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| Source: AP |
White Hat- Facts and Figures
The dictionary defines prostitution as the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment. In India, this practice of paid is not considered to be illegal. However, activities related to it, like pimping, owning a brother or soliciting in public areas is termed illegal.
It shall also be noted that sex for exchange of money is illegal in majority of the countries around the world with India being one of the few exceptions. In recent times, several counties have relaxed their laws which criminalise the practice. The countries where running and owning a brothel is legal, the sex workers enjoy various social privileges, pay taxes, undergo medical examination before joining the profession etc. This reduces the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and also culls the problem of human trafficking.
The Indian law defines prostitution as “the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons for commercial purposes or for consideration in money or in any other kind”. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of 1956 deals with the practice of prostitution in our country. It aims at abolishing or limiting the practice by criminalising different aspects of it. A sex worker is not allowed to carry out her profession within 200 yards of a public place and violating the laws may lead to imprisonment for six months or Rs 500 fine or both.
In 2009, the Supreme Court had asked the government to consider legalising of prostitution after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in this regard. According to a report by Foundation Scelles, there are an estimated 40 to 42 million sex workers in the world with about 75 per cent of them between the ages of 13 and 25. Also, 80 per cent of the sex workers are females. India comes under the category of the countries which have one of the largest numbers of sex workers and a fast growing sex tourism industry.
Another PIL was filed in 2010 demanding rehabilitation of sex workers which was referred to the National Commission for Women (NCW). Lalitha Kumaramangalam, the chairperson of NCW expressed her support to the idea of legalising the practice of prostitution which created a furore.
Yellow Hat- Optimism/Support
Tracing the history of human civilization, prostitution has always been a part of our culture and one of the oldest professions ever known. But prostitution as a profession has some negative connotation as people consider it filthy and socially unacceptable.
Every country in the world has prostitution, the only difference is that some have legalized it and some have not. Under the Immoral traffic prevention act of 1956, Prostitution is not illegal but soliciting, brothel keeping and living on the earnings of sex workers is illegal. The act states that the use of sex for commercial gains and commercials purposes is illegal and should be considered as a crime.
Legalizing prostitution endorses a number of benefits not only to female sex workers but to the community as a whole. It will eventually reduce the amount of human trafficking and forceful rape attempts on women. One can argue that legalizing prostitution will ultimately increase the instance of human trafficking, but everything has its pros and cons. Government invests a lot of money to restrain the STD’s such as HIV/AIDs epidemic, the reason being illegal prostitution.
Most of the people avoid using any kind of protection while having sex with the prostitutes. Getting involved with multiple sex partners they can easily caught up with these diseases. Legal sex workers will encourage the use of protection plummeting the risk of STD transmissions. The victim of sexual assaults and rapes has increased with the passage of time. Hence legalization will not only reduce crime against women but will also provide safe working environment for commercial sex workers compared to their illegal counterpart.
Patrons of prostitution have argued that it is a good form of increasing government’s revenues. Hence legalization of prostitution will create employment opportunities and increase tax revenues for the government. The life of millions of sex workers will also improve and will become more respectable and safer by improving their standard of living.
Therefore to conclude we can say prostitution is person’s own choice. Our society believes that it is wrong because they think that women are forcefully pushed into the profession, but it’s not always true.
Black Hat- Criticism
"Prostitution is an extreme form of gender discrimination. Legalization of this violence to women restricts women's freedom and citizenship rights. If women are allowed to become a legitimate commodity, they are consigned to a second-class citizenship. Democracy is subverted".
Legalizing prostitution would be serving women as mere tools in the hands of pleasure seekers and sex marketers. The patriarchal society forces a woman to suffer for everything. Even when she works all day for her family, she is treated as a mere sex symbol. The question arises why but we keep quite saying it is her destiny.
Prostitution in India has reached its height and has these sex workers have become slaves for few rich and powerful section of society. Prostitution is merely the exploitation of a woman’s body. They have been reduced to a commodity. Prostitution should never be legalized. It will be a gift to pimps who are involved in human trafficking.
In majority of the cases in India, the girls involved in prostitution are either been forced, kidnapped or sold by their relatives. Legalizing it will not make any difference but will increase child sex. It will not control trafficking but will expand it. Legalization will lead to its commercialization and will influence the youth of the nation. It will affect the family structure of Indian society.
The male dominated Indian society considers women as a sex symbol and demands the woman to be attractive and satisfying as those they see in the sex industry. It creates pressure on the women. By legalizing it we will deprive them from getting an honorable life and will be just a pleasure seeking tool for the pervert section of society.
Legalizing it would never make it ‘legal’ in true sense but will give power to the pimps and the corrupt section of society. So the choice is yours, either surrender yourself and be the slave or fight against it and for the rights of such women.
Green Hat- Creative Solution
Brazil, South Africa perhaps even China, these countries women genuinely choose to be prostitutes because of economic pressures or opportunities. Unlike them, in India, first they entered after being forced by trafficker, her husband or parents. Later, after they had been prostituted, some women continued to sell their bodies. But the initial entry into prostitution is invariably coercive. That means that if you validate the red light areas, then the new entrants will continue to be trafficked into it.
With this argument, in India, legalization model might be failed. Prostitutes also use their brain, ideas, emotions, sex organs in short their entire body in order to make people happy. They should get recognition from government and fulfill professional demands. There are many opinions for and against decriminalization of prostitution, in support, admittedly we find more. There have been simply pros than cons.
Putting an end to Police torture and empower by offering respect, the right to privacy, good medical assistance and non-discrimination are just some of the things, what prostitutes needed. The model in the west that seems to worked best in Sweden’s that contains decriminalization of prostitute themselves, but seeks to crack down on pimping and on the demand side. By arresting costumer the Swedish model undermines the economy of prostitution and it seems to have reduced the human trafficking.
Fundamentally, these kinds of dispute will create disrupts in India. Some tends to refer to sex work and sex workers, to avoid stigmatizing the people they want to work with, others use terms prostitution and prostitutes, to avoid euphemism that validate such work. But the issue is so polarized in the society.
But one thing everybody should agree on this that whether or not prostitution should be legal for 18-years-olds who are their own, it is appalling for 13-years-olds to be imprisoned in brothels and forced to sleep with costumers. And that is what going in our country.
Between “Human rights" and "freedom of choice" debate always rages. But we have to create a solution where decriminalize prostitution gives final breather to battling women for pathetic living situation and it keeps out criminals the world of sex trade, who often invisible and plagued with serious issues.
Blue Hat- Expert Interview
Bharati Dey, President of Durbar Mahina Samanvaya Samiti (West Bengal red-light area)
Contact Number- 9674162100. Email id: bdey.durbar@gmail.com
Q) What is your basic demand behind legalizing of prostitution? If prostitution is legalized, how will it help you?
A) We have five basic demands: 1. To give us the labour right. 2. Withdraw the ITPA act, or make some amendments. 3. Give us the basic health facility, i.e. free treatment in government hospital. 4. Becuase we are prostitutes, our children have no identity. We want that children can have their mother’s identity, and that will help them in the work place 5. Just like others, we also have an age of retirement. After the age of 45, we cannot work. So we demand a pension scheme for the sex workers to protect them. If the government gives us the status of labour, then we will get proper facilities and we will not to be harassed by police or local pimps.
Q) Do you think that ITPA act has no ground just because every girl in the red-light area is not trafficked?
A) Since Durbar and other organizations came into existence, the trafficking has been reduced by 80%. And I challenge that you will hardly find any girl forcefully working in Sonagachi. So this is an act which needs to be amended or withdrawn.
Q) Don't you think prostitution gives rise to incidents of rape and sexual harrasment?
A) Rape and molestation are caused by some disturbing minds. It was there in the past and it will be there in the future.
Q) What steps have you taken as Durbar president to raise this issue?
A) In 2014, 37 MPs from different parties made a demonstration in front of the parliament in support of our cause. We are planning to raise this issue on a national platform, and we hope that the central government will soon withdraw the ITPA act and make prostitution legal in India.
Red Hat- Public Opinion
Rajeev Kumar, Journalist, Hindustan Times, Lucknow
Q) Should prostitution be legal in India?
A) Prostitution should not exist because this is the one profession which ensures and reinforces that a woman’s body is good for nothing but sex. Ironically the male-dominated society , against which women’s rights activists campaign, has had this view about women for long. I don’t want this profession to exist because it limits women’s capacity to realize their full human potential. Moreover, it is responsible for exploitation, trafficking of scores of women including minor girls. Imagine a 9-10 year old girl forced to live for and by sex, imagine a newly born girl growing up to live for and by sex…well the very thought can make a normal person feel disgusted.
Q) If prostitution is completely abolished, don’t you think that would increase rape?
A) I don’t think prostitution is a cure for depraved men’s tendency to rape. And even prostitutes can become victims of rape.
Q) What about the women who are in the profession by choice?
A) I haven’t met any prostitute. And I have no reason to believe anybody can be here by choice. If you are asking about the pimps, of course they are in the profession by choice for money.
Ishita Bhatnagar, Employee at Cenveo Publisher Services, Noida
Q) Should prostitution be legal in India?
A) I think yes. Prostitution can be legalized in India but with proper health and safety measures of the sex workers, as unsafe sex will only spread more sexually transmitted diseases. We cannot forget that it is a livelihood for thousands of women. It’s only the disgust that we have for the word, “prostitute” that debars the sex workers from the society. I believe the government should in fact give them proper wages, as they risk their own health and do good for others. Their family and children should be protected and given an equal chance for a better life, like all the poor sections of the society are entitled for.
Q) Can the legalization of prostitution eliminate rape?
A) Absolutely. Prostitution can be used as a source to divert energy of people who are bustling with sexual desires. It can help treat the psychopath mind of a rapist. One should be thankful that they serve the society in reducing rape.
Q) Don’t you think it is morally wrong and objectifying and degrading women?
A) It is the opinion that has come into view with time. If you go back in history, you will know that “prostitutes” were called “dev dasis” which literally mean servants of the gods. And again, if you see the work, it’s a service to the people-who are the creation of God. It is with time, and half imparted knowledge that the meanings have changed.
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