Battle Heats Up Over Legalisation of Sex Work in India

The view from a red-light district in India, where some three million sex workers are caught in the middle of a debate on legalisation. Credit: bengarrison/CC-BY-SA-2.0By Neeta LalNEW DELHI, Jan 16 2015 (IPS)Thirty-six-year-old Chameli Devi, a sex worker operating out of New Delhi’s G.B. Road – Asia’s largest red-light district, housing an estimated 12,000 of India’s three million sex workers – is an unhappy woman these days.A contentious debate over the sex trade in India, following a call for legalisation by the National Commission for Women (NCW) – a state-run body that advises the government on women-related policy matters – has Devi worried.“In wealthier countries, many women genuinely choose this trade due to better income prospects and opportunities. But in India, every woman who enters this trade has invariably been coerced into it by a trafficker, her family or her husband." -- Sarita, a 43-year-old sex worker in New DelhiShe feels that merely issuing licences or permits to people of her ilk will not lead to the improvement of the unhealthy and, at times, dangerous conditions under which commercialised prostitution functions.According to U.N. reports, about 70 percent of sex workers in India are abused by their clients and the police. Abuse, say activists, is often under-reported by sex workers due to a lack of knowledge of their basic rights.“Most of us don’t take to the flesh trade out of choice but are sold by criminal mafia...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 16, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Neeta Lal Tags: Active Citizens Asia-Pacific Civil Society Crime & Justice Democracy Development & Aid Economy & Trade Editors' Choice Featured Gender Gender Violence Global Governance Headlines Human Rights Labour Population Poverty & MDG Source Type: news