Re: Protest aganist the proposed legalization of prostitution in India.

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum and NATSAP,

Can I enquire about how many sex workers are members of Network Against

Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation in Andhra Pradesh (NATSAP)?

In an era where we have a lethal disease spread by unsafe industrial

occupation surely the Minister has the interests of the whole sexually

active population of India in mind when he/she seeks to recognise one of the

largest occupational groups in many cities of India including the cities of

Andhra Pradesh.

In the hundreds of indians that I have met who earn their living in the sex

work industry not any have described their jobs as sexual slavery.

This call to chastise the Minister is community mischief and it is my plea

that not only should the call be ignored but that the NGO's who are linked

to this moralising group be prevented from accessing funds designed to

minimise the spread of HIV/AIDS because this call is precisely a call to

allow the industry to remain unsafe and to further aggravate the spread of

infection.

Let the industry and its members speak for themselves in this very important

and overdue reform.

How much misery would have been avoided if sensible harm minimisation could

have been implemented at an earlier stage.

Geoffrey

E-mail: <gheaviside@...>

[Guest guest]

This is in response to Mr.Rama Mohan’s letter as a Protest against the

proposed legalization of prostitution in India

Dear Rama Mohan,

I am not to confront to you now as I did last time during our discussion on

Calcutta Mayor’s promise to provide trade license to Sex workers.But it

seems You still roam around the issue with same tools that no body can not

help you to have a real understanding on the issue. Now it becomes a

national debate and you as a TRUE REPRESENTATIVES OF TRAFFICKED have better

reason to address it nationally. Writing to all political parties seem to

be a de-education process. Are you sure that you are working for a genuine

cause? Have you funded by any anti-trafficking lobby that wants to control

all sorts of migration branding it as trafficking? I can understand if you

are simply a moralist who wants to protect the chastity of his sisters.

But your presentation too makes many of us to look at it “with deep regret

anger and protest”.

As you know there are 2 million known sex workers in India. There are both

trafficked and voluntary sex workers. It is a reality that we can not

provide them alternative employment as you mentioned. If other employment

opportunities were existed they would have already opted it. I am not

getting you bored by sharing the unemployment data in India. It will be a

shocking statistics but helps why many people take or forced to do jobs

against their interest unwillingly.

Trafficking and all sorts of forced jobs are against the fundamental Human

rights treaties and must be fought. But we must have a clear distinction

between trafficking, migration and sex work. You are confusing us by

misinterpreting every activity of selling sex (“Flesh trade”) as a form of

exploitation. It will be again a teaching exercise if you look at the breed

of male and trans-gender sex workers in India. You talked about patriarchy

but sex work has become a gender-neutral issue and can not be minimized as

another form of women’s exploitation. The current debates on body politics

looks at these issues on a right based manner and believes in general that

individuals irrespective of their sex and gender have the right to self

determination.

You are doing a fire-fighting rather than taking up a rights issue. I agree

that we can work to stop all forms of trafficking in India. But I have an

alternative plan to those who are willing sex workers in India.

1) Legalize sex work

2) Decriminalize Sex work

3) Repeal discriminatory provisions of ITP Act and Sec 377 of IPC

4) Declare sex work as form of labor and provide workers rights including

right to form trade unions

5) Constitute regulatory authorities to monitor the entire system-including

trafficking, entry of

minors, violence and exploitation

Sex work could be treated as any other unorganized labor. It can be

considered as a self employed job or as an employment unit of a few

workers. A regulatory body should be constituted in each area with

representatives of sex workers organization, police, local government, NGOs

and welfare department etc., as members. This board will set provisions for

statutory standards for a sex work (for the Sex worker and the institutions

(brothel etc.,)).This includes medical check-ups, health service, minimum

wage, maternity allowances,pension.PF, and other provisions of existing

labour laws whichever applicable. The right to choose clients, fixing of

working hours will be given to the sex workers. Clandestine forms of

rackets, and those who not maintain proper health check-ups could be

booked. Once it becomes law everything should be through the law. It

permits various agencies to address the sub-human conditions of Sex work

industry in India with a human rights approach.

Ultimately this system ensures safe sex practices, reduction in stigma and

violence against sexuality marginalized communities, ensure

decriminalization, low prevalence of HIV/AIDS/STDs (Since we can not asuure

all these, safe sex, rape, violence in families and in casual sex),

trafficking, child prostitution the mafia and illegal migration. Some

countries like Holland, Germany and Australia have gone some extend to

legalization and workers rights.

Dear Ram Mohan your treatise which remarks with “deep regret and anger

protest the statement by Honorable Union Minister………Prostitution is the

oldest form of sexual slavery and its existence today is a reflection of

the fact that large number of option less women and children are forced to

sell their bodies for survival. No women or child from any strata of

society willingly sells her body in the flesh trade market: it is always

optionlessness that pushes people to such dehumanizing trade” are moral

statements expecting miracles that would never help us to solve this

deeply rooted issue

It is a partial observation which makes you to comment that “….the HIV/AIDS

lobby for their convenience has in many forums raised this issue of

licensing and legalization projecting this as a need of the victim”. If a

counter question is asked that you are working as an agent for some

agencies to ban migration to their countries, how you will respond to it.

Absolutely there is politics and you are also part of that.

The licensing is not a panacea for all problems pertaining to sex workers.

It is a good step and care should be taken not to bring it as another form

of license-permit-quota Raj. As we used to say the problem lies in the

current construction of our social-political-cultural-economic milieu. We

need to go miles to have minimum human conditions to all our citizens in

India. As long us sexuality and sex work are bad words Sex workers will

remain poor lots. This requires more time to address.

I have one request…to Mr.Rama Mohan. All of us have mental blocks as well

as intellectual blocks that prevent us looking at issues based on moral

judgements.Morality have not even helped the churches who now forced to

appoint gays as cardinals and priests. Where are you by all means?

love

subhash

SEX WORKER'S FORUM KERALA

FIRM-ANASOOYA

T.C.14/1514,Beatrice Mansion

Thycaud Post, Thiruvananthapuram-695 014, Kerala, India.

Tel: ++91-471-2324060, ++ 91-9447389517

E-mail: <swfk@...>

[Guest guest]

Moderators note: [We have received several postings on the issue of proposed

legalization of prostitution in India. Due to space consideration we can't post

all the messages individually. We would compile those messages and post it soon.

Opinions and comments are still welcome. Authors of those ‘postings’ please

accept our apologies and thank you for your understanding]

Dear Friends

This is in response to Mr. Ram Mohan's message on the subject. Parts of the

message in bracket is our response.

" The NGOs including some of the INGOs who are doing Advocacy & Lobbying in a

big way for Legalization of Prostitution and Granting Licenses seem to be

unaware of the Culture and Live Style of Indian Women "

[What culture is Mr. Ram Mohan talking about? Child marriages? Female

feticide? Harassing wives for bringing dowry and setting them on fire on

failure to comply? Lynching inter-caste couples? The caste system? Chopping

up Dalits and dumping the pieces in irrigation canals? The carved stone

pornography of Khajuraho? There is a whole load of very complex Indian

culture and in our opinion, Mr. Ram Mohan should be very careful when he

plays with the knife of " culture " . It can cut both ways. What Live (sic)

Styles of Indian women is Mr. Ram Mohan talking about? Absolute servility

and submission to their husbands? Leaping on to the funeral pyres of their

dead husbands? Letting their husbands remarry to beget male children?

Clearly Mr. Ram Mohan must be more specific than just a vague reference to

" culture " .]

" The Agencies Funding the Programmes of those NGOs who Advocate Licensing are

Foreign Agencies only but not Indian Agencies. It is a hard fact. Further

it's a fact that the Agencies that Grant Funds for them are only one to two

Agencies. The Hidden Agenda behind this demand destroys the texture of age

long Indian Culture the NATSAP Executive Committee has severely condemned

demand " .

[(NATSAP will have to severely condemn it. They have no choice; or in Mr. Ram

Mohan's words they are " optionless " . They have knowingly or unknowingly

chosen to equate adult sexwork with child prostitution and trafficking in

women. So they have no option but to condemn any move that seeks to question

the legal basis for criminalizing adult sexwork. It is evident that Mr. Ram

Mohan and his cohorts are completely oblivious (or they won't see?) to the

difference between child prostitution and adult sexwork.

To them everything is trafficking in women and children. There in no hidden

agenda here. We just want to ask what right the state has, to interfere in sex

between consenting adults. But this question is very uncomfortable for anyone

whose sole idea of the Indian culture is through the filter of n

prudery.

Until the invasion of India by foreigners, it was a routine matter for all

temples to have sexworkers - call them temple prostitutes if you will -

attached to them. It took nearly three hundred years of indoctrination by

the n mindset before Mr. Ram Mohan and his cohorts could decry

sexwork and in the same voice take recourse to the " great " Indian culture)]

" These NGOs raise false arguments that by licensing the living conditions of

the women in the profession will be bettered and it will prevent

HIV/AIDS/STDs but they do not spell out how to check the growing Child

Trafficking which is deplorable. (Pl. see The Week magazine 4th July article

on Child Trafficking) " .

[(Unlike Mr. Ram Mohan we cannot mix up issues. We are very clear. Though the

point about child trafficking is entirely irrelevant and extraneous to the

discussion, we would like to make it clear to Mr. Ram Mohan and his cohorts

that we are not pressing for the legalization of child prostitution and

trafficking in women and children. It is him and his cohorts who are

confused about what the issue really is. It is not an issue of child

prostitution; we are here talking about adult sexwork and sex between

consenting adults in consideration for money. Why does not Mr. Ram Mohan

talk about it? In any case what are Mr. Ram Mohan and his cohorts doing

about child trafficking? We have clearly spelt out our position on child

prostitution; we condemn it. As for spelling out how to check it, we are

saying that the corrupt politician-bureaucrat-police nexus should be broken

for any law to be effective. There are laws enough, but corruption can

emasculate any law however powerful. As long as our " great " Indian culture

feels that girl children are a burden, they will continue to get sold,

trafficked and burn in kerosene.)]

" The CRY organization has convened a 2-days workshop in ASHA NIVAS (Chennai

Social Service Centre) in Chennai on Regional Consultation for Evolving

Strategies to Address the Rights of 14-18 years old Children in South India

on 29-30 of June 2004. The participants from Karnataka, Andhra, Kerala and

Tamil Nadu States who are 40 in number NGOs have severely condemned the

licensing policy.

We had a bitter experience of how present prevent Acts implemented in India.

Such being the case we cant except the strict implementation of the

potential laws. For instants legislation was made in Andhra Pradesh

prohibiting liquor, but it is anybody's experience that liquor continued to

flow like anything. Taking stock of the situation the then Honble Chief

Minister of Andhra Pradesh announce in the assembly that prohibition

monitoring was felt highly impracticable because people's representatives

also form part of the illegal transport of liquor . So the lifting of

prohibition became inevitable. So the situation deserves to be taken note of

in this context of how the Laws are being implemented. Strict implementation

of existing penal Acts/Laws would address the situation making of laws one

after another will be of no avail when there is no sanctity of

implementation in Indian context " .

[(Exactly our point. Everyone knows about the so many laws that just remain

on paper. As Indians we all know very well that laws cannot change our

mindset. We will continue to demand and pay dowry; we will continue to

practice untouchability; we will continue to murder girl children even

before they are born. Two hoots to the law. As for prohibition, when the

authorities realized that implementing prohibition was very difficult, in a

fit of sanity they decided to scrap it. All students of mafia in America can

easily see how prohibition provided the fertile ground for them to flourish

and strike deep roots. That is exactly why we are demanding that the state

not interfere in sex between consenting adults even in consideration for

money. As long as the law makes it criminal, everyone except the women can

make money out of it. Ask any sexworker how much the policemen extort as

" protection " money. Ask them how much they pay the loan sharks to raise

money for bail. Ask them how much they pay the lawyers to get bail. Ask them

how many policemen demand and get free sex from them. Then hopefully Mr. Ram

Mohan and his cohorts will see the light.)]

" It is equally deplorable that in the countries where the prostitution is

stands legalized the condition of the women in Prostitution was not studied.

Herewith the material entitled Legalizing Prostitution is not the answer the

Example , Australia for your information " .

[We are not blind to the fact that sex work is never going to be

" respectable " , until we remove moral blinds from our eyes; until we

recognize that our moral stand on sex and sexuality is a Judeo-Christian

import; until we realize that there is nothing dirty or disreputable about

adult sexuality; until we get rid of the Freudian guilt complex. Till then,

we hope that the moralist-abolitionist lobby can understand that the very

laws made for the protection of the women succeed in criminalizing their

life and work.

Finally we want to remind Mr. Ram Mohan and his cohorts that we are against

legalization of adult sex work; we are for decriminalizing the life and work

of adult sex workers. We realize that Legalization is going to create one

more corrupt mechanism by which the women will be fleeced and further

harassed.]

R. Meera

S.V. Sreeram

WINS, Tirupati

E-mail: <rmeera102@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Ms. Meera amd Mr.Sreeram

greetings from NATSAP

We are given to understand your message that you seem to

understand the cultured in its darkside and dealt

with it in length. it is a pity , that you are failing

to conceive the true sprit of indian culture

on its bright side.

it is not known, if it is due to lack of understanding

of the indian culture in its fullness or to

butteress your tainted argument. you found fault with

our speeking about child trafficking. if an

adult women is licenced who does her child living with

her keep away totally from following suit.

the child gets accustomed to prostitution though

legalised and tempted to be trafficked.

will you be able to give a guarantee aganist new

entries (not children) in to the sexual slavery

(flesh trade)after legalization ?

one need not think about the things before the foreign

rule and draw conclusions now in free india.

your stand that NATSAP WILL Have to severely condemn

it and they have no choice and are optionless

speeks of want of understanding on your part. on the

other you have exhibited over enthusiasm

to show that we have confusion in the concepts. this

is perhaps owing to the oblivion on your part

to know that the NATSAP team consists of journlist and

TISCO products and self-less social workers

who raised voice for the rights of women as long back

as two decades and the men who poineered the

cause of prohibition at the National level.

we dont have people that dance to the tune of funding

agencies for the sake of funding.

does it seem desirable to fell a foot bearing tree

simply because it is afflicted by small pests here

and there. in the same manner it is not desirable to

destroy our rich culture and ligalised prostitution on

the plea that there are stray instances of corrupt

police, politician ... etc..(as per your letter)

how far is it reasonble to close our eyes to the evil

effects of legalisation took place in states like

victoria in australia before thinking of legalisation

in our country.

you are well aware which wicious circle is behind this

drama. what is the age? are they not the pimps,

brothel owners, traffickers, retired prostitutes,who

depend upon the prostitutes for their survivial.

The Sangram and DMC documentary film evidence clearly

show which group of women support ligalisation.

In fact those who are currently in the profession

within the age group of bellow 25-30 years are not

coming up for legalisation.

But it is other than these popel like pimps.

perpetrators that demand ligalisaton who exploite the

poor prostitutes that demand legalisation. we have to

consider how far it is justifiable to support

these un social elements. we leave it to your wisdom

with regards

NATSAP Team.

E-mail: <help_org2002@...>