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Sociology project on

SEX WORKER AND THEIR REHABILITATION SOCIO LEGAL ASPECT

Project submitted to- Dr. Ayan Hazra (Faculty, Sociology) Project Submitted by- Abhishek Kumar B.A.L.L.B. (Hons.) Semester III, Economics (major) Section b, Roll no. 05 Date of submission- 26/08/2013

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Uparwara Post, Abhanpur, New Raipur- 493661 (C.G.)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

At the outset, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and thank my teacher, Dr. Ayan Hazra for putting his trust in me and giving me a project topic such as this and for having the faith in me to deliver Sir, thank you for an opportunity to help me grow. The practical realization of this project has obligated the assistance of many persons. I express my deepest regard and gratitude for Dr. Ayan Hazra, Faculty Sociology. His consistent supervision, constant inspiration and invaluable guidance have been of immense help in understanding and carrying out the nuances of the project report. Also I would like to thank our Librarian and Library Assistant who in one or the other way has helped me in finding relevant books. I would like to thank my family and friends without whose support and encouragement, this project would not have been a reality. I take this opportunity to also thank the University and the Vice Chancellor for providing extensive database resources in the Library and through Internet. Some printing errors might have crept in, which are deeply regretted. I would be grateful to receive comments and suggestions to further improve this project report. - Abhishek Kumar - Semester-III - Roll no. 05

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement Introduction Objective Research Methodology

2 4 5 5

Prostitution in India Prostitution as deviance Religious prostitution: devdasi tradition Caste based prostitution Forced prostitution: sex trafficking Socio economic reasons 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18

Social conditions of a sex worker Legal status of sex worker Recommendations Rehabilitation of a sex worker Major findings Conclusion Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

The fight is not for womens status, but for humans worth. The claim is not to end inequality of women, but to restore Universal Justice. -Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer1 The plight of sex workers in India is unfortunately more sneered than pitied. Being unsympathetic to the marginalized section of our society has become the monstrous societal fashion. The immensely ambiguous position of law regarding prostitution in India has worsened their situation. It is a serious social crime though in legislature, it has no legal status. Social stigma although is one of the major aspect related to the utter disgrace of sex workers. They are looked upon as if they are the scum in the society Jawaharlal Nehru as President of Allahabad Municipal committee, 1923 has observed that prostitution has existed from the dawn of the history and no one should be in the vain that it could end up suddenly. Though it is looked with disgust and contempt, the truth is it feeds lakhs of women and children in India. It is a Necessary Evil in every society. Victim of circumstances, most of these women are still in this profession as there is absence of any alternative source of income and social acceptability. They are being trafficked, abandoned by their parents/husbands, false hope of job, poverty (to support their family). It is just a distant dream and a mere futile attempt for them for liberation from prostitution if they try to shed off their past and start a new lease of life as there is no fraternity and tolerability in the social mainstream. In no society they are accepted as their part again, once they have entered to the profession, no matter how pitiful the reason of their entering the profession may be.

http://www.notable-quotes.com/p/prostitution_quotes.html(last accessed on 16 Aug. 2013)

Objective

To understand the position of a sex worker in the Indian society To study the ancient cultures that brought a women to the profession on prostitution To scrutinize what status do a sex worker have in the Indian legal system To analyze the rehabilitation programs by the government and its after-effects

Research methodology

Research is a systematized effort to gain new knowledge. -Redman and Mory.

This research is descriptive and analytical in nature. Secondary and Electronic resources have been largely used to gather information and data about the topic. Books and other reference as guided by Faculty of Sociology have been primarily helpful in giving this project a firm structure. Websites, dictionaries and articles have also been referred. Footnotes have been provided wherever needed, to acknowledge the source.

PROSTITUTION IN INDIA Prostitution as Deviance in the Indian Society:


The behavior of man, which does not conform to accept the moral, social and legal norms of the society, is deviance. Every society has their sanctioned norms, which may or may not be sanctioned in some other society2, and in that case, what is a deviance in one society, may not be in other. Prostitution refers to the sexual behavior of female outside or without wedlock on commercial basis. It is regarded as a vice, sinful or degrading indulgence of a natural appetite for itself alone. It is forbidden by most of the religious and civic groups3, but in some of the societies, it is neither legal nor moral nor social violation of norms. Sociologists have studied prostitution as a form of sexual deviance and a reflection of the basic values, norms, and institutions within a society. Sociological studies of prostitution have been concerned with the function it serves in a society, the gender inequality and double standard implicit in the practice, and the social dynamics involved in becoming a prostitute. Prostitution represents a form of sexual deviance in that it is a sexual practice that is widely viewed as socially undesirable and degrading. More than an isolated deviant act, prostitution entails a deviant profession. In India as well, there are certain communities, which considers prostitution as deviance, and for some, it is their Customary duty or for some, getting into sex trade is a religious tradition. There is certain caste, which has taken up prostitution as their socially sanctioned occupation, and some as their ancient religious tradition, there are some castes (Tribes) who get married to their goddess and then jumps into the profession of flesh. As these castes have religious sanction,
2
3

Sharma, K.L Indian social structure and change (2008), Rawat publication 2008 pg. 265 Ibid pg. 269

no social stigma or taboo is attached to their social status, (this is only until the time they are the breadwinners and only in their own tribe. For the people outside their tribe, upper caste people look down to them with disgrace and disrespect.)

Religious Prostitution: Devdasi Tradition


In India, there are certain cults, in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa where girl gets married to the God and surrender themselves to the Deity for the rest of their lifetime. Dancing and Singing to praise the god in isolation were included in their practices to satisfy their own soul. Further, they had to take care of the temple, performing the rituals are the part of their temple worship. They enjoyed high social status in the ancient period. There are many references to the dancing girls in the temples in our ancient literature who are no one else than Devdasi. Dancing Girls, Slaves of God in the temples have been mentioned in most of the Puranas, which have been written in 6th century. Inscriptions reveal that the Chola Empire promoted this system a lot. Kalidass Meghdoot also have reference of Dancing Girls in the temple of Ujjain. With the rise of the British Rule, temples and patrons lost their power and as a result, Devdasi were left with no traditional means of support or patronage that lead to the demolition of their culture. Due to the laxity of morals among the priests and even the local people, they misused the system for immoral purposes. Under the grab of religious dedication of girls to temples clandestine prostitution developed. Moreover, today this tradition has become a profession of prostitution and nothing else. Parents, knowing that they are donating their kid to this flesh trade, close their eyes while gifting them to the temple and marrying them off with their deity. All they had to do after the attainment of puberty is either to serve (read sexually satisfy) the priest or the upper caste people. Sometimes they even have not attained puberty still they have to serve the temple. Further, these little girls are usually trafficked to other places for the purpose of flesh trade. Mostly the girls who are been submitted to the holy god are Dalit and belong to lower castes. They have a very low socio-economic background. It has now become the religious sanction given to prostitution of helpless economically and socially deprived women. It is nothing but the glorification of humiliation of women of the lower class in the society.

Caste Based Prostitution in India


Similar to the religious prostitution in India, there are certain tribes in India, such as Bannchhara, the Bawaria, Nuts, Bedias, Kanjars and Sansis, that follows Caste Based Prostitution4. These tribes celebrates the birth of a girl unlike the rest of the country, as, they are the breadwinners to the family. They feed the whole family by selling their body. All of these tribes in their initial days were Traditional Entertaining Groups and were Nomadic in nature. They use to move from one place to another and had their earnings through singing and dancing. Further, some of these women were often used by the rich Zamindars, kings etc for their sexual pleasure. But with the fall of the Zamindari system and rise of the British Empire, these groups lost their source of livelihood and directly moved to the Profession of Prostitution. These tribes though claim themselves as matriarchal society by nature, patriarchy camouflages in their nature. Though women are bread earners, they are strictly bound by the norms made by the men folk of the society.5 As prostitution is socially sanctioned here, no social stigma or taboo is attached to it and they feel themselves superior6. Most of the girls, themselves chooses it as a profession so that they can take the responsibility of their family. These girls belong to the castes, which our Indian society claims as the lower caste or the untouchables. These girls are thrown to the flesh trade in the name of caste and occupation as in India; caste is related with the occupation. Moreover, the illegal Caste Panchayat have a dog watch over these communities and even when they try to move ahead of this ruthless system, they put a bar on them! And do not leave them with any other source of income. The upper caste people use these girls immorally, but still look down to them. They are nothing but the victim of fate.

4 5

http://www.anti-caste.org/2010/09/devadasi-prostitutes-of-god.html Susmita Guru, Caste based prostitution in Madhya Pradesh, Womens link, July-Sept 2011 Vol. 17 43 6 Ibid pg 44

Forced Prostitution- Sex Trafficking

When we look at the statistics:

At least 100 million people are involved in human trafficking in India and 90% of human trafficking is intra country.

Every hour 4 women are forced in to prostitution out of which 3 do not do so with their will.

Trafficking in persons which shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. The three methods by which women are channeled into forced prostitution in India are false employment promises, false marriage proposals and kidnapping. Women are most vulnerable to these crimes after being deserted by their spouses, when they are in states of economic distress and after experiencing sexually exploitative social customs and family traditions of slavery. Major Indian surveys on women and child prostitutes reveal that they were sold or tricked by their relatives or agents working for brothel owners and pimps. The agent who brings the girls sells them as commercial sex workers (CSW) to the brothel owner. Once the deal is struck the girls have to work for the brothel owner to pay off their cost. Though the agent pays a petty sum to buy the girls from their sourcebe it from parents, husband, boyfriend or siblings, repeated trafficking of such women means a lucrative business for the agents and the brothel owners. Those from Indias most disadvantaged social economic strata are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking. Women and girls are trafficked within the country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage, which may further lead to prostitution. Due to persistent inequalities worldwide, women are more vulnerable to this practice which is a consequence of structured gender inequality in the form of violence.

Socio-Economic Reasons
Women do not share an equal status with men in the present Indian society. Till the present date, a woman is not being accepted as independent individual identity. A woman quite often goes through Identity Crises, which lead to this profession. Mostly, she is either dragged by the society or abject poverty. Following are the reasons which lead a girl/woman to the Flesh Trade: Poverty and Economic Distress: 37% of the countrys population continues to reel under below poverty line. This is the major reason why women are lead to the path of sex work. Early marriage and desertion: studies have revealed that around 40% of girls women in this profession came to it as a result of unsuccessful marriage, desertion of the wife by the husband. Ill-treatment by parents: Illiteracy. No other source of income. Family prostitutes. Inability to arrange marriage. Lack of sex education, media. Prior incest and rape. Lack of recreational facilities, ignorance, and acceptance of prostitution. Psychological causes include desire for physical pleasure, greed, and dejection.

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Social Conditions of a Prostitute in India


It is an evil, which is rampant in a social system supported by a complex matrix of social forces, where parents and relatives throw females into the flesh trade. It is considered the world's oldest trade, but behind the veil of prostitution lays a tale of poverty and the horror of physical abuse. For centuries, these women have titillated the male fantasy, but their own life is a story of denial. People never accept prostitution as a part of their society, there is always social denial against prostitution. The strongest argument against prostitution, no doubt, is its alleged immorality. If this means, that most people think prostitution is immoral, that appears to be correct. But if this is taken to mean prostitution actually is immoral, then an argument is required. Believing something doesn't make it true. There are many claimants to that role, including subjective theories, family-value theories, religious-based theories, and culture-relative theories, according to which actions are right when you (your family, your religion, or your culture) approve of them. So if you (your family, your religion, or your culture) approve of incest, cannibalism, or sacrificing virgins to appease the gods, those actions cannot be immoral. They are moral, necessarily, but when it come to prostitution they simply not ready to accept it and pass a value judgment tagging it with words like immoral, sordid, profanity, and its just because when it comes to word prostitution most people view it as 'prostitute' is generally considered to refer to a woman over the age of consent who willingly exchanges sexual services for money. And identified them as dirty woman (whore, slut, etc.), sex workers were blamed for disease and disorder in society; rarely were they viewed as individuals possessing same human right, indeed they were seen as an stigma, black mark in the society. Some people believe that women freely choose to enter prostitution from a potpourri of nice job options. People usually fail to look into circumstances and situation under which they have to undergo for such kind of profession. Prostitution is like a kaleidoscope where images nurtured by society depicts, the status of prostitute women as sex object to gratify sexual desire.

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LEGAL STATUS OF THE SEX WORKERS IN INDIA


The immensely ambiguous position of law regarding prostitution in India has worsened their situation. It is a serious social crime though in legislature it has no legal status. Almost five and a half decades back when the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, was enacted for protecting the social, religious and economic rights of those women who are indulge in this brutal practice or act of prostitution but the actual fact is that nothing substantial has been done for protecting their rights and improving their socio-economic situation7.Most important reason still being poverty, ignorance and hunger; which are forcing them to this kind of exploitation. The law does not criminalize prostitution per se; but only organized form of prostitution is against the law. If a woman uses attributes of her body voluntarily and individually she goes unpunished. But the law prohibits/criminalize8

Seduction/solicitation of customer Prostitution anywhere near a public place Publication of phone number of call girls Organized form of prostitution i.e. a brothel, pimps, Prostitution rings etc. A sex worker being below 18 years of age Procurement and trafficking of women

We can conclude that if a prostitute works for self and uses her own premises for entertaining clients she is conducting herself lawfully! But then why do we often see video footage on T.V. where a sex worker and her client are being herded into the police jeep? Here comes the shady picture of police who might not book the sex worker and her client under the above mentioned act, they do it under provisions like public indecency, public nuisance etc. of the Indian Penal Code. Male prostitution is not recognized in the law though it is quite prevalent.

7 8

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l269-Prostitution-in-India.html The suppression of Immoral Trafficking in women and girls (Prevention) Act, 1956

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RECOMMENDATIONS Let us not Legalize Prostitution, Let us Institutionalize it- Prostitution has been deep rooted in India; it is not easy to eradicate it completely. Moreover, if we look at prevalent laws in India, the primary goal of laws against prostitution is to deter women from becoming prostitutes but though the criminalization of the act is an attempt to punish prostitutes, it overlooks the reasons why some women take up such a dangerous work or lifestyle. If prostitution was institutionalized, it could be regulated, which would help the women immensely. The women who work as prostitutes usually do it out of desperation, and the least that the government can do is to help them stay safe. Let us try to institutionalize prostitution way ahead, by adopting welfare schemes like forming co-operatives (Samitis) or some form of regulatory authority for women already in this profession by proving better working condition, by way of instituting certain regulatory frameworks to be supervised by above mentioned organizations to regulate the profession of prostitution. In this regard ensuring better working conditions by way of providing better health care facilities, Ensuring specific working hours, enlightening them about their rights to prevent them from being subjected to violence and discrimination, providing incentives like health care, education, job opportunities for family members (if any) of Prostitutes. Rehabilitation programs must be initiated to them after they leave their present occupation, so that they can avail sustainable means of livelihood for their future. There is need to postulate administrative disciplinary by training police personnel and other law enforcement agencies in professionally dealing with issues related to prostitution. To encourage the participation of social activism by recognizing the role played by NGOs in alleviating the status of Prostitutes. India must fight to reduce, rather than promote the sex industry. There must be education in schools on what constitutes a healthy relationship towards sex and women, in order to preserve the dignity and respect of all humans. Husbands and men who exploit the sexual services of women must be made aware of the health implications of their actions. Most importantly, there must be support for those women and children who want to leave prostitution. The government, NGOs and other community organizations must focus on moving resources to providing real alternatives for women and girls in prostitution, so that they too can realize their basic human rights.

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Rehabilitation of Sex Workers


Abject poverty is something that forces a woman into prostitution. If such a woman is granted opportunity to avail (herself of) some technical or vocational training, she would be able to earn her livelihood by such vocational training and skill instead of by selling her body9 Honorable Supreme Court have stated the above statement in the cited case and have even directed union and state governments to start rehabilitation programs for the upliftment of the sex worker. It is not the first time that SC has does so. Before this also in the case of Vishaljeet v. Union of India Supreme Court has ordered for the same, but the government did not take any serious step10. It is a reality that Government of India has never had a serious view on the issue of rehabilitation. It may be thing of past as the Government of India with the liberalization of the economy has now no dearth of the funds to do it. Nobody chooses to be born poor, nobody chooses to be born a girl and nobody chooses to be born low-caste. Even among the valuable human beings born into such unfairness, no one wishes for an occupation that depends on multiple body invasions a day, the constant threat of violence, a shortened life expectancy, and use as an object rather than an equal human being. Prostitution for most women is about the absence of choice. On the other hand, men who create the industry of prostitution choose to pay for sex. Not all men go to prostitutes probably only a minority are so addicted to the drug of dominance that they buy and sell females as objects but they are numerous enough in their pathology to create a worldwide network of brothels and trafficking, with the wealthier areas and countries usually supplying the customers, while the poorer areas and countries supply women and children as merchandise. Many men consciously choose to visit a brothel, and not a few of them beat, wound and even kill prostituted women or children. Further, Violence experienced every day by prostituted women is mostly unreported and undocumented. In fact, male customers, pimps and traffickers consider it inherent and normal to
9

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Buuddhdev karmaskar v. State of West Bengal: 2nd August 2011 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/supreme-court-prostitution/1/145521.html

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the sex trade, thus many prostituted women believe this too. A random Google search on the murder of prostituted women in India reveals there were at least five reported and documented murder cases annually in different brothel districts across the country for the last ten years, and those are rare only in that they were reported. The government should on the other hand open shelter homes for kids belonging to these areas and provide them education. It should try and spread awareness of protected sex in these areas. Taking a step towards eradication would resolve this problem. Showing these women a ray of hope and giving them a chance to relive a life of dignity would create a culturally sustainable society. These women can be helped by providing them some vocational training, girls of tender age can be sent to schools and women can be employed in small scale working units or trained for self employment and brought back to mainstream life. A number of NGOS are running in the entire country these organizations can be oriented and deputed to look after shelter homes and rehabilitation of these women and girls11. Trafficking in women and children is a serious violation of human rights. However, it was not on the priority list of law enforcement agencies earlier and, therefore, did not get the required attention. There were many distortions in law enforcement and delivery of justice, with many women being arrested, convicted and threatened. Many a times they were pushed back in to brothel, even though they were victims of trafficking. So there is a need to have obligatory assistance and protection provided to the victims which can be range from protecting the identity and privacy of victims; ensuring full provision of information on legal proceeding and facilitating them to present their views, providing physical and psychological recovery of victims, ensuring physical safety of victims and also exploring the possibility of domestic law providing victims with compensation. Victims must be protected not only from retaliation by the criminals, but also from re-victimization. This is the responsibility of both the executive and the Judicial System. At the same time protection strategies must not go beyond a limit were they become paternalistic but be made more holistic thereby seeking not only to protect but also promoting human rights of all victims.

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http://indialawyers.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/rehabilitation-of-women-in-prostitution-%E2%80%93-a-time-foraction/

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Major Findings:

Prostitution never was in ancient Indian society, a taboo thing. People were open about it and in fact sex workers sometimes had a respectable social status. Prostitution in the present Indian society is looked down upon as a serious social crime though in law, they do not have a legal/illegal status. In some parts of India, there are some tribes, who donates their daughters to the temples in the name of god but they are further forced to the flesh trade. Some tribes in India follows prostitution as a profession and sex workers have higher social status as compared to those who gets married. Because of the low social status and dependency of a woman, economically, on a man, many women results in entering into this trade. Major Indian surveys on women and child prostitutes reveal that they were sold or tricked by their relatives or agents working for pimps as Commercial Sex Workers. Sex worker in India has immensely ambiguous legal status which leads only to their exploitation. There is no exact plan laid by the government for the rehabilitation of the sex worker. One of the major hurdles that come when it comes to rehabilitate a sex worker is the social stigma attached to it, the society do not accept in the mainstream society. Government should start a plan as soon as possible not only to rehabilitate sex workers but should also look up to the problem of its ambiguous legal status.

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CONCLUSION

Numerous debates and discussions have emanated in literary as well as professional circles in order to address the issue of sex-workers in India. In popular perception its a crime and there is a huge stigma attached to it, which is always subjected to bias value judgment without going circumstances which force them to indulge in such kind of sordid crime, very little has been done to promote the welfare of the people namely the sex workers in this profession either by activism or by administrative means. This perpetual neglect has caused grave problems for the people belonging to this section of the society, hence its time that the perceptions and attitude of the citizenry should change in dealing with issues related to sex-workers. This social evil can be eradicated only if the people like you and me themselves revolt against this and together stand for their life a life with dignity moreover there is need of government to play an important role by considering the feasibility of making the provision of the act more stringent, and punishment for contravention of the act should be serve.

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REFERENCES Bibliography
Andre Beteille, Caste, Class and Power (2nd edition 1996), Oxford University Press. Susmita Guru, Caste based prostitution in Madhya Pradesh, Womens link, July-Sept 2011 K.L. Sharma, Indian social structure and change (2008), Rawat publication Meena Kelkar, Deepti Gangvane, Feminism in Search of an identity, Indian Context, Rawat Publication (2003) Ram Ahuja, Criminology , Rawat publication Ram Ahuja, Society in India (2009), Rawat Publications Veena Das, Handbook of Indian Sociology (2004), Oxford University Press. Yogendra Singh, Modernization of Indian Tradition (2009), Rawat Publications. Yogesh Atal, Changing Indian Society (2006), Rawat publications.

Webliography
http://indialawyers.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/rehabilitation-of-women-in-prostitution%E2%80%93-a-time-for-action/ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/supreme-court-prostitution/1/145521.html http://www.anti-caste.org/2010/09/devadasi-prostitutes-of-god.html

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