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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

28/05/22 15:30 PM IST

Supreme Court recognises prostitution as profession

In News 
  • “Notwithstanding the profession, every individual in this country has a right to a dignified life under Article 21.”
  • With these words, the Supreme Court recognised prostitution as a profession and said and sex workers are entitled to dignity and equal protection under the law.
Implications of the Judgement 
  • Police forces in all states and Union territories should treat sex workers with dignity and not to abuse them, verbally or physically.
  • The authorities have a duty to protect them under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
  • The police and other law enforcement agencies should be sensitised to the rights of sex workers.
  • The newly introduced Section 354C, IPC which makes voyeurism a criminal offence, should be strictly enforced against electronic media, in order to prohibit telecasting photos of sex workers with their clients in the garb of capturing the rescue operation.
  • State governments should do a survey of shelter homes so that cases of adult women who are detained against their will can be reviewed and processed for release in a time-bound manner.
  • The Central Government and the State Governments, through National Legal Services Authority, State Legal Services Authority and District Legal Services Authority, should carry out workshops for educating the sex workers about their rights.
Relevant Judgments 
  • In Kajal Mukesh Singh vs State of Maharashtra (2021), the Bombay High Court said “Prostitution is not an offence, a woman has a right to choose her vocation”.
  • In Manoj Shaw vs State of West Bengal (2003), the Calcutta High Court observed that sex workers should be treated as victims of crime rather than the accused.
  • In Budhadev Karmaskar vs State of West Bengal (2011), the High Court observed that sex workers are also entitled to live a dignified life as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Prostitution in India
  • It is said that prostitution is the oldest profession in the world.
  • In India, their presence can be dated back to ancient times with scriptures mentioning the presence of three kinds of women — those who were chaste and devoted to a single man (even if the man had many wives). The second were women who kept away from men and lived as nuns.
  • The third kind were women who had multiple lovers and were attached to no single man.
  • In later times, such women were considered the wives of a temple deity or a Devdasi, who saw their god in all their lovers.
  • This last kind of women has often been described in modern literature as ancient sex workers or prostitutes or sacred concubines.
  • In the 1800s, it is reported that the British military established and maintained brothels for its troops to use across India.
Countries that have legalised prostitution
  • While the legality of sex work is vague in India, until now, other countries across the world have legalised the profession, granting sex workers equal rights and protection.
  • Across Europe, countries such as Germany, Netherlands, France, Greece have legalised the profession.
  • In Germany, the profession was legalised in 1927 and there are proper state-run brothels. The workers are provided with health insurance, have to pay taxes and they even receive social benefits like pension.
  • Netherlands began regulating prostitution in 2000. 

Source- The Hindu

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