Soliciting is illegal in India, as is running a brothel and working as a pimp. However, the laws on prostitution itself are vague.
Business Insider reports this week that sex workers in the South Asian country are hoping the Supreme Court will soon rule in favor of decriminalizing the industry.
Havocscope, which provides information on black market industries worldwide, reports that India has almost three million sex workers nationwide. In the eyes of the law they are all criminals.
Streets of Delhi. Image Credit: David Gil (Flickr)
Sex industry activists say that despite the societal view that prostitutes are victims, many woman do this work by choice, having neither been trafficked or held involuntarily. They want to claim the same rights as other workers.
Kusam, a prostitute from New Delhi, says:
“We have a lot of freedom here and the income is good […] I can afford a better life for my children back home with the money that I make here. I think my job is less strenuous than many others.”
Women such as Kusam say they’ve had enough of being targeted by police and sent to correction facilities with conditions reportedly worse than many jails.
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Despite most sex workers wanting to work legally, there is a concern: if this were to happen they would be required to carry ID cards stating their profession, which even if legalized will retain its stigma. They would also be forced to pay taxes.
Many public health officials are also hoping for decriminalization, arguing that when women and clients are forced underground, this makes it harder to limit the spread of HIV and other diseases.
However, anti-trafficking activists argue that legitimizing the industry will only fuel it, leading to a rise in the smuggling of poor and uneducated women from rural areas to the cities – already a significant problem in India.
Amit Kumar, national coordinator of the All India Network of Sex Workers said:
“Licensing might work in the West but here in India where sex work is looked down upon and prostitutes ostracized, it is a long shot.”
However, he went on to say:
“Our politicians and courts have been fence sitting for too long. Sex work is the oldest profession and it’s not going to end ever.”
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