March 7, 2008 India Not to
Commercialize Sex Work: Renuka Chowdhury By Sahil
Makkar
New Delhi
India will not consider legalizing commercial sex or giving licenses
to brothels, Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka
Chowdhury has said.
"I am ready to legalize brothels or red light areas if the sex
workers say their decision is informed. In most cases their choice
is not informed but is forced due to poverty or other reasons,"
Chowdhury said.
"Many sex workers ask me why I am withholding this issue. But I
patiently listen to them and, in turn, ask them whether they would
allow their daughters to enter the trade. The answer has always been
a complete silence - and they drop their demands," Chowdhury told
IANS on the sidelines of a human trafficking conference.
The conference was organized by the UN office on Drugs and Crime
along with the ministry of women and child development ahead of the
International Women's Day March 8.
The minister said her government has no intention of legalizing or
licensing brothels, but would remain committed to combating human
trafficking, especially of women and children.
Human trafficking means recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring
or receipt of people by means of threat, use of force or other forms
of coercion like abduction for the purpose of exploitation.
According to UN estimates, approximately 150,000 people are
trafficked within South Asia annually, with children and young women
being lured from their homes with promises of a good job, good
marriage or stardom in the entertainment industry.
Many are forced into prostitution or slavery where they suffer
unspeakable indignities and hardship.
Organizations like the Bhartiya Patita Uddhar Sabha have been
demanding the legalization of commercial sex workers since 1984.
Khairati Lal Bhola, president of the Sabha, said: "The government
must accept this demand for at least the better health and education
of the 5.4 million children of sex workers."
Bhola said a survey conducted during 1990-96 revealed that there
were more than 7.5 million call girls, 2.38 million prostitutes,
1,100 red light areas and 300,000 brothels across the country.
Now, more than a decade later, the numbers has gone up manifold and
the condition of sex workers is still vulnerable, especially due to
the threat of diseases like AIDS.
Pressing for the need to legalize prostitution, he said: "Not only
will the government earn a tax on their income, it will help in
chucking out agents, middlemen, goons and corrupt police officials
who take hafta (protection money) from them.
"Sex workers can earn more to provide education to their children,
who can be prevented from inheriting their mother's profession."
Chowdhury, however, said human trafficking of women largely depends
on the principle of demand and supply.
"My government is planning to bring amendments to the existing
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and clients visiting brothels would
be penalized," she said.
Asked why the government was not directing police to clamp down on
red light areas in the country, the minister said: "It is feared
that it may spread to residential colonies if we take such measures
in the present scenario. After analyzing the consequences, we will
act accordingly," she said.
Chowdhury appreciated the 24 percent increase in fund allocation to
her ministry by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and said: "The
government understands the needs and demands of women and is
committed to its promise to empower them."
Micro-finance schemes that allow women to borrow money from the
government to start their own small industries of weaving, knitting,
painting and others have yielded tremendous results, she said,
adding that now the focus would be on encouraging women to do highly
skilled jobs and earn more.
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