Recognising sex work as work

Introduction

• The pandemic has hit millions of people and caused a great deal of suffering across communities.
• But there is one community that is especially hard hit and that is sex workers.
• Owing to the non-recognition of sex work as “legitimate work”, sex workers have mostly been kept at arm’s length from the government’s relief programmes.
• COVID-19 has thus provided more reason to consider a long-pending demand of sex workers in India — decriminalisation of sex work and a guaranteed set of labour rights.

An archaic, regressive view

• The legislation governing sex work in India is the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
• The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Children Act was enacted in 1956.
• Subsequent amendments were made to the law and the name of the Act was changed to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
• The legislation penalises acts such as:
  • keeping a brothel,
  • soliciting in a public place,
  • living off the earnings of sex work and
  • living with or habitually being in the company of a sex worker.

Issues with the Immoral Traffic Act

• This Act represents the archaic and regressive view that sex work is morally wrong and that the people involved in it, especially women, never consent to it voluntarily.
• After all, in popular depiction, entry into sex work is involuntary, forced, and through deception.
• As a consequence, it is believed that these women need to be “rescued” and “rehabilitated”, sometimes even without their consent.
• While this is a valid argument for minor girls, for many consenting adult sex workers, it has been a problem.

Consequences of the archaic belief system on sex workers

• This is what has led to the classification of ‘‘respectable women” and “non-respectable women”.
• This view is based on the belief that sex work is “easy” work and no one will or should choose to practise it.
• It thus perpetuates the prejudice that women who do practise sex work are morally devious.
• The Act has not only criminalised sex work but also further stigmatised and pushed it underground thus leaving sex workers more prone to violence, discrimination and harassment.
• The Act denies an individual their right over their bodies.
• Moreover, it imposes the will of the state over adults articulating their life choices.
• It gives no agency to the sex workers to fight against the traffickers and in fact, has made them more susceptible to be harassed by state officials.
• The Act fails to recognise that many women willingly enter into agreements with traffickers, sometimes just to seek a better life as chosen by them.
• Evidence shows that many women choose to remain in sex work despite opportunities to leave after ‘rehabilitation’ by the government or non-governmental organisations.

Labour rights

• The Justice Verma Commission had also acknowledged that there is a distinction between women who are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and adult, consenting women who are in sex work of their own volition.

Conclusion

• We must recognise sex work as work and stop ourselves from assigning morality to their work.
• Adult men, women and transgender persons in sex work have the right to earn by providing sexual services; live with dignity; and remain free from violence, exploitation, stigma and discrimination.
• It is time we rethink sex work from a labour perspective, where we recognise their work and guarantee them basic labour rights.

Way ahead

• Parliament must also take a re-look at the existing legislation and do away with the ‘victim-rescue-rehabilitation’ narrative.
• During these times of crisis especially, this is all the more important.