are prohibited and will be punished. However, there is no provision that says that the red light zone as such is illegal. Another big red light district, this place is known for the hundreds of brothels along the streets. There are markets for machinery and vehicle parts on the ground floor and kothas or brothels above. Strange. Prostitution per se is not illegal, but the spread or development of this profession is illegal. Now the situation is such that the above activities are very real and coexist. Does the Indian legal system make prostitution illegal by banning it? For in most cases, government officials tend to ignore the fact that illegal trafficking in women and children is the main cause of the increase in prostitution as a business. The prostitution law itself is vague. [47] The main law dealing with the status of sex workers is the 1956 law known as the Suppression of Immoral Trafficking Act (SITA). According to this law, prostitutes can practice their profession in private, but not legally recruit clients in public. [2] However, a BBC article mentions that prostitution is illegal in India; Indian law does not qualify the practice of selling one`s sexual service as “prostitution”. [5] Clients may be punished for sexual activity near a public place.
Organized prostitution (brothels, prostitution networks, pimping, etc.) is illegal. As long as this is done individually and voluntarily, a woman (male prostitution is not recognized in any law in India) can use her body in exchange for material benefit. In particular, the law prohibits a sex worker from exercising her profession within 200 meters of a public place. Unlike other professions, sex workers are not protected by normal labour law, but they have the right to rescue and rehabilitation if they wish, and they have all the rights of other citizens. In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that prostitution should be legalized and convened a panel to consider a change in the law. [47] In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the “right to live in dignity” is a constitutional right and issued an order to “create conditions conducive to sex workers working with dignity.” The court ordered the central government, states and union territories to conduct an investigation to determine how many sex workers in the country want to be rehabilitated. In the Indian context, prostitution is not explicitly illegal, although it is declared unethical by the court, certain acts that facilitate prostitution are considered illegal and acts such as running a brothel, subsisting on money raised through prostitution, recruiting or inciting a person to prostitution, trafficking in children and women for prostitution, etc. are explicitly made illegal by the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act 1956 (ITPA). For example, sex racketeering is illegal, but private prostitution or receiving compensation in exchange for consensual sex without prior request may not be illegal.
“Since time immemorial, Indian poets have sung the praises of the `public woman`, the professional artist. The epics give us a colorful description of their intimate union with royal splendor. The Puranas emphasize their auspicious presence as a symbol of good luck. Buddhist literature also testifies to the high esteem in which it was held in society. She appears over the centuries in various incarnations, from Apsara in divine form to Ganika, Devdasi, Nartika [ordinary dancer], Kanchani, Tawaif, and the nautical girl. India`s largest[41] and best-known red-light districts are Sonagachi in Calcutta, Majestic in Bangalore, Reshampura in Gwalior, Kamathipura, Sonapur in Mumbai and G.B. Street in New Delhi, home to thousands of sex workers. [42] There were centers such as Naqqasa Bazaar in Saharanpur, Chaturbhuj Sthan in Muzaffarpur,[43] Lalpur, Maruadih in Varanasi, Meerganj in Allahabad, Kalinganj in Azamgarh, and Kabadi Bazar in Meerut.
According to the Immoral Trafficking Suppression Act, 1956, prostitution is illegal in India. While a woman can use her body privately for commercial purposes – male sex workers are not recognized by law – she can be punished if she solicits companies or seduces customers in public. Brothels, pimping and prostitution networks – is illegal. Clients may be punished for sexual activity in or near a public place. It is completely illegal and can be punished, which can last up to 7 years, experts estimate that millions of women and children are victims of sex trafficking in India. Human traffickers exploit false promises of employment or arrange marriages of convenience in India or the Gulf States and expose women and girls to sex trafficking. In addition to traditional red-light districts, women and children are increasingly suffering from sex trafficking in small hotels, vehicles, cabins and private homes. Human traffickers are increasingly using websites, mobile apps and online money transfers to facilitate the sex trade.
Children continue to be trafficked for sexual purposes in religious pilgrimage centres and by foreign travellers to tourist destinations. Many women and girls, mainly from Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as from Europe, Central Asia, Africa and Asia, including the Rohingya and other minorities in Burma, are trafficked for sex purposes in India. The main destinations for Indian and foreign victims of trafficking in women are Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Hyderabad and along the India-Nepal border; Nepalese women and girls are increasingly trafficked for sex purposes in Assam and other cities such as Nagpur and Pune. Some corrupt law enforcement officials protect suspected traffickers and brothel owners from prosecution, accept bribes from sex trafficking establishments and sexual services from victims, and give sex traffickers advice to hinder rescue efforts. Some Nepalese, Bangladeshi and Afghan women and girls are victims of both forced labour and sex trafficking in India`s major cities. Following the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, Nepalese women crossing India are increasingly victims of human trafficking in the Middle East and Africa. [77] Sexual intercourse with 18-year-old girls and with their consent is not a crime. But organized prostitution (brothels, prostitution networks, pimping, etc.) is illegal.
If prostitution is legalized, the State assumes responsibility for the management of brothels and can fulfill this obligation by granting a licence to authorized persons. It also formulates guidelines on the age of prostitutes, the client database, adequate remuneration and medical facilities for prostitutes. In this way, prostitutes can acquire certain rights, such as the right to medical care, the right to education of their children, the right to exploitation and rape, etc. This method can facilitate the elimination of sex thug operations, hidden and street prostitution, abuse of prostitutes, etc. Shelters must be built for prostitutes who have lost their livelihoods or for those who have been forced into prostitution but no longer want this way of life. In addition, the government can provide these prostitutes with basic education and training so that they can find other ways to earn money and make a living. The Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act 1956 makes certain acts illegal. These acts include inciting prostitution, running a brothel or allowing certain places to be used as brothels, living off the income of a prostitute`s money, inciting or abducting a girl into prostitution, imprisoning girls in brothels, luring a person detained for prostitution, and engaging in prostitution within 200 metres of a public place such as: School.
Colleges, temples, hospitals, etc. To end the harassment of trafficked women, the committee recommends sending sex workers caught doing their business near a public place to a correctional home instead of being sent to jail. The duration of stay should be reduced from five years to one year. Prostitution in a public place is illegal.
