Sex workers 'Dharna' in Kerala and in four states. On 28th June

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members,

This is the handout we are giving out on the 28th of June during the 'Dharna

of sexworkers against arrest and police violence, which hampers the AIDS

prevention projects in the state of Kerala. The same day 'dharnas' will be

held in all other three southern states also. Please comment.

Love

Maitreya

Why this ‘Sit-in’ of Sexworkers?: Maitreya

Now, it is more than five years since the first AIDS prevention project was

started. It was a targeted intervention among the ‘high-risk’ group – female

sexworkers. Presently, there are more than fifty projects in the states,

most of them intervention projects among the high-risk groups. All of them

are under the State AIDS Control Society, an arm of the Govt.’s Health

Department. We are among one of the few NGOs who ‘dared’ to take the

projects in the very beginning. I deliberately used the word `dare` because

anything to do with sexuality is all hush-hush in the society. We, NGOs,

found that working among the sexworkers is an almost impossible matter, as

their existence was denied on the one hand by the public and by the

existence of the criminalizing law, ‘Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act’

(PITA), on the other. This duly kept them hidden and all efforts to contact

or educate them in safe sex practices were effectively thwarted by the

public and police alike. Though the law was formulated to ‘protect’ women

being exploited by others, it ends up punishing the same women it is

supposed to ‘save’. This happens because of the two clauses, section 7 & 8 of

PITA, by which public soliciting is punishable. These laws were formulated

in the backdrop of brothels, where pimps come to solicit customers for the

prostitute (usually a trafficked woman) in the brothel. So the spirit was to

prevent exploitation of the ‘slave-woman’ of the brothels. But there is no

‘red street or conventional brothels’ in Kerala, as big cities were never

formed in our past. Of course, there are some mobile, transient brothels, a

new phenomenon, which is hard to identify or locate. They will vanish the

moment they get noticed. So street sex workers were the only ‘visible’

variety we have in Kerala. But when the law was translated to the street

sexworker’s situation, she was simply punished for standing on the road or

going for her daily needs. The law enforcers do not care or ponder on this

glaring contradiction in the enforcement of law. Now we jail women to ‘save’

them. So after two years of hectic efforts, we found two things have to

happen if we want to impart knowledge on AIDS. First, we have to organize

the sexworkers. Second, we have to decriminalize sexwork.

Why organize sexworkers?

Being a no brothel, no red street State, the intervention projects faced an

immediate task of identifying sexworkers. Even after finding them, the

sexworkers didn’t feel the necessity to co-operate with the project. As an

enticing component, the project started drop-in-centers, so that the

sexworkers can avail the place for taking bath, washing cloths, to rest and

sleep. But to start drop-in-centers in the society remained another task.

The people around made lot of trouble saying that we were opening brothels

in their neighborhood. We had to find ways and means to convince them the

need of such a centre. As it was connected with the Government, the projects

got a relative sanction in the society. If convincing them was hell, to

bring sexworkers together was confusion confounded. The sexworkers were

highly divided into street-based identity. Ten or fifteen of them in one

street stayed together and helped themselves but they fought others on

another street with tooth and nail. Sexwork being a highly competitive area,

they have to fight among themselves for sheer existence. Moreover, as it is

a criminal activity because of the law, to remain in the streets they needed

protection, which where amply given by the local goons of the city. So,

survival itself made them fight against each other. The women who could

muster more support from the criminal gangs remained as an informal head in

the street. So, when you bring them together in one place, it created more

trouble. So, the first phase of the work was the task to create an

atmosphere of social and work identity. It took almost two years to

accomplish that. If the women don’t stick together, they could never bargain

collectively. If one woman says ‘no’ to a client who is reluctant to wear

condoms, he should be denied access to other women also. If this does not

happen, the woman first denied sexual services would simply lose her client.

The client may offer more money or the sexworker, who is in dire necessity,

just would succumb to the pressure. So to effectively bargain for safe sex

practices, women should stick together. This knowledge prompted for the

organization of the sexworkers. There was another grave need that surfaced

during our intervention period. The human rights of the sexworkers were

systematically broken by the public and police alike. They were hounded by

the police but nobody listened to them when they complained. The perception

of ‘criminality’ associated with sex work gave sanction for any abuse

against them. The ‘moralists’ would beat them up to ‘clean’ the society, and

the police keep a blind eye towards it.

There is another modus operandi in violating human rights of sexworkers. A

client would come and take a sexworker to a remote place. Usually, they

don’t go to unknown places, but sometimes their judgment errs and they have

to face dire consequences. There will be a bunch of clients waiting and she

will be forced to have sex with all of them. She may try to deny but would

be rapped. Most probably, the clients are criminal gangs of the city. They

would threaten her, and in some cases, after sex, they would burn her cloths

for it would prevent her from immediately going to the police station with

a complaint. But to top it, even when she reaches the police station, the

police won’t entertain her complaint. For, there is nothing like ‘rape’

against a sexworker. She would be kept in the police station for a day or

two. This kind of human rights violations, both by the clients and the

police, exist because of the perception of ‘criminality’ associated with

sexwork. Anything goes if you are a sexworker. So, to fight for their human

rights is as important as safe sex practices. Without one the other is

impossible.

Why de-criminalize sexwork?

We started sensitizing the local police of the need of their co-operation to

prevent the spread of AIDS. Suddenly, we opened a Pandora’s Box. We found

that there is a system of exploitation perpetuated by police and judiciary

because of the existence of a criminalizing law on prostitution in the

country. The street walkers are arrested many times a week on petty charges

like trespassing, indecent exposure etc., but never under PITA. The police

clandestinely ask them to admit the charges, so that they would be fined

between Rs 200 to 500 only. The good thing, in the lingo of police, ‘they

don’t have to go to jail and thus waste their life’. By this the police get

two advantages. They can fill the ‘unofficial’ quotas of arrests made to

prove their diligence; more important, the ‘always empty’ state exchequer

gets filled, and that gains them entry in the good book of the politicians.

Now the judiciary is happy to punish these ‘wanton’ women, fined to ‘teach’

them a lesson and fill their quota of cases attended. The ‘moralist’ section

of the society is also happy, for all the authorities are alert and doing

their duty.

But now, there is a subsystem of corruption working parallel to this. It

could start from the first police constable to the magistrate and/or the

lawyer. There are ‘bail workers’ waiting at the court premises to stand bail

for the women. All needs money, only the sexworker has to pay. In this neat

system of exploitation, sexworkers are the only one unhappy. They have now

to find money not only to sustain themselves and their family but to sustain

the state exchequer and corrupt officials also. A new sexworker, before

being arrested and identified as a sexworker, needs to entertain one or two

clients only to feed her family but once she is arrested, has to satisfy

more than five to live on the street. So, two things happen; more sexual

encounters happen and the bargaining powers of the women dwindle. This

directly means more chances of unprotected sexwork. This was the only direct

‘benefit’ of Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act (PITA) and nothing else. Any

magistrate in the court could see that it is the same women that he/she has

been punishing continuously for the last ten or fifteen years, and that

punishment has not acted as a deterrent to the ‘crime’. Now, if they can’t

find money they would be imprisoned for three to six months. If a woman

lives in the street for twenty years, she would have earned for the State

tens of thousands of rupees, and spent six to seven years in jail. And one

can never find the actual crime she committed. Here is a crime without a

complaint or complainant.

We were caught up in this mire and did not know how to handle it. We went on

complaining starting from the local sub-inspectors to the Director General

of Police; from the Health Minister to the Home Minister, who is also the

Chief Minister; from the local magistrates to the Chief Justice of Kerala;

and to the State and National Human Rights Commissions, State and National

Women’s Commissions and the National Law Commission. There were occasions

when police threw away the condoms the sexworkers were carrying on the

streets and used them as evidence to punish them. Till today, we could not

understand the logic of the Health ministry starting these intervention

projects among sexworkers in a criminalized atmosphere. Again, we couldn’t

understand why it is impossible for them to talk to another arm of the same

Government, the Home ministry, and co-ordinate their work together. It is

nothing but sheer irresponsibility on the part of the Government. If this

criminalizing law is perpetuated, then the fight against AIDS is a lost case

In our intervention we came across the MSM (men seeking men) community and,

here again, the law criminalizing homosexuality, section 377 of Indian Penal

Code, rose as the culprit, which prevented all our efforts to impart

awareness about STDs and HIV/AIDS. We can’t make them responsible for their

actions in the context of criminality. The only option left to us, if we

want to make the male and female sex workers responsible and dignified in

their activities aimed to prevent the spread of AIDS, is to decriminalize

sexwork.

The Advantages

We can make sexworkers responsible and dignified

Prevent exploitation and corruption

Prevent Human Rights violations

Reduce unprotected sexual encounters

Reduce the spread of STDs and HIV/AIDS

The need to decriminalize is an immediate necessity because HIV won’t wait

or discriminate in its path. Unfortunately, the politicians wait for the

right political moment for their actions.

So, the network of sexworker’s organizations got together and has planned to do

a sit-in in front of the secretariats of the four southern states where the

police harassment and violence are very high. On the 28th of June, 2002 at 10am,

marches will start from the AIDS Control Societies of Kerala, Tamil Nadu,

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Then at 11am a sit-in will be held till 1pm in

front of the secretariats of the four states. Sexworkers’ organizations of

Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi will show solidarity on the same day by

organizing awareness programs. This way we hope to raise awareness and bring the

issue to the attention of Governments and concerned authorities. We implore

social and human rights activists and citizens with concern join us. We ask the

media to high light this issue so as to prevent a disaster in the future.

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[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members,

What Maitreya wrote about the street based sex workers is really heartburning,

the facts you are describing are disturbing . I wish all success to your cause.

Good Luck

Dr. Ashok Kumar Agarwal, MBBS,MD

108, Rastraguru Avenue,

Nager Bazar, Kolkata -700028, India

E-mail: <drashok_1963@...>

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[Guest guest]

Hello Maitreya,

As you probably read I will be coming to work in India and everyone has been

telling me that because of cultural sensitivities the practices the lead to

reduction of new infections will not work in India. It is impossible to

change the people in India they say to me. When you get there you will see

that.

Well I have been studying the statistics world wide and some places are

doing better than others so it is interesting to try to work out why.

Essentially the dichotomy is Zero Tolerance Policies versus Harm

Minimisation policies.

They begin at the highest level of government and they must be stringently

filtered down through every level of the bureaucracy. What I read in your

remarkably frank and honest posting is some confirmation of this need from

within the very country that 'cannot change'. Presumably by an Indian

National I suppose as well.

I have to say that you and your supporters are the very people who will

become the prophets and the saviours of a whole generation of Indians if

people will respond positively to you and not react with anger or dismay.

Regardless of what religious or cultural back ground it is clear that HIV &

AIDS is as distressing to the 'Higher Power' as it is to those who purport

to speak for the 'Higher Power' . Your efforts need to be supported and the

fear that generates the negativity and the boredom that generates the

bureaucratic thuggery have to be confronted for the sake of a generation of

Indians.

I speak to a lot of ex-patriate Indians in my country and whilst they are

mostly doing very well, in their hearts they yearn to be back in your very

special place which appears to me to be about 20 odd countries with a

federated presidency and a parliament.

I would very much like to meet with your project if INP+ can spare me some

time. The sex work industry is almost protected in Australia and for the

very same reasons it had to be because corruption and abuse was rife. The

Vice Squad as it came to be referred to, became that section of the police

force that generated the highest level of corruption and dishonorable

discharges and we treated whistle-blowers with contempt, which became

another scandal.

Of course it is so easy to sit in an Ivory Tower and proclaim zero

tolerance. It emitomises the very best standards of patriarchal power and

control and ensures that illegal trade in substances flourishes and makes

the god fearers believe that they are thereby placating their god.

Harm minimisation is difficult because it changes everything that I just

spoke about in very different ways. But it works better and India is in such

a crisis with HIV & AIDS that it needs to have brave people keeping a very

open mind and seeking ways to empower marginalised people to be part of the

solution rather than continuing to be part of the problem.

I don't know about India but we had to increase the number of prisons at

great expense, many patrons being incarcerated for drug related crime, and

we thereby created blood borne virus spreading institutions because we

refused to examine and act on harm minimisation principles and this is

despite the principles being enshrined in overall government policy

directions.

Of course when people like you sit down and, at great personal risk, say it

like it is, it forces people to take their heads out from under their arms -

see how nicely I fixed that bit up - and realise that something needs to

change or it will be too late.

Readers please don't think that all is well in Australia because we are

getting what is often referred to as 'safe sex fatigue' where some people

are taking calculated risks again and their calculations have been a bit out

of sync with reality and an unacceptable increase in infections is showing

up.

The global community activists have to be encouraged. Their Creator has

sanctified their actions please believe that. No Creator would be

comfortable or encouraging of the heartache and suffering and abuse that

victims everywhere are suffering. Compassion is a duty and it is a

requirement of any religious system that purports to value everyone equally.

I cannot wait to get to India and meet you all. If you want me to bring any

information please write to me because I am only 14 days away from travel.

Love and good wishes to everyone whose concern for India surpasses their

concern for themselves or their reputations.

Geoff Heaviside

Brimbank Community Initiatives Inc

Sponsoring Sunshine Budget Advisory Service

5 Brisbane Street

P.O. Box 606 Sunshine 3020

Ph: 0418 328 278

Ph/Fax : (03) 9311 5052

E-mail: <gheaviside@...>

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" Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom "

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