in lieu of only 100-800 rupees. If she complains about the same, then gets an answer “Do this if you want money, otherwise leave” which keeps her in a dilemma that if she leaves this job then how will she earn money for her livelihood, will there be anyone to help her. A part of her income goes to her managers and she only gets a little from the earned amount. The Supreme Court Ruling of 19 May, 2022. The Supreme Court of India gave some guidelines in this matter and particularly on the issue of the behavior of Police Officials towards the Sex Workers. Most of the time when a Brothel is raided, the officials misbehave, even use violence against the workers due to the social stigma attached to them due to their profession. The court said "Any sex worker who is a victim of sexual assault should be provided with all facilities available to a survivor of sexual assault, including immediate medical assistance. Needless to say, this basic protection of human decency and dignity extends to sex workers and their children, who, bearing the brunt of social stigma attached to their work, are removed to the fringes of the society, deprived of their right to live with dignity and opportunities to provide the same to their children. This can come as relief to sex workers but on ground level the number of victims filing a complaint of the assault is nearly zero simply because either they are stopped doing so by their perpetrators or the lax police officials look down upon them and offer no help. The supreme court ruling also recognized sex work as a profession and laid down that peoples involved in it should not be looked down as carrying out any profession with dignity comes under the ambit of Article 219. But the question is that, will this be properly followed and implemented considering the dismal situation of our Law Implementation framework.

Legal Provisions dealing with Prostitution:

In Indian Law System the act of prostitution is not illegal if it is being carried out in private but commercializing it is illegal such as running a brothel. Certain activities related to it are governed majorly by Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956.

Section 3 clearly states that any person who keeps or manages, or acts or assists in the keeping or management of, a brothel shall be punished in accordance with further provisions. Here brothel means any house or premises where the act of prostitution is being carried out with the assistance of more than one person and on a big scale that is the presence of various prostitutes.

Section 4 lays out that any person who is living on the earnings of a prostitute will be punished. This sections basically aims to punish those who whose main source of earning or can say income comes from the prostitution, to punish those people under whom the women or child involuntary carry out the profession, that’s why the section further says “Where any person over the age of eighteen years is proved: to have exercised control, direction or influence over the movements of a prostitute in such a manner as to show that such person is aiding, abetting or compelling her prostitution; or to be acting as a tout or pimp on behalf of a prostitute.”

Section 5 aims at punishing those who act as trafficker of minors/child, with or without their consent for the purpose of prostitution.

Section 7 declares illegal the carrying out of the profession in the vicinity of public areas, similar to the meaning of section 3.

Section 8 and Section 9 talks about the most common form of this practice that can be easily seen in the concerned areas, that is in the form of seduction. The provisions talk about the punishment to those who by words, gestures, willful exposure attracts or endeavors to attract the attention of, any person for the purpose of prostitution; or solicits or molests any person, or loiters or acts in such manner as to cause obstruction or annoyance to persons residing nearby or passing by such public place or to offend against public decency, for the purpose of prostitution.

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 and The Constitution of India, 1950 also in some way deals with it but more with punishing the traffickers and not the whole act. Section 372 and Section 373 collectively deals with the selling and buying of Minor girls for the purpose of Prostitution and Punishes those who do this or willingly participates in this. Article 23 deals with the prohibition of Trafficking of Human Beings, that is it deals with one of the reasons for this activity and not directly with it.

Is there a need for a New Legislation?

The Judiciary can't do much, as its primary role is to interpret the existing laws, and not to work on any social cause and resolve the issues surrounding it. It can utmost release some Guidelines on this issue as it did in its previous Ruling. This matter relates to a big responsibility which lies on the State. Only the proper interference of the State would help to curb this problem and not anything else. Earlier a need was felt to introduce a different legislation regarding this issue which will properly deal with all its matters. In reality there is no need to introduce any new legislation. The existing provisions of different laws such as of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956, The Indian Penal Code, The Constitution of India, etc. is not ambiguous or uncertain which the judiciary is not able to interpret or the executive is not able to execute. The new legislation will not totally change the present situation unless and until the existing provisions are implemented properly.

Conclusion

In India, Prostitution is a social problem. The women involved in this "profession" are seen as an object and do not receive the bare minimum respect which a working woman in a society such as India should receive. On the other hand, they get exploited by their "employers" in one or other way. The ignorant behavior of the Government towards this issue due to a lot of stigmas attached to it shows a lack of will to cure the same. The mere presence of laws will not ensure this problem is resolved but a proper implementation of these laws will only prove beneficial. In addition to this, the government should also look upon other factors and causes as to why so much women are stepping into this profession, whether it is due to human trafficking or any financial reason or any other, and work in a direction to cure the same.

This article presents the insights of?Anjanay Pratap singh, a first year student at University of Lucknow. The author's perspectives and opinions are entirely based on their personal viewpoint.