Unite against arbitrary decision to amend ITPA

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members

We on behalf of The National Forum for Protecting the Rights of Working

Womenurge you to be a part of this campaign by signing the following letter

which we would be sending to Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Members of

the Parliamentary Standing Committee in addition to Planning Commission Members

 

Dear Sir / Madam,

 

We, a group of privileged working women and men of this country, feel distressed

by the fact that the Ministry of Women and Child Development with the support of

the Ministry of Home has arbitrarily taken a decision to amend the ITPA Act in

the name of preventing trafficking of women into sex trade.

We firmly believe that this decision comes from ‘moral’ compulsion to cleanse

the society and is not based on any evidence that such changes in the law and

policy will actually benefit women and stop trafficking.. We consider this

attempt by the Ministry of WCD is not only irrational but inhumane also.

The proposed amendment equates sex work and trafficking- which is simply not

true.  We like any other right-minded citizen of the country are against

trafficking, -be it into sex trade or any other sectors where trafficking is

prevalent. However the present amendments fail to address trafficking in all

various sectors and the issues of most trafficked persons remained unaddressed.

 

Walk the talk

What concerns us even more is that the very Government and its functionaries

that came into power promising welfare to the poor  and the marginalized, is in

one stroke going to take away the livelihood option of hundreds and thousands of

women..  Conservative estimates project that there are about1.2 million

self-identified sex workers in India in urban setting.  Reports from the field

put this figure to more than 3 million, which includes full-time and part-time

[both urban and rural] female sex workers in India.

 

These 3 million sex workers e, mostly women, economically support not only

themselves but also their children, parents, and extended families like women in

all other women-headed households.  Almost 9 million children from these

households are dependent on the incomes of their sex worker mothers or

guardians.  Needless to mention that in addition to supporting their families,

sex workers also contribute to the national income, as do many of us.

 

The 11th Five Year Plan lays specific and rightful emphasis on social inclusion

and financial security.  Its primary premise is to enhance equity, putting the

last person first; to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor; to invest in

the disenfranchise.  However the proposed amendment to the ITPA Act goes against

the very spirit of the Plan by further criminalizing sex workers, their clients

and their entire work environment.

 

The paradox

 

The other core social equity agenda of the current government is greater

representation of women in all spheres of decision making, including in the

Parliament.  The same government did not heed to the voices of the sex workers’

community –who are the decision makers of their own families.  Sex workers seem

to have no locus standi in the eyes of the government policy makers.  The

parliamentary standing committee through an elaborate consultation process with

different stakeholders including sex workers themselves came up with clear

recommendations, the WCD rejected outright.  Sadly the WCD rejected all these

sensible and valid recommendations unilaterally.

 

It is very heartening that the National Government is working towards providing

social security to labour in the unorganized sector.  But the irony is that at

the same time the same Government is proposing to jeopardize the job security of

3 million sex workers, by proposing amendments in ITPA Act.  The proposed

amendments do not include any provision for compensating for the income loss or

alternative viable livelihood options for sex workers and the survival,

education and career prospect of their children.

 

Endangering the health of the nation

India succeeded to a great extent in containing the spread of HIV among the

general population through effective and timely interventions among the most at

risk and vulnerable population which includes Sex-workers. This success was

achieved following a right based approach of interventions [through a process of

collectivization, accepting their representation and protecting their rights]

and which is now considered as one of the global best practices. It is really

baffling to us how another dept of the same Govt. simply ignore the fact and

engaged in a process to destroy an evidence based program because of their

‘moral discomfort’. It is more so while our Hon’ble Prime minister himself is

releasing the commission’s report headed by person of international repute like

Dr C Rangarajan who clearly recommends in unambiguous term the necessity to

decriminalize sex worker, clients and the sex-work environment .At the same time

how   the ministry of WCD [and the proposed amendments to ITPA]   plan to do

just the opposite.

 

We the citizens of the largest democracy in the world, feel ashamed of the way

in which the democratically elected Government of the day is putting the lives

of our fellow citizens, the sex workers [and their family members,] at grave

risk and is denying their right to livelihood, right to dignity, right to

democratic participation and representation.  We are searching for an

explanation of this paradoxical stand of the policy makers.

 

Under these circumstances, we strongly urge the policy makers engage into a

discourse and allow a full and public discussion of all facets of this issue in

all its complexities before taking any decision on the proposed amendments.

 

Ms. Mona Mishra

Ms. Nandinee Bandyopadhyay

Dr. Sundaraman

Ms. Chawi Malik

Ms. Susmita Roy

Dr. Smarajit Jana

Ms. Sonal Mehta

Dr. Subash Chandra Ghosh

Dr. Susena Reza-

Susmita Roy

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