Living Conditions Of Sex Workers In India

Prostitution means engaging in sexual activity in a form of business and a prostitute is a person who’s paid for engaging in sexual activity. Though both men and women are engaged in this profession in India the ratio of women prostitutes is much higher than male prostitutes. It is the oldest profession yet the most hated profession in our country. For once the families of transgender accept them but when it comes to prostitutes even their families do not accept them and that is why they have to operate in secrecy and hide everything about their profession from their families.

Generally, there are two types of prostitution, one is indoor prostitution and another is street prostitution. Indoor prostitution is the one which works on the fixed place or brothel and whoever wants to engage in sexual activity has to reach these brothels and choose the prostitute working or residing in that brothel. In the case of street prostitution, prostitutes are chosen from the ones who are standing on the streets as to offer to engage in sexual activity and unlike indoor prostitution, they do not have any fixed place to operate their business.

In the research paper, we are talking about the living conditions of prostitution who are in the profession of indoor prostitution.

LIVING CONDITIONS IN EARLIER TIMES

In ancient times Rigveda mentions the word 'Sadbharni', which refers to a woman who offers sex for payment.

As we already said that it’s the oldest as it was also present at the time of Pandavas and Kauravas. At earlier times prostitutes were known devadasi in south India and mukhies in north India. These girls were considered essential at the time of the offering of prayers and were given a place of honor. They were also used as a spy by the kings. Also during the medieval period, they were treated very royally. Maharajas used to invite them in their mehfils and they were considered to be the pride of their respective fields. There were times when they were paid tributes by the kings. The act of converting a girl into a prostitute was considered a religious act.

In Indian history even though courtesans were not treated respectfully but some consideration was given to their role and their presence can be felt as a custodian of fine arts. Under the British rule, this profession flourished immensely but it leads to a reduction in their dignity and respect. British invited them for showcasing their talent and started keeping them for one night stand and prostitutes did not refuse them in the greed of money. So this is the period where the religious act started converting into the profession of selling bodies for money.

PRESENT CONDITION

Nowadays their living conditions are deteriorating. Congested lanes, small rooms, smelly localities are affecting their health badly because of which problems related to their health are also arising. Diseases like cervical cancer, HIV and STD are increasing as no steps have been taken for their betterment. By one of the surveys, sex workers were experiencing debilitating stigma and discrimination that erodes their ability to protect their health and well-being.

As we compare ancient times and present times of prostitute both the times are incomparable to each other. In ancient history their living conditions are very loyal, they get respect for what they do, and society doesn't see them as a stain on society. But now if we talk about their present conditions they are totally different around 30-35 prostitutes live in a 100-yard house together and they have one washroom in their house. Their rooms are not even clean and the rooms are very small it's like there is only a space of single bed in a room there is not even a space of standing in that room. In present conditions also the conditions vary to types of a prostitute if we talked about escorts their living conditions are way better than the normal prostitutes.

In ancient times women were given as a token of gift to kings but now a day's women by their own choice decide to opt this as a profession. But there is one similarity between ancient time and present is that women do this by their own choice there no pressure upon them in earlier times girls were given as a token but still they did not disobey their parents decisions and accept this happily same applies to the present condition too some of them came because of custom and some of them wants to do it wistfully.

There are several reasons as to why prostitutes have no other option except living in these bad conditions:

• This is the profession that has been looked down upon by society so much that these prostitutes hide about their profession even from their families and that is why nobody is concerned about how they live or survive. Nobody wants to help them.
• Poverty is the key reason for the majority of the population working as prostitutes, to enter this profession. Most of the women are entering in this profession to earn a livelihood and support their families as they belong to poor families, so they do not have enough money to improve their living conditions.
• No government to date has taken any steps towards the betterment of the lives of prostitute or condition under which they are living. This is because this profession is looked down upon by society and if the government starts helping the women working in this profession it will offend the society which will, in turn, result in a reduction of vote bank for the party supporting prostitutes. So the political games which political parties play to earn votes are also one of the reasons why no steps are taken by any government or political party.
• Exploitation by the pimps is also one of the major reasons why prostitutes are unable to take any steps for themselves and improving their surroundings

Today this profession is spreading worldwide, it is very difficult to ascertain the population engaged in this profession. Life of Women working as indoor prostitutes is confined to these four walls and dark rooms of brothels. So it becomes more important to take steps towards the betterment of their living conditions

STEPS TO BE TAKEN:

• Committees can undertake a proper investigation with respect to the areas where prostitutes live and make recommendations for improvement of these areas.
• The legalization of this profession can also help in the betterment of their position in society and improving their surroundings as well as there will be a decrease in the ratio of human trafficking.
• Awareness programs should be conducted to remove the stigma and maintaining healthy relationships with mainstream society. In this way, they will be able to take aid from the society.
• Making laws with respect to the minimum pay which they should get, they will be able to improve their condition themselves if they are not exploited by the pimps. So laws should be made to prevent their exploitation.
• Proper health checks of the women into this profession would help in the reduction of Sexually Transmitted Diseases like AIDS etc., also, the prostitutes will be able to strongly assert their customers to use proper contraceptives, or they could take action against them. This way they will be empowered, shunning the callous behavior of the government and the bureaucracy.
• Once it becomes legal then the harassment of women or the sex workers by the police would reduce tremendously, these prostitutes will exist in certain government-defined areas and will have proper licenses to work. This would also bring the names of these workers in the government records and they will have to pay a good amount of their income as tax. At the same time, unhealthy practices such as pimping could also be avoided as they would be officially termed as illegal.

PROS OF LEGALISING PROSTITUTION IN INDIA:

• By legalizing the government can earn a decent tax on this revenue, which will be beneficial to the country’s economy. Legalizing will ensure a secure and safe future for sex-workers, their children and those who are involved in this.
• The government can implement some rules which will include:
  i. Registration of each sex-worker.
  ii. Licensing of brothels, Dallas, and removal of middle-man.
  iii. Mandatory checks in order to ensure safety for the sex-worker.
  iv. Girl/child less than 18 years can be prevented from entering into this profession.
• These measures will lead to a decrease in:
  i. STD/HIV disease spread.
  ii. Child trafficking.
  iii. Women harassment.
  iv. Sexual violence
  v. Rape, etc.

There is a very strong need to treat the sex industry as any other industry and empowering it will legally safeguard the workers, which would help in getting rid of exploitative and unhealthy practices. What is required is a practical approach. Millions of women who enter into this trade do so to feed their families and empowering them will help them be free of the clutches of pimps and brothels owner. The rising number of AIDS cases in India and the number of innocents being forced into the flesh trade is alarming. The time has come for lawmakers to be more serious about this issue. Legalization is the key answer to these problems faced by prostitutes.

[The co-authors Abhilasha and Jyotsana Sachdev are 3rd Year and 2nd Year BA.LLB students from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies and Jagannath International Management School, both affiliated with Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University respectively.]