Examining sex work in a hypocritical society

There is no apparent reason why British MP Mike Weatherley’s wife Carla (from whom he separated in February) did not feel privileged enough to disassociate herself from her past. Till recently, she belonged to the upper crust of society and had all the trappings of power and pelf. By logic, she should have long forgotten her past in Brazil as a professional sex worker and reinvented herself in any which way. All the overpowering reasons of poverty and involuntary submission that drive a woman towards prostitution were absent in her case. And yet, there she was, working — and enjoying her work —  in London. She seemed to be doing her business by choice, visibly taking pride in belonging to what ranks first among the oldest professions. Carla was being true to herself and for that sole reason deserves the respect of society which is filled, top to bottom, with hypocrites.

It is human nature to be a part of the system and hide what is socially unacceptable. Do prostitutes exist for themselves or are they there because the society at large, made of respectable folks, needs them?

The argument against legalising prostitution in India — specifically brothels — stems from the premise that it will corrupt the morals in society. If you look around, not legalising prostitution has not saved society in any way. The biggest scams happen right under our noses, masked under the façade of respectability.

Instead of taking responsibility for the truth as it exists, the society of respectable people prefers prostitution to stand condemned and restricted to the gutters. This way, we the masses, our leaders and celebrities, can deny it exists. (One of the great ironies of traditional religious carnivals in Pune during June-July and September, when thousands of rural folk arrive in the city from neighbouring districts, is a dramatic rise in the footfalls in red light areas.)

In this age and time in India, when sexual promiscuity is beginning to explode, would society prefer its men — and therefore, its women — to suffer the serious health risks associated with unregulated prostitution? In its own selfish interest, society stands obligated to do whatever is necessary for improving the lives of prostitutes and provide them with legal and health benefits, not as an act of charity but for the well-being of a mature society itself.
Estimates about the number of prostitutes in India range from 2.3-7 million. Unicef estimates that at least a million child prostitutes exist in Asia, with the highest numbers in India, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines. The World Health Organisation says that more than 50% of Mumbai’s sex workers are infected with HIV.

In modern day India, we are living in the midst of slaves-for-sex and the slave trade. Most of the prostitutes who have been forced to waste their lives in “servicing” society want to give their children a better future. The least that society can do for them is recognise them as legitimate workers and give them the benefit of labour laws.

It is pertinent to pay heed to the Supreme Court’s observations in December, 2009, when a two-member bench asked the central government to consider legalising prostitution if it was unable to curb it. Justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Patnaik asked: “When you say it is the world’s oldest profession and when you are not able to curb it by laws, why don’t you legalise it? You can then monitor the trade, rehabilitate and provide medical aid to those involved.”