Editorial: A life of dignity

The plight of sex workers in India — whether they are forced into flesh trade or drawn into it voluntarily — goes largely unnoticed by policymakers. They are marginalised, stigmatised and vulnerable to harassment in a society that is deeply patriarchal and judgmental about the choices that women make. The Supreme Court’s recent direction declaring prostitution as a profession is a welcome development. Such acknowledgement could help challenge the institutional barriers that prevent sex workers from accessing healthcare, basic rights, and equality. The taboo attached to sex work must be demolished and the focus should be on ensuring that sex workers, like any other professionals, are allowed a life of dignity with full access to constitutional rights. Sex work must be fully legalised with periodic health screening and proper and transparent regulation. It is not a question of morality but freedom of choice. Though prostitution, per se, is not illegal in India, the provisions related to pimping, trafficking, renting out properties for running brothels and treating earnings from prostitution as a punishable offence are all problematic. The exact rights of sex workers have always been legally ambiguous in India, making them vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and run-ins with the police. The long-awaited ruling by the apex court has expanded the rights of sex workers by defining prostitution as a profession, ordering an end to police violence and affirming health and labour protections. In recent years, more countries have moved toward regulating sex work. But despite some changes, the pandemic was a particularly punishing time for prostitutes, who were suddenly without work and excluded from most social services and relief programmes.

Sex workers in India face multiple traumas — sexual violence, emotional abuse and physical assaults from clients. Their living conditions are deplorable too. They also face debilitating stigma and discrimination that erode their ability to protect their health and well-being. In light of their conditions, the SC’s decision offers a ray of hope for them and helps in reducing the stigma attached to prostitution. The implications of the court’s directions are that the sex workers are entitled to equal protection of the law. When a sex worker makes a complaint of criminal, sexual or any other type of offence, the police must take it seriously and act in accordance with the law. Whenever there is a raid on any brothel since voluntary sex work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful, the sex workers concerned should not be arrested or penalised, harassed or victimised. Most prostitutes do not have identification cards and cannot vote, open bank accounts or receive aid and social services available to other trades. In December last year, the court had ordered the State and local governments to register sex workers in Aadhaar and to issue them ration and voter cards.

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