Re: Proposed amendments to ITPA

[Guest guest]

LEGALISING PROSTITUTION-LEGITIMISING SLAVERY ?

Re: /message/7756

In the unknown terrains of darkness…

I see for light to guide my soul

In the untold depth of my being….

I yearn for dignity to hold my whole…

For hundreds of thousands of victims of commercial sexual exploitation whom you

can call by any name depending on the perspective you carry, a prostitute or a

commercial sex worker this is their heartrending plea- a need to be a part of

the mainstream society - a need to belong. Ask any of them whether they want

their children in the trade and the answer is a firm NO. And there the dichotomy

begins.

In recent times there have been a lot of debates on whether prostitution should

be legalized/decriminalized etc

I am actually now waiting for a time when people will start debating whether

rape or murder should be legalized. Sounds absurd. Well if prostitution can be

legalized then in the course of time even crime and slavery should be legalized,

for prostitution or sex trade is the oldest form of sexual slavery.

From time immemorial various deviances and discrepancies have existed in the

society many of which internalized and integrated in the normal day today social

functioning, be it feudalism, sati or dowry.

To maintain the power hierarchies these have been reinforced by social systems

such as patriarchy that makes male hegemony the all powerful process. The male

domain has constantly found ways to maintain women subserviently so that power

blocks are never threatened. Over the centuries women and the larger society

have slowly internalized all this with a ‘culture of silence’ and also have

learnt the ways to be the torch bearer of this system.

The consequence- a society that is specialized and skilled in the art of gender

discrimination which is manifested in various forms ranging from female

foeticide, infanticide, child marriage, eve-teasing, rape, dowry death etc..etc…

And somewhere this message is also grilled that as a woman you are an object …a

commodity that can be

suitably traded off.

Only the orifices in your body have certain significance otherwise you are

worthless. This has been the primary logic of women being in flesh trade. That a

woman’s identity is either for procreation or as a sexual being who will sustain

the well being of the society.

Interestingly the arguments in favor of prostitution to be legalized go up to

the extent of calling sex as a service industry (now they are also talking about

sex work as an entertainment industry) that actually protects other women from

being sexually molested or raped.

Well if that is the case there should not be a single rape in countries where

prostitution is legal!

Slavery has never empowered a human being and therefore prostitution can never

empower a woman. Prostitution is a bi-product of lack of options or alternatives

in the society. No woman or man for that matter, will ever voluntarily opt for

flesh trade in a context of adequate sustainable options. Therefore let us not

legitimize our own inadequacies to provide options or our own deviant need to

maintain power hierarchies and call it sexual right of a person to sell his/her

body.

On the other hand in this era of HIV/AIDS and foreign funding there is a genuine

need for many to gain entry points to disburse their funding and appear to reach

out to an epidemic problem. A need to implement strategies that will target the

so called communities with ‘high risk behaviors’.

But the catch is that these well wishers/savior of the society are not willing

to address any deep-rooted issues in the society. Their pre-dominant obsession

is to impose shortcut methods to prevent HIV/AIDS buy promoting condoms, not at

any point realizing or acknowledging that change cannot occur from the

periphery.

No doubt on paper the primary policy is on abstinence and behavior modification

but by the time latex companies hijack the space what is left is only condom

promotion which they appropriately call ‘safe sex’(of course if business

interests can be promoted why not!) .

In a situation of absolute slavery, helplessness and optionlessness what is the

bargaining power one expects from an individual. “So is condom given, condom

used?”

But the dilemma is that money is taken and it has to be expended so the most

convenient strategy is to gain entry through promotion of a slogan ‘sex is

work, let us legalize it’. This ensures that their work is done in a relatively

non-threatening atmosphere. Business interest taken care of without any extra

efforts of reaching to scattered crowd. Bbut the women at the end of the day are

labeled further isolated to marginalization.

With a double edged sword of stigma and discrimination. How is it empowering ??

Yet they call it ‘right based’!!.

There are very many factors that are stonewalling the empowerment of women, but

the worst among them is the whole vicious cycle of commodification of women’s

body. If there is a trade in human misery that violates all human rights it is

the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children.

By being a silent spectator we are all a part of the ‘culture of silence’ that

promotes this dehumanized trade. Our silence supports demand. Our inaction

motivates exploitation. We have disempowered ourselves.

Break this chain of silence. For it is our own sisters and daughters who are

being traded.

Challenge the demand. Are our own fathers, husbands and brothers reason for

perpetuation of modern day slavery ie commercial sexual exploitation?.

Dr Sunitha Krishnan

Prajwala, Hyderabad

www.prajwalaindia.com

e-mail: sunitha_2002@...

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Re: /message/7763

I cannot believe I am reading this at this day and age.

On the one hand Dr. Sunitha Krishnan is pleaing for mainstreaming the

prostitutes and on the other hand she is equating prostitution with rape with

" legalising prosittution will be legalising rape " or in other words if

prostitutes are raped, that is not " rape " .

Rape is an act of violence against a victim--it is an act of violence where sex

is used as a weapon and it takes place when the act takes place without the

" consent " of the victime. Rape can take place in prostitution, in marriage or in

any relationship.

To say that legalising prostitution will be like legalising rape would be

commoditizing not only the prosititutes but the whole female gender because she

is subscribing to the age old adage that loose women or prostitutes have no

right of " consent " to a sexual act.

That is the reason, when a woman is raped, if it can be proved that she is a

" loose " woman ( wearing revealing clothers, going out at night etc. ), she was

not raped no matter whether the sex was consensual or not.

I am not saying that prostitution is the ideal occupation for a woman. She is

right in saying that the prostitutes do not want their children to be in the

occupation or in other words given a choice they do not want to be in that

occupation but I did not hear anything about what kind of solutions she has in

placing them in an alternative occupation.

Without talking about how the sex workers would provide for food and shelter for

themselves and their children, it is very easy to sermonize about their

occupation and say that their occupation is equivalent to being raped and

further marginalize them.

Sathi Dasgupta.

e-mail: <sathi_dasgupta@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Re: /message/7763

I fully agree with the views and solid arguments put forward by Dr. Sunitha

Krishnan againt legalizing the prostitution. We all must oppose it. This

argument should also be used for legalizing unnatural sex including MSM and

marriage between same sex.

Dr. Sarman Singh, MD.FAMS

Prof. & Head, Division of Clinical Microbiology Department of Laboratory

Medicine All India Institute of Medical Sciences

P.O. Box. 4938, Ansari Nagar New Delhi-110 029 (India)

Phone: 2659 4977, 2659 4764, 2658 8484 Fax: 2658-8663, 2658 8641

e-mail: <ssingh56@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Happy Krishna Janmashtmi!

Re: /message/7763

I endorse the views expressed by Dr. Sarman Singh and Dr. Sunitha

Krishnan against legalizing the prostitution.

Also, we should not legalize unnatural sex including MSM and marriage between

same sex.

Dr. Nandlal Jotwani, Ph.D.

President:

Global Harmony (Non-Profit NGO)

www.globalharmony.com

Phone: +91-11-29841415

e-mail: <nandlaljotwani@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Sathi has a point about 'sermonising' bit.

Re: /message/7770

Fortunately for me having rehabilitated more than 2000 women/girls who are

survivors of prostitution I can confidently say that rehabilitation or gainful

dignified options upholding basic human rights is not a 'myth'.

What is important is to accept that possibilities are real. Whether we convert

that into opportunities for change is left to us.

For me what is not acceptable is calling prostitution as an age old profession

and legitimising our inadequacies to provide options.

In this age of globalisation/liberalisation,private-public partnership,corporate

social responsibility where there is option for all why such a dearth of options

for these women and girls.

We need the will. If on a war footing one can fight HIV/AIDS why do we shy away

from investing our resources,time and innovations to restore dignity?

Do check our website on how we have done our rehabilitation program.

wwww.prajwalaindia.com

Dr Sunitha Krishnane

e-mail: <sunitha_2002@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

This is in reference to Dr Nandlal's mail.

Re: /message/7775

It is extremely unfortunate that Dr Nandlal still thinks sex between MSM (anal &

oral sex) and marriage among same sex is unnatural.

For your information Dr Nandlal let me tell you three important things

1) Anal sex & oral sex are frequently practised by heterosexual couples. But

nobody says them unnatural and illegal in that context. May I ask why? Why only

putting the MSM in the wrong ends?

2) American Psychiatric Association in 1973 & ICD-10 of WHO in 1992 declared

that Homosexuality and Bisexuality is NOT considered as psychiatric disorders.

That means they are normal expression of human sexuality. So how can you term

sex between MSM is unnatural?

3) Marraige between same sex is neither uncommon nor unnatural event in many

countries of the world.

As far as ITPA is concerned I do not want to get myself involved into the

debates related to its amendment proposals. My points are very clear.

To make a public health intervention successful it is very important to make the

people of the marginalized and so called 'criminalized' communities visible in

the program so that they have free access to the services and information.

Similarly there should be strongly positioned and adequately advocated

public/local health regulations to create an enabling environment for the sex

workers to practise safe sex and positive health seeking to keep themselves

healthy (like 100% CUP of Thailand, Cambodia, Infectious Disease Act of

Singapore).

But even before what is most important is that there should be some kind of

minimum TOLERANCE to commercial sex work and workers on behalf of the local

administration and police and should be driven by strong political will to halt

the HIV epidemic. Why not advocacy initiative focus on this for the overall

public health interest?

There are countries where commercial sex work is not legalized but tolerated

within well demarcated and identified places where a sex worker can move into

and do her business without any trouble from the police/administration and the

entire sex business has to strictly go by certain public/local health

regulations like compulsory use of condom in all the sex establishments and

regular health screening of all the people involved. The health regulations,

thereby become the source of empowerment of the sex workers.

I don't know if any organization ever tries this kind of approach in India.

Necessary amendment of ITPA, IPC 377 in favor of the interest of sex workers and

MSM is always welcome but we have to simultaneously think of alternative

strategies which are less time consuming, easy to advocate, implement and

replicate to respond to the HIV epidemic in faster pace.

After all we are primarily public health professionals not social reformers.

Regards,

Sugata

Sugata Ganguly

e-mail: <sugataids@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Re: /message/7775

I appreciate Ms. Sugata’s learned response.

I, too, view the ‘LGBT’ (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) sexual

choices, preferences, identities and behaviours as the expressions of the

alternative human sexuality besides the normative heterosexuality.

However, our dialogue is not about the expressions and manifestations of

‘sexuality’ at academic level.

We are seized with a vitally significant aspect of socio-cultural

consequences if we were to ‘legalize’ prostitution, which, inter alia, is

fraught with the risk of leading, luring, inducing or coercing of the weak and

vulnerable, by the unscrupulous, into ‘the oldest profession’ with impunity,

with ‘nothing-illegal’ attitude. The recent media-publicized case of a school

teacher allegedly exposing and inducing an alleged girl-victim into

alleged ‘prostitution’ is an illustration in view.

I think we need to marry our theoretical explications with practical

implications so as to form a holistic, wholesome view about the

alternative and normative human sexuality and its judicial,

socio-cultural implications for the society.

Best wishes,

Dr. Nandlal Jotwani, Ph.D.

President: Global Harmony

Email: nandlaljotwani@...

Phone: 011-29841415 Mobile: 9910310002

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

I am shocked that people like Dr.Nandlal are still allowed to be in the HIV/AIDS

sector. What kind of “sensitive” people are we allowing to come on this list. Is

it at all possible to work with these moralists and judgemental people in the

HIV/AIDS sector.

I cannot imagine that we are still having people like Dr.Sharman and Sunitha

Krishnan working in the hIV/AIDS sector. Just because they are doctors how dare

they insult us homosexuals. It’s time to take such people to court and make them

publicly apologise for the hurt and damage they cause us in the longer run, not

considering their prejudiced views which obstruct the programatic issues around

sex, sexuality and gender.

Can the moderator at least stop such postings?

We can’t keep on arguing these issues till the cows come home, can we?

Ashok Row Kavi

Humsafar Trust

Mumbai

email: <arowkavi@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Ashok et al –

Re: /message/7806

I understand your feelings and you carry forward the feelings of many of the

groups you represent. The issues such as this will continue on in the future.

And it’s such a great opportunity that such a forum as AIDS Asia, and AIDS India

exist for people to share their own views. Whether they are right or wrong, for

it brings greater good for those who do not post their ideas or thoughts but lie

somewhere in the grey area ‘neither there, neither here’.

The letters from the doctors and also from you will be a source of information

and education to many.

We must support the moderator and encourage him to post such mails as it will

generate clearer understanding and people need to know what they need to know

and provide you the much needed support.

Keep up the good work.

Dr Chinkholal Thangsing

Asia Pacific Bureau Chief

AIDS Healthcare Foundation

S7 Panchsheel Park,

New Delhi 110017 India

+91 11 41745541[O]

+91 98 18270687[Cell]

e-mail: chinkholal.thangsing@...

www.aidshealth.org