National Day of Action against ITPA Amendments

[Guest guest]

1st July, 2008, National Day of Action against ITPA Amendments

" Kill the Bill "

Sex workers, women's groups and AIDS NGOs cross the country will come

together to demand withdrawal of Amendments proposed to the Immoral Traffic

(Prevention) Act, 2006 (ITPA).

Enacted in 1956, the ITPA criminalizes all aspects of commercial sex without

making sex work an offence per se. Since, the Act has been amended twice - in

1976 and 1986. In 50 years of its implementation, ITPA has caused severe

repression of sex workers while failing to prevent human trafficking.

Changes to the ITPA were first mooted in June 2005, when the Department of Women

and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, proposed to

decriminalize soliciting and create a new offence of trafficking in persons. The

Bill was sent to a Group of Ministers (GoM), after Renuka Chowdhury, then

Minister for Tourism raised objections.

Post GoM deliberations, new amendments were proposed, which included, for the

first time, penalty for visiting brothels. This provision was vehemently opposed

by sex workers for scuttling livelihood and compromising health and safety.

Despite protests, in May 2006, the ITPA Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok

Sabha. A Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) reviewed the Bill & suggested

wider reforms including a revamp of the entire Act. Last year, Ministry of Women

and Child Development proposed further revisions, ignoring key recommendations

of the PSC.

In August 2007, the Cabinet referred the revised Amendments to a GoM.

This GoM has now concluded its deliberations without reaching consensus. No

significant changes appear to have been incorporated in Official Amendments to

the ITPA Amendment Bill, 2006, which are expected to come up for Cabinet

approval before the monsoon session of Parliament.

The ITPA Amendment Bill seeks to:

* Bring consensual sex work under criminal law

* Criminalise poverty induced sex work as trafficking

* Punish clients visiting brothels

* Allow lower ranking Police to arrest sex workers and raid

brothels

* Detain sex workers in 'corrective' institutions for seven years

The ITPA Amendment Bill fails to:

* Support survivors of trafficking

* Protect sex workers against violence & abuse

* Promote prevention of HIV

Protest actions planned in:

* Bangalore: Public Rally from Chikka Lalbagh to Mysore Bank Circle

Manohar Elavarthi <mailto:manoharban@...> manoharban@...

+919880223460

* aroda: Demonstration at Gandhi Gruh

Maya Sharma vikalpwomensgroup@... +919879725969

* Hyderabad: Meeting with State Legislators Forum

Sandhya Srinivasan <mailto:ssrinivasan@...>

ssrinivasan@...

* Kolkata: Rally from College Square to Esplanade East

Bharti Dey <mailto:sonagachi@...> sonagachi@... +919831365552

* Mumbai: Demonstration at Horniman Cirlcle, Fort

Kalpana Gaikwad kalpana.gaikwad@... +919930886001

* Pune: Mock protest and march from Budhwar Peth

Tejaswi Sevekari tejaswisevekari@...

Tripti Tandon

Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit

63/2, 1st Floor, Masjid Road

Jungpura, New Delhi 110014

India

Phone:+91-11-24377101/02, 24372237

Fax:+91-11-24372236

www.lawyerscollective.org

e-mail: <tripti.tandon@...>