ABSTRACT.
Prostitution is regarded as the oldest profession in the world and there are several countries with long histories of this activity, and India is one of those countries. Back in the times of kingdoms, courtesans were accorded regal status of sorts. However, the situation is now not that good for people involved in this profession. Most of them live in sordid conditions and once they get in there is almost no way out of the quagmire. In fact in India, there are several locations where prostitution happens to be the only way to generate any income. The areas where this profession is still ongoing are Wadia in Gujarat, Natpurwa in Uttar Pradesh, Bachara tribe in Madhya Pradesh, and Devdasis in Karnataka. Natpurwa is inhabited by people belonging to the Nat caste. They have a tradition of 400 years. The Devdasis are basically young girls married off to Goddess Yellamma at a tender age and then forced into prostitution for the rest of their lives. At Wadia it is the menfolk of the village who find suitors for the women. In case of Bachara tribe the eldest daughter in the family is forced to become a prostitute.
INTRODUCTION.
Now the Question comes to legalizing of this profession.
There sets of view regarding legalizing of this profession, some are in favour of legalizing this profession and some are not that is they are against.
But talking from the official statics point of view, we would be surprise to know that there are 3 million sex workers in India. There are several women also in India who get in this business because they are in need of money. However, there are also plenty of people, who are forced into the business. The All India Network of Sex Workers President, Bharati Dey states that people become prostitutes of their own accord and they need to be given the same rights as others. In the last few years, the industry has witnessed tremendous growth, and most of the new entrants are women from the rural areas with little or no education. For some of them casual labour with little payment is the way to go, while for others sex, with higher pay, is a much better choice.
The stastics also shows the percentage of people who want that this profession should be legalized
As per the graph the percentage of people who want this profession to be legalized is approx. 15%.
Now I would like to tell about the percentage of women who are involved in this profession.
So it is approx. 19% of women who are involved in this profession, they are involved in this profession not only by their choice but some of them are dragged into this profession because of mainly two reasons either they are in need of money or Early marriage and desertion.
LAWS GOVERNING.
There are many laws in India which govern the prostitution in India they are
- The Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act- This act was passed in 1956. It is also referred to as SITA. This law states that prostitutes are allowed to ply their trade in private but they cannot carry out their business in the open .As per the laws, clients can be arrested if they indulge in any sexual activity in public. Even though exchange of sex for money is permissible on an individual capacity, a lady cannot do it in within a span of 200 yards of a public place. Sex workers are not within the ambit of normal labour laws. However, they have all the rights that would be enjoyed by a citizen and are entitled to be rescued and rehabilitated if they want to do so.
- Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act – ITPA-The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1986 and is an amendment of the SITA. As per this law prostitutes will be arrested for soliciting their services or seducing others. In the same vein, call girls are not allowed to make their phone numbers public. They can be imprisoned for a maximum of 6 months along with financial penalties if they are caught doing so.Clients who consort with prostitutes or indulge in such activities within 200 yards of a designated area can be imprisoned for a maximum of 3 months and they need to pay fines for the same as well. In case, someone indulges in such activities with someone under 18 years old, he or she can be jailed between 7-10 years. Pimps and similar people who live from the income made by a prostitute are guilty as well. For that matter, if an adult man lives with a prostitute he can be regarded as guilty. If he cannot prove himself to be innocent, he can face imprisonment between 2-4 years.
SOLUTIONS.
As per my view prostitution should not be legalized in India because giving legal status to prostitution will again increase the rape rates. The health will increase in prostitutes like cervical cancer,Traumatic brain injury, and HIV,STD and Physiological order.
In a country like India where most of the people indulge themselves in unprotected sex with prostitutes it is very difficult to eradicate the problem of aids. With greater demand of sex the child and women trafficking will only increase. Therefore It is the legal responsibility of the government to rescue and rehabilitate such women and place them in protective homes.
If government will help them, provide them good place to live, free education then this will surely go in good direction and will definitely help them in their survival and also in their betterment of condition.
It is not that prostitutes don’t want a good and healthy life, education they also want but the problem is that no one not also government is there to help them out.
BY:
Jasjit Pranjal
Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad.