Reply to Pravin Patkar's Response to Meena Seshu's Appeal

[Guest guest]

24 Feb 2002

Dear Praveen

Warm greetings to you and Preeti from all of us. Thank you for your message and

your clarification re: you network's position on prostitution. We are aware of

this position. Your response to us has raised some points of deep interest to

us, which we feel have relevance to others as well. With your permission, we

would like to share your note with others along with our response to you. We do

this because your position regarding the events at Nippani and the discussion

that can ensue would, we believe, immensely contribute to the debate on

prostitution vis-a-vis the human rights of women and children in India. Since

the note is an organisational/network position we felt it would be OK to share

it.

We had responded to the appeal from Meena Seshu and her colleagues from the

perspective of human rights - this is very clear in our letter to the CM of

Karnataka and we had also forwarded all our information including the first

appeal from Meena, from the beginning, to appropriate UN thematic and treaty

based mechanisms. International human rights law and fundamental rights as

enshrined in our Constitution (and interpreted by the Supreme Court, which is

also law) and various municipal legislation are based on the foundations of the

inalienable and inherent dignity of all human beings and the principles of

non-discrimination and justice. This is not disputed.

Having clarified the basis of our response to the appeal, we are making a some

additional clarifications about your note - which are our own positions.

1. In responding to the human rights violations that have occured in NIppani, as

reported by Meena Seshu . The reality or extent of her grief or pain or their

non-existance is irrelevant as long as the facts of the incident can be

verified, which they appear to have been. We are therefore, in our response,

implementing our human rights mandate to respond to urgent appeals from the

victims or by a relaible source on behalf of the victims. This is our

organisational policy as a human rights defender organisation in India.

2. In responding to this appeal, we are not endorsing the organisational

position or positions adopted, or to be adopted, by the involved organisations

or individuals working for them, i.e., VAMP, SANGRAM or any other organisation

or front, vis-a-vis prostitution or sex work itself. We are also not here

taking a position on the legality or illegality of prositution or sex work, or

even of sexual exploitation of these women. No doubt, Meena and her colleagues

work in a very challenging and even life-threatening environment, and the work

they engage in on HIV/AIDS should indeed be appreciated. This discussion or

action on it belongs to a different context, however.

3. Our appeal is solely concerned with the violence or threats of violence

including eviction experienced by some women and their children, who also happen

to be prostitutes or sex workers (we use the terms without prejudice to any

legal or poltical implications) or women working with them. We would like to

re-iterate that the legality or morality of their occupation, profession or way

of earning their livelihood does not in any way prejudice their rights or their

legal position vis-a-vis India's Constitution as citizens.

We hope that this letter clarifies our stand.

We also appreciate that this issue has been widely circulated and discussed in

different forums. We would be interested in discussing this further, beyond the

context of this particular incident.

With warm regards

Pinto

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Focal Point on Sexual Exploitation of Children, South Asia

CORE centre for organisation research & education

(Indigenous Peoples's Centre for Policy and Human Rights in India's North East)

CORE North Eastern Region: Lane 3 Basishtapur, Beltola (Dispur), Guwahati

781028, TelFax: +91 361 228 709, 228 730, Email: core_ne@...

CORE Sanglen: Ghari, Airport Rd., Imphal 795001, TelFax: +91 385 441 339,

Email: coremanipur@...

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----- Original Message -----

From: pppatkar

CORE

Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2002 10:04 AM

Subject: Pravin Patkar

May I request you to kindly see this note? It might not be a very good thing to

demand action on somehearsay alone. First a fact finding mission of some

independent parties and then petition to the CM would have been apppropriate.

Pravin

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