SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM 2020

LIGHT UP X UE

UNDERSTANDING THE FACTORS THAT DIRECT

SEX WORKERS’ LIVES
A Project based on the Sex-Worker Community

By
TEAM STRANGER THINGS
Batch-2
Team-2C

Team Members

Jannat Jain | Jasmine Bajaj | Kirti Gohil | Mansi Pase

Mayura Mulay | Meenu Dhawan | Mehak Mishra | Michelle Sanya Tirkey
 Table of Contents

Chapter1: Introduction…………………………………………..…….3
Chapter 2: Ecosystem Mapping………………………………….……........…..6
Challenges during the COVID Crisis…………………..….…….....………6
Privacy and Anonymity…………………………….………....……….10
Chapter 3: Sources of Oppression……………………………………………..31
Caste and Citizenship……………………………...………………..…….36
Appearance…….………………………………………..…..…………53
Chapter 4: Legal Research………………………………….…………….…....60
Legal Aid………………………………………………………………….60
Documentation……………………………………………...…………69
Chapter 5: SEL Module Building………………………………………….…..73
Chapter 6: Livelihood…………………....…………....…………………….….78
Chapter 7: Conclusion………………………………………………………….83
References…………………………………………………..……………………86
Member Contribution…………………………………………………………..92

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 Chapter-1
INTRODUCTION

Prostitution is a word that comes from the Latin word prostituere, meaning money. It can be
defined as the business or practise of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. It
involves providing sexual services, commercial sex, or informally termed as hooking.
Euphemistically, it has also been called the “world’s oldest profession”. Someone who works
in this field is said to be a prostitute, that is a kind of sex-worker. Prostitution is just one part
of the elaborate sex industry, with ‘brothels’ dedicated to this work.

The sex worker community faces several challenges, even under normal or what is now known
as the “pre-COVID” circumstances. The community is marginalised and stigmatised. During
this pandemic, the effects of this discrimination were highlighted when the sex worker
community had no access to essential sanitisation, lack of access to healthcare and government
aids. The lack of access to healthcare facilities and sanitisation is a result of the marginalisation
and stigmatisation of the community on a large scale. In comparison, the lack of benefits from
government aid is the result of a lack of documentation. Majority of the individuals from the
sex worker community do not even have primary documents like a ration card or an Aadhar
card. Since these documents are an essential requirement for getting access to the government
schemes for the underserved populations, they don’t even meet the eligibility criteria for it.

In a nutshell, the hardships faced by the sex worker community during the pandemic can be
linked with the lack of documentation, discrimination faced by the community and the lack of
legal aid implementation in India.

Human Rights are those rights which are essential for the protection and maintenance of the
dignity of individuals and create conditions in which every human being can develop his
personality to the fullest extent. They are universal in nature. Since any legislation does not
create human rights, they resemble natural rights very much. They are based on their intrinsic
justification and not on their enactment or recognition by certain individuals. The question of
violation of such inherent rights of the sex workers is in itself a great challenge for humanity.

The term oppression means unjust treatment or exercise of power under any kind of authority.
Social oppression is a concept that explains the relationship between two parties, where one

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gains from the systematic abuse and exploitation of the other. Owing to this, a number of
cultural factors like caste, ethnicity and appearance affect how a community will be treated.

Ideals of beauty vary from one culture to the other but what remains constant is how women
have to bear the brunt of it. Similarly, the caste system determines the kind of livelihood a
community will be subjected to. Here, we have tried to understand and analyse the reasons why
women are practising prostitution. Still, the major focus lies on the fact that they are not able
to get out of this line of work, along with the sources because of which they are forced to stay
in this business. The occupation of prostitution which was initially adopted as a source of
livelihood, some ages ago, has now become a tradition in certain communities, and women
have to get into this work because of their traditional and cultural norms even if they don’t
want to. It is essential to talk about the sources of oppression in order to help these women to
acknowledge other livelihood options, to empower them so that they can get out of this
business, and do something they really want to.

There are several international and governmental organisations and NGOs which aim to
intervene at any point of time with any of the remedial measures in a positive way by
counselling, educating the sex workers, emancipating and empowering them.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) plays a huge role in doing so. It is a process through which
children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and
show empathy to others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible
decisions. In our module, SEL is used in terms of educating the knowledge of relationship-
building skills (with others and self) for the sex worker community. The members of the sex
worker community are exposed to all kinds of physical, mental and social abuses. So, because
of these abuses, they have some set values and beliefs about relationships, and it is very difficult
to shake their beliefs. SEL gives us a platform and knowledge of doing this with rules.

Having said that, it is extremely important for researchers to be mindful and be respectful of
the “human subjects” of the study and be more transparent both about their research process
and in the way that they deal with the protocols for research ethics while conducting social and
behavioural epidemiological studies among female sex workers.

Breach of privacy laws can expose sex workers to risks such as embarrassment, loss of
employment opportunity, loss of business opportunity, physical risks to safety and identity
theft, to say the least. Like the right to give informed consent, the right to privacy and

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confidentiality promote better findings as the information given by the research participants
tends to be more accurate.

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 Chapter 2
ECOSYSTEM MAPPING

Challenges faced during COVID-19 Crisis

Context:
India announced the “Janata Curfew” on 22 March 2020 with an intention to break the chain
of the novel coronavirus spread which was later coupled with a complete nationwide lockdown
from 24 March 2020. Even though the nation is in the unlocking phase now, the lockdown in
India has disproportionately affected various sections/classes of the society.
The pandemic has made the distinction between the wealthy privileged class and the
underserved class even more evident. The privileged class on one hand can easily and
comfortably afford to be “quarantined” and locked down, but the underserved class continues
to struggle for their daily bread. The pandemic has also shed light on the lack of accessibility
to healthcare and the loss of livelihood. During this pandemic, we have witnessed how social
distancing has intensified the already-existing class inequalities; wherein there is a larger
section of people desperate to sustain their livelihoods.
On the other hand, there are various measures taken by the government to prevent the spread
of the virus. However, at the grassroots level, they do not appear to be very inclusive of the
marginalised sections in terms of their strategies of pandemic management. The government
of India identifies Indian states as red, orange and green zones. Still, in between the stakes of
these coloured zones, the trailed existence of the red-light areas is ghettoed and ignored from
the socially insensitive narratives of the COVID-19 crisis.
The case in the discussion here is of the sex workers who reside in these red-light areas, and
their profession is considered as “a contact job” (Hurst et al. 2020). The ravenous and derailed
condition of the sex workers in every corner of India during the lockdown period reinforces
these questions of uneven social foundations, and again, their missing link in the government’s
relief packages compels one to wonder if the sex workers have been denied their human rights.
Officially, there are over six lakh sex workers in India, while the unofficial numbers may differ.
Many of them continue their profession from the narrow, dingy lanes of the urban metropolises
and more than 1,100 red-light areas fall within the range of plausible hotspots of the ongoing

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pandemic (Parthsarathi 2020). These areas under complete lockdown have been shunned from
any income.
Several research studies have been conducted to understand how the livelihood and healthcare
accessibility of the already marginalised and stigmatised community has been impacted by the
pandemic. Several reports across the world indicate that whether it is a developing or developed
country, sex workers are at the cliff, holding on to life with the bare minimum.

Issues faced by the community:

The already marginalised and stigmatised community of sex workers has been completely
neglected since the pandemic took force. The Covid-19 pandemic may have added the term
“social distancing” in sex workers’ existing vocabulary, but each one of them has already felt
and imbibed the nuanced distance that society maintains with them; it’s just that the pandemic
has led to an increase in this already existing gap. The sex workers live in small, clustered
rooms, and it is almost impossible for anyone to maintain “social distancing” in such areas.
These women also share bathrooms with a limited water supply and this adds to the concerns
of hygiene and health. Along with this, the government officials have done nothing to sanitise
and maintain the cleanliness of the red light areas as well. The sex worker community has been
kept at bay and ignored while even putting together policies for fighting the spread of COVID-
19.
Even under normal circumstances or what is now known as the “pre-COVID” times, the sex
worker community did not receive much aid from the government and most of the anti-sex
work policies and policing practices do cause hurdles in accessing their rights to earn from
rendering their sexual-activity contingent services. Due to the nature of the work, it’s not
possible to maintain social distancing while engaging in sex work and therefore, the pandemic
has severely affected the livelihood of the sex workers. It’s been months since the sex workers
have worked and earned money to sustain themselves. They have to pay rents, get groceries,
and get milk for the children and medicine for the elderly. It seems ridiculous to expect these
individuals to be able to afford masks and sanitiser while they cannot even afford basic
necessities. No government aids have been of any use as they either do not reach the sex
worker community at all or the sex workers do not meet the eligibility criteria for it; due to the
lack of documentation (which is another major issue faced by the sex worker community).
One of the aids announced by the Finance Minister of India was the deposition of a certain
amount of money into the bank accounts of the underserved population. However, due to the
lack of basic documentation like ration card or aadhar card, the sex workers often do not even

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have a bank account to make use of such aids. Currently, very few NGOs supply ration or food
packets to these communities; however, the problem is such that they have been now running
out of fuel to even cook food. These women are living in such appalling conditions that most
of them want to leave for their native place and never come back into bigger cities for work.
Unfortunately, they do not even have enough money or government aids to leave the city and
go back to their homes.
Even with NGOs repeatedly writing letters to the government officials for the welfare of the
sex worker community there hasn’t been any reply yet. This has been the situation of the sex
worker community all over the country. Their struggles for livelihood are not being looked at
by our governments at the central nor state level.

Extended closure of Red light areas:

Red-light areas (RLAs), where thousands of sex workers typically live and work, are one area
of concern for rapid transmission of COVID-19. By design, these areas have high contact rates
between sex workers and clients, and sex acts are not amenable to social distancing. Moreover,
visitors to RLAs include many truck drivers and migrant workers, who not only live locally
but travel long-distances and can potentially spread the virus more broadly, including green
and orange zones.
A research conducted by Harvard-Yale to analyse how reopening of RLAs or their extended
disclosure suggested that there would be a significant decrease in the number of cases,
hospitalisations and deaths due to COVID-19 if the RLAs are kept closed for an extended
period even after the lockdown has been lifted. The research suggests that the magnitude of
these effects varied with greater infectiousness and increased with a greater resident population
of RLAs relative to the general population of the city and with a greater contact rate between
the general population of the city and residents of the RLA.
Delay of the peak of cases: The initial nationwide lockdown is projected to substantially delay
the peak of the epidemic for each city considered and India. Extended closure of RLA after the
lockdown is lifted can further delay the epidemic peak further by at least eight days and up to
23 days (There was variation between peak The smallest delay in the peak of cases with an
extended closure of the RLA in Mumbai was a 9-day delay and the most significant delay in
the peak of cases with an extended closure of the RLA in Kolkata was 117 days—close to the
delay that was produced by lockdown alone.

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Reduction in cases and deaths: It was found that an extended closure of RLAs after the initial
lockdown period would avert 32% to 60.2% of cumulative cases and 43% to 67.6% of
cumulative deaths across India when compared at the date of the peak of the epidemic under
re-opening of RLAs
Cases, hospitalisation, and mortality within RLAs: Extended closure of RLAs after the initial
lockdown reduced cases, hospitalizations, and mortality within RLAs in accordance with
potential increasing infectiousness values for COVID-19. With re-opening of the RLAs, 32.5%
to 44.9% of all RLA residents were projected to be infected by COVID-19 by the peak of the
epidemic in India. By the same date under a scenario of the extended closure of the RLA, the
proportion of RLA residents infected would be between 12.9% to 30.5%.
The cumulative number of hospitalisations and deaths in RLAs would be substantially reduced
with extended closure of the RLAs. Across all RLAs in India, at least 39.2% of cumulative
hospitalisations, 39.9% of cumulative ICU admissions, and 42.9% of cumulative deaths could
be averted by the date of the peak of the epidemic if the RLAs remain closed. By staying closed
after lockdown, RLAs located in Kolkata, Pune and Nagpur could avert all ICU admissions
and at least 94.6% of their cumulative hospitalisations and at least 92.9% of cumulative deaths
by the date of the epidemic peak under a scenario of RLA re-opening. Impact of the extended
closure of 7 the RLA in Mumbai resembled the national trend with a reduction of 55.9% in
cumulative hospitalisation, 50% in cumulative ICU admissions, and 58.8% reduction in
cumulative deaths.
The burden on hospital capacity: India has approximately 1.9 million hospital beds, 95
thousand ICU beds, and 48 thousand ventilators. As a result of the extended closure of RLAs
after the initial lockdown, current hospital capacity would be reached on October 26 rather than
October 15 2020. Moreover, at the projected November 19 peak of cases, India would need ten
times more hospital capacity than the current capacity, while under extended closure of RLAs,
required hospital capacity would be 5.8 times higher. Indian central and state governments are
adding additional beds on a daily basis to ramp-up the healthcare capacity. Under the scenario
in which closure of RLAs is not extended, the high number of imminent cases and consequent
demand for hospitalisation/ICU admission and ventilator use rates will likely surpass India’s
peak medical resource capacity, especially in the vulnerable zones—leading to a higher
mortality rate.
This study predicts a significant increase in the COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations, and deaths
in India if RLAs are not closed post-lockdown, which could overwhelm the medical system,
economy, and country. However, even though extended closure of the RLAs is suggested for

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the greater good of the society, it is unfair to not provide the sex worker community with
government aids and livelihood options for their survival.
In conclusion, conducting research on the sex worker community and the challenges faced by
them has brought light upon the fact that the community was already kept at bay and was
neglected, to begin with. To make matters worse, the pandemic added to the already existing
struggles of the community, from lack of resources and aids from the government to the loss
of livelihood and lack of any other livelihood options. The community has also not been taken
into consideration while putting together policies and strategies to fight COVID-19. NGOs
from all over the country have tried to write to the authorities and bring their attention to the
discrimination faced by this community.

Privacy and Confidentiality of Sex Workers

Abstract

As noted by scholars, there are several methodological and ethical issues involved with sex
work research, such as privacy and confidentiality of the participants, representativeness of the
sample, and informed consent. Conducting ethically and scientifically rigor social research is
a must and more critical in a culturally diverse country like India. It is thus extremely important
for researchers to be mindful and be respectful of the “human subjects” of the study and be
more transparent both about their research process and how they deal with the protocols for
research ethics while conducting social and behavioural epidemiological studies among female
sex workers.
The most common way of defining “ethics” is ‘norms for conduct that distinguish between
acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Practicing ethical norms restricts misrepresentation of
information and data and restricts researchers from being biased. Also, to an extent, emotional
conflicts of surveyed population are addressed properly. In addition, accountability of
researchers towards the community gets ensured and organizations likely to fund research can
trust the quality and integrity of the research study.

Research Ethics in the Indian context

Undoubtedly, in the fast-growing professional world of research, relevance and importance of

practicing ethical norms is very critical as it ensures objectivity, promotes truth and knowledge

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and ensures lesser occurrence of error. The two commonly referred documents on ethical
guidelines for social research are The Belmont Report and The Declaration of Helsinki.
In 1999, Ethical Guidelines for Social Science Research in Health was framed by the
National Committee for Ethics in Social Science Research in Health (NCESSRH). As far as
practicing ethical norms in social research in India is concerned, without hesitation, one can
say that in India, no well-laid ethical guidelines are in place or practice; but it exists more on a
case to case basis. In fact, very few social researches or donor agencies in India get clearance
from any ethical review board.

Ethical Review Board: ERB is a type of committee that applies research ethics by reviewing
the proposed research methodologies to ensure that they are ethical. The board is formally
designated to approve (or reject), monitor, and review biomedical and behavioural research
involving humans. They often conduct some form of risk-benefit analysis in an attempt to
determine whether or not research should be conducted. The purpose of the ERB is to assure
that appropriate steps are taken to protect the rights and welfare of humans participating as
subjects in a research study. No amendment to the protocol may be made without consideration
and approval by the committee.

Risk-Benefit Analysis: All research involving human subjects must be preceded by careful
assessment of predictable risks and burdens to the individuals and groups (in this case, the sex
worker community) involved in the research in comparison with foreseeable benefits to the
participants.
• Commonly referred risks include, breach of confidentiality i.e., revelation to others about the
participation in the study; or temporary embarrassment due to some sensitive questions asked
during the survey.
• Measures to minimize the risks must be implemented. The risks must be continuously
monitored, assessed and documented by the researcher.
• Researchers should not undertake a research study involving human subjects unless they are
confident that the risks have been adequately assessed and can be satisfactorily managed.

Research Protocols: Research involving human subjects must conform to generally accepted
scientific principles, and be based on a thorough knowledge of the scientific literature, other
relevant sources of information.

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• The design and performance of each research study involving human subjects must be clearly
described and justified in a research protocol.
• The protocol should contain a statement of the ethical considerations involved and should
have been addressed.
• The protocol should include information regarding study sponsors, institutional affiliations,
potential conflicts of interest, incentives for subjects and dissemination of research findings.

In absence of any well-defined ethical guidelines for non-clinical research in India, it mostly
becomes optional for the researchers and even institutions to go for or avoid going for an ethical
review of their research protocols prior to initiating the research. Even non-clinical health
research to an extent does follow some basics of ethical clearances but in most of the cases, it
is more of a voluntary choice and less as a pre-requisite for initiating a research study.
In other words, there is no compulsion on social researchers or consulting agencies to get the
research protocols approved from any designated Ethical Review Board before initiating the
study. Most often practiced ethical norm in India is to take ‘consent’ of the respondents and
that too mostly as part of studies related to some socially sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS,
reproductive and sexual health topics or for collection of blood samples.

Vulnerable Population: Some groups and individuals such as illiterate, differently abled,
pregnant women, children, socially marginalized (in this case, sex workers) are particularly
vulnerable and may have an increased likelihood of being wronged or of incurring additional
harm.
• All vulnerable groups and individuals should receive specifically considered protection.
• Research with a vulnerable group such as the sex worker community is only justified if the
research is responsive to the needs and priorities of the group and the research will not be
representative if not carried out including vulnerable group. In addition, this group should stand
to benefit from the knowledge, practices or interventions that result from the research.

Dissemination of Research Findings: A research may be considered incomplete if the

findings are not shared with the stakeholders within a given timeframe. While disseminating
the findings,
researchers, authors, sponsors, commissioners of the research have ethical obligations with
regard to the publication and dissemination of the results of research and should adhere to the

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accepted guidelines for ethical reporting. Sponsors of the study, institutional affiliations (such
as NGOs and universities) and conflicts of interest must be declared in the publication.

Importance of Respecting Sex Workers’ Privacy And Confidentiality

The issue of confidentiality and privacy is of critical importance in working with the sex worker
population, because a woman publicly exposed as a sex worker can face severe life-threatening
consequences, such as:

• Social Aspects: With the prevalent stigma around the socially marginalized community
of sex workers, any kind of unwanted public exposure can have big impact on their
social and personal lives and can even lead to social boycott, public defamation of not
just them, but also their families. It can hugely affect their family lives, their children’s
social lives, and this may in return reduce opportunities of education and work for their
children. Public Exposure of sex workers is also usually followed by an increase in the
number of cases of violence and abuse against them.
Discrimination in Education of children of sex workers
Case Study: Saira, 34, Doddaballapur, Bangalore Rural. 2013
“I admitted my children to a well‐known private school. They were able to study there
for a year before the teachers and principal got to know that I am a sex worker. The
principal then informed me that I would need to make alternate arrangements for the
children as they didn’t have enough seats. I asked the principal the reason why my
children were being targeted since I had paid the fees on time and my children were
not badly behaved. After much persuasion, he informed me that since they were sex
worker’s children, they cannot study next to regular children whose future would be
affected. Despite a lot of discussion, I was forced to take the children out of school and
put them in another school.”

• Economic Aspects: The clients of the sex workers may not be comfortable with the
latter’s public exposure as this might bring in defamation and social issues for them and
may affect their public image and/or their family lives. This may impact the sex
workers’ business and earnings. Furthermore, public exposure as a sex worker may also

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 have a negative impact on the existing job opportunities for sex workers outside the
industry due to the stigma associated with their work.

• Legal Aspects: The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 declares certain acts to
be illegal. These acts include a solicitation for prostitution, managing a brothel or
allowing the usage of certain places as brothels, living on the earnings of a prostitute’s
money, inducing or kidnapping a girl for prostitution, detaining girls in brothels,
seducing a person under custody for prostitution and carrying out prostitution within
200 meters of any public place like schools, colleges, temples, hospitals, etc. These
activities attract heavy penalties such as rigorous imprisonment even at the first instance
of conviction. The minimum punishment for brothel-keeping is imprisonment for a
term of not less than one year and not more than three years and also with fine which
may extend to two thousand rupees. Offence of procuring a girl child for prostitution
attracts rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years but may extend
to life. Seducing or Soliciting for prostitution under the unamended Act for first
conviction attracts a punishment of imprisonment for six months or fine of rupees five
hundred and for the second conviction, imprisonment up to one year or with fine of
rupees five hundred. In addition, the Indian Penal Code under Section 370A punishes
the offender for the exploitation of a trafficked minor with imprisonment of five to
seven years.

Vulnerability to harassment, media ethics

Case Study: Shanti, (name changed), [Mahilakranti, UKMO], Karwar, Uttara Kannada,
Karnataka. 2013
Shanthi is a young sex worker living with her children. Following a news report in February
2013 where the name of a sex worker from Karwar was mentioned, a local leader in the area
began to harass Shanthi saying that he would reveal her identity to her children and other
community members. He approached her children and the members of her self‐help group
saying that she had been caught doing “prostitution”. Shanthi managed to convince them that
the news report was about another person with the same name. Shanthi threatened to file a
complaint of harassment, but that didn’t affect the perpetrator. Scared of the impact that the
harassment would have on her children, she approached the sex work organisation, which
agreed to intervene. Seeing the support that she was receiving, the leader apologised and
requested that Shanthi not approach the police since his political career would be ruined.

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Shanthi decided to keep quiet since she did not want problems in the area that she lived in. Sex
workers are constantly vulnerable to threats of blackmail and are often forced to provide
sexual favours under fear of being ‘outed’.

Best Practices for an Ethical Research Process

The stigmatized nature of the sex work environment raises several methodological issues and
ethical challenges for researchers, and has a direct bearing on the validity of the data collected.
Here are a few things on must definitely keep in mind:

• Several scholars studying the sex industry or the topic of sexuality have discussed about
“courtesy stigma” and how stigma has impacted their personal as well as professional
lives: It has resulted in sexual objectification by research participants, safety issues,
emotional labour pain involved with managing their own negative feelings as well as
their participants, and even perceptions that their research topic is unworthy of study.
It is very important to be aware of the consequences of conducting research on sex
workers. This will help the researchers feel more prepared and they can thus equip
themselves with the required resources.
Often, a researcher faces resistance—manifested in the form of unwillingness to talk,
avoidance of the questions posed by the researcher, and the provision of inconsistent
responses— even when informed consent is obtained and participation is made
voluntary. It is only by becoming aware of the unequal power dynamics inherent in the
researcher–participant relationship that researchers can develop sensitivity to the
“participants’ positions as resistors of power” and work toward minimizing their
effects.
• The ethical practice of Reflexivity “not only ensures researchers’ accountability for the
research, but also reveals the cultural norm of the research setting”. The absence of
reflective practice in most studies conducted ‘on’ sex workers has, among other things,
contributed to a production of knowledge that many sex workers claim does not reflect
realities. In other words, the practice of reflexivity enables researchers to bridge the
knowledge gap that arises due to the differences between the power, class, and cultures
of researcher and participants. Therefore, researchers need to pay particular attention to
their emotions; this mediates the relationships that are formed in the field between the
researcher and the “object”/participants of the study and the research process.

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 Throughout the data collection phase, maintaining a reflexive journal to record the
researcher’s experiences, beliefs, thoughts, assumptions, and feelings, allows them to
better understand how concepts of positionality and intersectionality impact their
relationship with the study participants
• Choosing the right Research Methodology is extremely important when it comes to
conducting a research study on a vulnerable population as the researchers need to be
very sensitive as well as respectful of the participants’ emotions and experiences.
“Research is a process, not just a product”.
A survey-based method may not work very well, as it is mechanical, lacks human
rapport and using appropriate and respectful questions while still trying to get as much
information as possible seems impossible. On the other hand, the “cultural biography”
(Frank, 2000) method may work better as it combines the use of life history and
participant observation (a defining tool of ethnography).
• Often times, negotiating Ethical Issues with NGOs as Gatekeepers can prove to be
difficult if the said NGOs do not have the best interests of the sex workers in mind. It
can lead to issues of strict control and vigilance over the methods employed in gaining
access to the participants, the types of questions asked, the answers received, or even
issues related to Privacy and Confidentiality of the identities of the participants. Relying
solely on an NGO’s project staff for access to participants can introduce bias into the
findings. In some cases, the organization may demand or expect certain ‘good looking’
research findings from the researchers and this might go against the ethics review and
the research protocol. The researcher must be willing and able to navigate their way
through such situations.
• The principle of informed consent requires that the research participants be made fully
aware of the risks, benefits, and participation procedure involved in the research prior
to beginning data collection. Often times, the organization or NGO mandates
participation of sex workers in research projects. This may lead to resistance in
participation and inaccurate and false data, which threatens the validity of the research
findings.
Examples:
These sex workers were mandated to take part in the research studies. On being asked
questions by a researcher, these were the responses she received:
“Just because we work here that does not mean I got to narrate my stories to everyone
that comes to this project.”

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 “I don’t like the way they keep showcasing us in front of anyone who comes to the
project. They can provide general information but why should they escort these people
and introduce us as “sex workers.” I don’t like this practice of theirs. You can’t trust
these other people and there is no way to control what these other people are going to
do with the information. You tell me?”
• The most effective way to conduct a research study and help the sex workers is to build
a strong rapport with them and invest time and efforts into it. It is extremely crucial
to develop a friendship or bond with the participants and treat them as “human”
subjects, with utmost respect and to have a non-judgmental approach. Researchers
should employ long-term participation observation methods, which place emphasis
on establishing respect, trust, and rapport. It is important to take the time to inform
the women about the research project and establish rapport with them and observe if
they show any signs of non-verbal resistance to the project as Body Language of the
research participants are also subtle hints. This approach will also help the researchers
to avoid encountering “outright lies, omissions, and sad stories” by sex workers.
• The physical environment in which research interviews are conducted is also an
important aspect to be considered in ensuring confidentiality, privacy, and respect
for the participants. Studies have found that when women sex workers are interviewed
in their workplaces, particularly in the presence of their employers, they feel restricted
and compelled to tailor their responses into “safe” answers to maintain their positive
image within the organization and would even try to limit the focus of the conversation.
The following narrative will further illustrate that women in sex work are averse to
research methodologies that treat them like “guinea pigs” without any regard for their
privacy, confidentiality, or sentiments:
“We don’t mind being asked questions. Ask us as many questions you want, but if you
are going to ask me whether or not I use condoms, then I am not going to answer. Will
you like to be asked this question? Why are we asked this same question again and
again? You know, this explains why the girls in “pandua” (name of the brothel site)
strip their clothes off in defiance when they are posed with these types of insolent
questions from researcher (referring to researchers using survey-based approach). They
are doing right. They are teaching these researchers a good lesson. I know you are
doing “research,” but we will talk about these things to people whom we trust, our
friends. I can’t talk to strangers and it is even worse being posed questions by male
researchers about our sexual practices.”

17
• Use of monetary incentives to recruit participants for research studies continues to be
a controversial process. Some scholars argue that providing modest remuneration to
women is only a fair practice, one that also encourages participation. It has been
reported that women’s resentment toward studies requiring long wait times for
participation, as this interferes with their ability to earn the daily income necessary to
meet their basic survival needs. As a result, the authors re commend that research ethics
protocol should require researchers to address the additional burdens that may be
unduly imposed on women’s time being approached during their work hours. However,
according to several NGOs, providing remuneration to the participants for their time
allotted to the project sets a bad precedent in the community. As noted by Singer and
Couper (2008), incentives are problematic only when used by researchers to encourage
participation in the presence of avoidable or unreasonable risks, but when monetary
incentives are used by researchers to minimize the risks of the participants, it is not an
ethical problem.
• Engaging in the practice of mutuality and reciprocity plays an important role in
mitigating and bridging differences and in forming close ties with the study participants.
Using a conversational style of interviewing, which gives women the opportunity to
ask questions themselves, plays an important role in balancing the power hierarchy that
often exists between the researcher and the study participants. Brining in refreshments
sometimes and reaching out to help the women with what might be considered mundane
activities provides more opportunities to interact and gain deeper insights about their
lives.
• Owing to the negative experiences that sex workers have had with insensitive or
disrespectful researchers or NGOs, they may often do all sorts of things in order to test
the researcher’s credibility and character. The key is to maintain a polite and calm
demeanour throughout and genuinely respond to their questions and concerns. Using
phrases like “If I were you, I would have also asked these questions.” makes a huge
difference. Sometimes, having a sense of humour is essential in handling the tenuous
relationships with these women. For by choosing not to react and instead showing
amusement, it demonstrates to them that the researcher is serious about their
interactions with them.
• It is extremely important to be transparent with the sex workers about the research
process. The more they know about it, the more they are willing to cooperate with the
tasks involved in the research. Even when/if the researcher makes a mistake and hurts

18
 their sentiments or ‘almost’ risks their identities, it is extremely crucial for the
researcher to step back, analyse and apologize to them. This shows that the women are
respected and helps in keeping the trust intact.
• Maintaining a rapport both in and outside the premises of the organization has
proven essential in nurturing the relationships with women. This makes them feel
important and also forms the impression in their mind that the researcher is serious
about their work with them. However, to avoid creating any unrealistic expectations of
me in the field, it must be ensured that women understood that the researcher is only
engaged in the research work and can only link them to existing resources within the
community.
• While one anticipates experiencing the obvious risks, such as physical risks, legal risks,
health risks, safety risks and personal risks, when associating with stigmatized and
marginalized populations, it is the emotional risks of doing sex work research that are
significant and that need to be carefully reflected upon and managed by researchers.
Also, from the point of view of research—that is, to maintain objectivity creating
support or “working in pairs” allows the researcher to avoid getting carried away with
the representations of risks and dangers that are created by the media. If proper safety
measures have been taken, meeting the women outside at the solicitation sites allows
for a better understanding of their anxieties and fears in the field. Interacting and seeing
the participants in “spaces” marked as stigmatized may enable the researcher to gain
both the insider as well as the outsider perspective of what risks mean in their lives.
Researchers must engage with historically marginalized and oppressed groups in a manner that
ensures minimal exploitation and maximum benefits for participants, as well as the inclusion
of their voices. It is only by addressing the issue of trust and building meaningful relationships
with the participants of the study that researchers can gain insight into the lived experiences of
historically stigmatized groups like sex workers. Using long-term methodologies helps in
bridging the insider–outsider boundaries as building meaningful relationships with the
participants allows for a deeper insight into the lives of these women.

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Resources: (Source: CMS India)
1. Self-Administered Ethics Sensitivity Test Template

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21
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2. Consent Form Template

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3. Consent Form for Minors: Template

25
Legal Consequences of Breach of Privacy

Breaches of privacy laws can expose sex workers to risks such as embarrassment, loss of
employment opportunity, loss of business opportunity, physical risks to safety and identity
theft. In the research process, the right to privacy—and the related professional duty of
confidentiality—allows participants to limit others’ access to information about themselves
while still benefiting from healthcare or benefiting others in research. Like the right to give
informed consent, the right to privacy and confidentiality promote better findings as the
information given by the research participants tend to be more accurate and truer.

Article 21 of the Constitution of India states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or
personal liberty except according to procedure established by law” and that right to privacy is
a part of right to protection of life and personal liberty.

A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra, in its order, said: “We are of the
view that prostitutes also have a right to live with dignity under Article 21 [right to life] of the
Constitution since they are also human beings and their problems also need to be addressed.”

The right to life enshrined under Article 21 is also applicable to a prostitute. This was explained
in the case of Budhadev Karmaskar v State of West Bengal. It stated that sex workers are
human beings and no one has a right to assault or murder them as they also have the right to
live. The judgment also highlighted the plight of sex workers and empathizes that these women
are compelled to indulge in prostitution not for pleasure but because of abject poverty and
directed the Central Government and State Governments to open rehabilitation centres and
impart technical and vocational skills like sewing so that they attain other means of livelihood.
Following the direction, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act has incorporated Section 21 as
a rule for the State Governments to establish and maintain protection homes and these should
be regulated by licenses issued by them. An appropriate authority should be appointed for
making an investigation for the application of the license for the protection homes. These
licenses are not transferable and they are valid only for the specified period. The Government
is empowered to make ancillary rules in respect of license, management, and maintenance of
protection homes, or ancillary matters by virtue of Section 23 of the Act.

Use of pictures: Taking a picture in public place in India is not illegal. There’s no such law
which is prohibiting photography in public. However, if the subject of the photograph i.e. the
female has a problem with it, then the perpetrator can definitely get booked under Section 354-
D of IPC. Photographing somebody without their consent violates their right to privacy which

26
is implicit in Art. 21 (Right to Life) of our constitution. Photographing somebody is the first
violation and then publishing it would lead to another violation. Section 509 of the IPC too
can be used to book the person as taking a photograph without consent can be referred to as an
insult by intruding upon the privacy of such female.

Laws relating to Information Technology & Sexual Harassment and violation of

fundamental rights will help in registering a complaint or filing a case. Though photography in
public is not prohibited by the law, BUT one can still take legal action against those who
invade your privacy and misuse your pictures or videos. The law makes it clear that although
one is free to take pictures for private use of other people in public areas under the Constitution
of India Article 19, however publishing a photo in a manner that might be "embarrassing,
mentally traumatic" or causing "a sense of insecurity about the activities the person in
the photograph is involved in" is illegal under Article 21. In this case, we can be sure the
experience is beyond traumatic.
If the photo is being uploaded for commercial purposes, it is mandatory for the photographer
to ask permission.

Media: Violation of Right to Privacy: After raids on brothels in Sangli, Maharashtra in

2005-06, the newspaper and television carried the photographs of the women detained, in clear
violation of the law as well as the right to confidentiality. Since even women who were not
minors or were simply living in the same abode as sex workers were picked up, it also impacted
the daily lives of women and their prospects for marriage in a conservative society. More
disturbing was the fact that the police and the media seemed to be in collusion in order to
humiliate the women and sensationalize the story of the raid. Research revealed that the police
also threatened sex workers with media publicity in newspapers and television channels in
order to coerce them into having sex. Street walkers in Ranchi complained that media exposure,
especially in publishing photographs rendered them more vulnerable and put them at greater
risk. Sex workers also implicated the media in biased reporting, using only court versions or
police hand-outs without interviewing them or listening to their stories.

Furthermore, in some countries, information about a person’s HIV status (sometimes

accompanied by a photograph of the individual) has been distributed widely in the media,
placing people at risk of retaliatory attacks and breaching their right to privacy.

27
Mandatory registration with the police or health authorities is imposed on sex workers in
some countries. This breaches sex workers’ confidentiality and privacy and affects their
opportunities for employment outside of sex work, education and access to justice, by
maintaining a record of their work as sex workers in a stigmatized context. Sex workers are
often reluctant to register because of the stigma and consequent discrimination surrounding sex
work. Nonregistration creates an illegal or unrecognized tier of workers and their access to
health and other services is further limited.

Sexual Privacy: The right to sexual privacy is increasingly recognized in jurisprudence

around the world. In the U.S in particular, the courts have enthusiastically located a
constitutional right to sexual privacy. In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the U.S.
Supreme Court was cautious to highlight the importance of privacy in the peculiar sphere
of marital bedrooms in the context of birth control. In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), when
confronted with the question of the legality of certain sexual conduct between persons of
the same sex, the court held that no “majoritarian sexual morality” could override
legitimate privacy interests.

On the other hand, the approach of the Supreme Court of India towards the right to sexual
privacy has been, at best, ambivalent. The judgment in Suresh Kumar Koushal (2013)
upholding the criminalization of voluntary sexual intercourse between those of the same
sex remains a serious blow to the right to sexual freedom. However, subsequently,
in NALSA v. Union of India (2014), the Court said that the value of privacy is fundamental
to those of the transgender community.

However, it is extremely important for the sex workers to have the right to Sexual Privacy
too, as this will protect them from any discomfort caused by repeated questions and
surveys on their sexual life.

Privacy in e-media: Section 72 (Penalty for Breach of confidentiality and privacy): Save as
otherwise provided in The Information Technology Act, 2000 or any other law for the time
being in force, if any person who, in pursuance of any of the powers conferred under this Act,
rules or regulations made thereunder, has secured access to any electronic record, book,
register, correspondence, information, document or other material without the consent of the
person concerned discloses such electronic record, book, register, correspondence,

28
information, document or other material to any other person shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one
lakh rupees, or with both.

Legal Consequences of Breach of Privacy of Children

Prohibition on Publication of Identity of Child:

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 [Further referred to as JJ Act]
clearly lays down: "No report in any newspaper, magazine or news-sheet or visual media of
any enquiry regarding a juvenile in conflict with law (under an amendment proposed and now
under consideration by the Standing Committee of Parliament, the words or ‘a child in need of
care and protection’ are to be added here) under this Act shall disclose the names, address or
school or any other particulars calculated to lead to the identification of the juvenile."

"Juvenile in conflict with law" would mean a juvenile alleged to have committed an offence
(unfortunately, in this case: sex work) and not completed 18 years of age on the date of
commission of such an offence.

However, only if the enquiring authority in the interest of the juvenile permits such disclosure
in writing, then the press is justified in publishing such news. The right of privacy and the right
of the media and the public in general to the information has to be conciliated very often by
establishing thresholds or balances relating to their compatibility.

Particularly important are the cases where the privacy is that of a minor, which deserves special
interest and protection in order to avoid any damage to the minor’s development or
environment that may cause trouble to the minor’s social life.

Courts, when required to do so, frequently rule “anonymity orders”, preventing the publication
of information regarding a particular case where the applicant has provided grounds that his
privacy is at risk. The threshold is even higher in the case of minor’s privacy.

Section 83 of the Indian Penal Code, enumerates that nothing is an offence which is done by a
child above seven years of age and under 12 years, who has not attained sufficient maturity of

29
understanding to judge the nature and consequences of his conduct on that occasion. It should
also be noted that children below the age of seven years are deemed to be incapable of criminal
offence as per section 82 of the Indian Penal Code.

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 Chapter-3

SOURCES OF OPPRESSION

Prostitution is a word that comes from the Latin word prostituere, meaning money. It can be
defined as the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. It
involves providing sexual services, commercial sex, or informally termed as hooking.
Euphemistically, it has also been called the “world’s oldest profession”. Someone who works
in this field is said to be a prostitute, that is a kind of sex-worker. Prostitution is just one part
of the elaborate sex industry, with ‘brothels’ dedicated to this work.

The practice of prostitution is complex, and its legal status varies from country to country,
ranging from being an enforced or unenforced crime to a regulated profession. The legal aspect
of this practice is an important factor, for there have been numerous debates about the legality
of the whole thing. Different points of view arise, with some decision makers viewing
prostitution is something that is exploitative, while others argue that selling sex should be
decriminalized and a few others viewing it as a legitimate profession.

Prostitution in India

As such, prostitution is not illegal in India. However, according to the Indian Penal Code,
number of related activities like

• Soliciting such services at public places

• Carrying out such activities in hotels
• Kerb crawling
• Pandering
• Being an owner of a brothel or even running one
• Pimping are contraventions of law

Most of these are essential to the trade. Consequently, there are many brothels illegally
operating in the major metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. UNAIDS
estimate there were 6,57,829 prostitutes in the country in 2016.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF PROSTITUTION IN INDIA:

Prostitution has been a part of every civilization that has existed and similarly, in India has
been an age old profession. There are in fact, mention of sex workers in Hindu mythology,
referring to them as apsaras. Whenever there have been services to be exchanged, this practice
has been used some or the other time. It is believed that the Aryan rulers followed a celestial
court where the concept of guest prostitution was established. As a token of friendship with
other kings, young maidens were offered. According to scriptures, Mahabharata has recorded
the names of 42 apsaras. Valmiki’s Ramayana too has a detailed account of the lives of
prostitutes. According to historians, prostitutes were treated with a great deal of respect by the
then-royal families. However, it all declined with the rise of the British rule.

During the pre-colonial period, there existed the devdasi system. Devdasi literally means
servant of God. Therefore, they were considered married to God and were not allowed to marry
a mortal. These women were called upon to perform dances and sing in front of the royalty.
During the British rule, the movement of devdasis into prostitution led to a decline in temple
dances.

It was during the later period of Mughal Empire that the performing art of nautch became
prominent, during the British EIC rule. Tawaifs were courtesans who catered to the nobility of
India, especially during the Mughal era. Their major contributions were towards music, mujra
(dance), theatre and the Urdu literary tradition, and were considered an authority on etiquette.
According to sources, the British maintained brothels for their troops across India. The women
recruited here were brought from poor families in the rural areas. The red-light cities of
Bombay developed during this period. The governments of many Indian princely states had
regulated prostitution in India prior to the 1860s. The British Raj enacted the Cantonment Act
of 1864 to regulate prostitution in colonial India as a matter of accepting a necessary evil. The
Cantonment Acts regulated and structured prostitution in the British military bases which
provided for about twelve to fifteen Indian women kept in brothels called chaklas for each
regiment of thousand British soldiers. They were licensed by military officials and were
allowed to consort with soldiers only. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of women
and girls from continental Europe and Japan were trafficked into British India, where they
worked as prostitutes servicing British soldiers and local Indian men.

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One of the major concerns that arises with respect to prostitution in India, where it differs from
the other countries, is why people, or especially women get into this area of work.

While some suggest that it is just a way of making money like any other job in the country,
others argue that there is much more than that. Women are forced into this profession because
of many reasons, with that arises a number of other concerns regarding the condition of women
in the field, the abuse they go through, physically, sexually, and mentally. The oppression they
face, due to the very prominent caste system in India, and because of appearance including age,
color of the skin, features, body types, etc. For e.g. during the late 16th and 17th centuries,
young Japanese women and girls were brought or captured from Japan as sex slaves.

Most of the research done by the development organization SANLAAP indicates that the
majority of sex workers in India work as prostitutes due to lacking resources to support
themselves or their children. Most do not choose this profession but out of necessity, often after
the breakup of a marriage or after being disowned and thrown out of their homes by their
families. The children of sex workers are much more likely to get involved in this kind of work
as well. A survey completed in 1988 by the All Bengal Women's Union interviewed a random
sample of 160 sex workers in Calcutta: Of those, 23 claimed that they had come of their own
accord, whereas the remaining 137 women claimed to have been introduced into the sex trade
by agents.

Some women and girls are by tradition born into prostitution to support the family. The Bachara
Tribe, for example, follow this tradition with eldest daughters often expected to be prostitutes.
Over 40% of 484 prostituted girls rescued during major raids of brothels in Mumbai in 1996
were from Nepal. In India one estimate calculated that as many as 200,000 Nepalese girls,
many under the age of 14, were sold into sexual slavery during the 1990s.

Thus it is extremely important to throw light on these major issues, while talking about the sex
worker community, in order to empower them, we need to understand the psychology behind
why people are dragged into this work even if they don’t want to, the major area of focus in a
country like India is caste being the biggest source of oppression, and how caste system is still
playing such an important role when it comes to sex work communities.

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Caste System in India

Oppression is defined as the process of being subjected to cruel or unjust treatment. Social
oppression can be defined as a concept that explains the relationship between two parties where
one gains from the systematic abuse and exploitation of the other. Social oppression benefits
all members of the dominant group and everyone belonging to both the groups is involved,
irrespective of their individual attitudes and beliefs.

Social oppression is a concept that describes the relationship between two categories of people
in which one benefits from the systematic abuse and exploitation of the other. Because social
oppression is something that occurs between categories of people, it should not be confused
with the oppressive behaviour of individuals. In cases of social oppression, all members of the
dominant and subordinate groups are involved, regardless of individual attitudes or behaviour.

It occurs whenever one group holds power over another in society through the control of social
institutions, along with society's laws, customs, and norms.

Those in the controlling, or dominant group, benefit from the oppression of other groups
through privileges, like greater access to rights and resources, a better quality of life, and overall
better opportunities for living.

Oppression has been viewed as a systemic process by sociologists that is achieved through
social interaction, ideology, representation, social institutions and structure.
The processes resulting in oppression are at work on two levels: the macro and micro levels.
At the macro level, oppression is said to operate within social institutions, including education,
media, government, and the judicial system, among others. It also operates through the social
structure itself, which organizes people into hierarchies of race, class, and gender.
At the micro level, oppression is achieved through social interactions between people in
everyday life, in which biases that work in favour of dominant groups and against oppressed
groups shape how we see others, what we expect from them, and how we interact with them.
The caste system in India is one such example.
The caste system is a Hindu socio-hierarchical system follower in our country, which divides
people into structures of inequalities based upon the caste they’re born into. This not only
determines their occupation, but also the kind of livelihood they will lead, and determines the
path the rest of their life will follow.

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The system originates from the varna system of social order (Sanskrit word varna, meaning
colour), where the light skinned Aryans distinguished themselves from the typically darker-
skinned indigenous people of ancient India. These notions have repeatedly been countered
throughout history. However, social discrimination experienced by Dalits is still today’s
reality.

Caste-based differences have also been practiced in other regions and religions in the Indian
subcontinent like Nepalese Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. It has been
challenged by many reformist Hindu movements, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, and also by
present-day Indian Buddhism, especially Navayana.

New developments took place after India achieved independence, when the policy of caste-
based reservation of jobs was formalized with lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Since 1950, the country has enacted many laws and social initiatives to protect and improve
the socioeconomic conditions of its lower caste population.

Further, various intersectionalities within the category of Dalits arising from class, gender,
regional and political positions, have led to more violent forms of discrimination. Violence
against Dalit women, often caused by upper caste men and men in positions of relative power,
has been a deciding factor in making India the most unsafe country for women to live in. In the
case of India, according to the Census 2011, Dalit women comprise of 48.59% of the Dalit
population in India, which is 16.6% of the total population of India.

After understanding the concept of caste system in India, it is very evident that it has a major
role to play in every occupation, not just sex work. It is one of the major reasons why women
belonging to lower caste are not able to get out of sex work. Further, there are sex communities
which consist of only Dalit women, where the practice has been going on since ages. It’s almost
like a family profession and most of them have accepted their fate. Here, we talk about how
women belonging to the minorities are not able to get out of this work, and how they are
trafficked, and exploited.

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 Caste and Citizenship

Caste and History of Sex Work

The caste system has always been part of the Indian society even since before the colonial era
and has always been a tool for enabling oppression and marginalization of those who've been
systemically placed at the lower rung of the caste hierarchy. This socio-hierarchical system of
oppression traces its origins to the arrival of the Aryans in India who introduced the varna
system of social order that placed the light skinned Aryans at at higher position in society than
the indigenous people of ancient India. The caste system is therefore inherently discriminatory
as one is "born into" a particular caste and that defines their social status, customs, occupation,
and every other aspect of life. Caste based discrimination is so deep rooted that it continues
even today despite being banned by the constitution of India and places people with various
intersecting identities within lower caste communities at an even higher risk. In fact when
gender and caste identities intersect, the casteist notions of "purity" and "pollution" that aim at
segregation of social groups and also regulation of mobility of women become more visible
and prominent than ever in society. Brahmanical patriarchy in our society affects both the upper
caste and lower caste women differently especially in terms of their sexuality and reinforces
the idea that women must preserve their sexuality for maintaining patrilineal succession and
caste purity. In such a society, the image of a sex worker is seen as a symbol of female sexuality
which represents immorality and also then sets society's paradigm of what morality must look
like. Sex workers are seem as sexually immoral degenerates and sources of disease; they're
sexualized and demonized at the same time by the society.

Contrary to popular belief, the history of sex work goes back much before the colonial era. In
fact, social scientist Dr. Sukumari Bhattacharji in her work, Prostitution in Ancient India,
argues that the earliest mention of prostitution can be found in the Vedic text of Rigveda. The
practice of sex work itself finds it's place in history throughout the reign of various rulers
beginning from ancient India. Professor, Dr. Tulsing Sonwani in their work, Prostitution in
Indian Society: Issues, Trends and Rehabilitation, argues that the Aryans in India had
developed a system of guest prostitution where trained sex workers were used against enemies
to destroy empires. Sex workers were also common during the reign of the Kauravas and the
Pandavas. In both contexts they were considered an important part of the royal court in

36
Brahmanic India. There were certain prescribed rules, code of conduct, rights and duties for
them. There also seems to have been a classification of the sex workers during those times and
throughout history. The early Buddhist literature, especially the Jatakas shed some light on the
existence of categorisation of prostitutes in society. According to various historians and social
scientists, prostitution wasn't seen as an act that led to loss of dignity in the ancient Indian
society. It was an acceptable practice that was regulated by state institutions in accordance with
the existing social values and norms.

There are a number of sex worker communities that very evidently portray the
oppression that sex workers face because of traditional norms, social norms and caste.
Some of these communities are as follows:

SEX-WORKER COMMUNITIES

Devadasi System: History, Evolution and Prevalence today

History and Evolution

A ritualised form of prostitution known as the Devadasi system was also an established custom
mainly in South India in the third century A.D. The terms devadasi and joginis are of Sanskrit
origin and literally mean a female servant of the deity. This is was a sacred and religious system
of consecrating young unmarried girls to the service of a deity in Hindu temples and it
flourished under the sanction and patronage of the state and the temple. The majority of these
devadasis dedicated their lives in the worship of goddess Yellamma also known as Renuka,
Jogamma or Holiyyamma. They also performed their duties during important ceremonies and
festivals. This custom of dedicating young women to the temples emerged from the Puranas.
The practice became widespread in the early medieval period after the construction of massive
Hindu temples when a need was felt to have pious dancing and singing girls dedicated to temple
worship. The rapid construction of temples and the growth of the Bhakti movement led to the
existence of the Devadasi tradition. The devadasis could not marry any mortal or commit
themselves to any one particular man as they "belonged" to the divinity and as per traditional
marriage norms were a property of the deity. This also meant that these women had to serve
their community of worshippers through sexual favours as well. There may have been multiple
other reasons for the emergence of this tradition of consecrating young girls and women to the

37
temples, one of them being that this custom served as a substitute for human sacrifice for the
appeasement and blessings of the deities. However, it is not clear why there was a need for
devadasis to provide sexual services. One reason could be that sexual hospitality from a
woman so close to the deity would mean prosperity. Another reason could be that the devadasi
system had been a part of the early Dravidian phallic worship. The devadasis were well reputed
and shared wealth in the temple property and by the 10th century it was established that the
wealth and prestige of a temple was directly in proportion to the number of devadasis it
possessed. They were revered and praised as the harbingers of auspiciousness by the temple,
state and society and were trained in music, dance and worship from an early age. These women
and the institution itself have different names in different parts of the country even though there
are certain differences in practices and norms between these closely related institutions. This
practice was prevalent mostly in South India but did not flourish in North India due to a variety
of reasons. Today, the devadasi tradition can be sporadically found in other parts of the country
as well.

It is also important to note the influence of caste in this system even though the devadasis
enjoyed their privileges in society that time. Caste was prevalent in all aspects of life and this
system wasn't an exception either. Even though the devadasis seemed to have been a social
group on their own with their distinctive traditions, rules, and etiquettes, they were not
classified as a separate caste. Instead, their work and duties were determined by their respective
castes which means there was some form of hierarchies in play. The upper caste
devadasis were involved in ritual duties of the temple and the lower caste ones were involved
in other non-ritualistic duties. Rooting out of a Brahmanical society, the devadasi institution
was inherently casteist from the beginning and down the line, over the centuries, this practice
shifted to the lower castes and became a tool for exploitation and dominance by upper castes
on those below them in the social order of caste. Due to various social, political and historical
reasons, the devadasi system underwent many changes that proved to be disastrous for these
devadasi women and led to their sexual exploitation and ostracization that continues even
today.

This degradation in the status of devadasis slowly began with the destruction of temples by
invaders who with the establishment of their rule also began to focus on androcentric practices
of worship. Some rulers especially the non- Hindu ones from foreign lands such as Aurangzeb
were against the devadasi tradition and took measures to abolish it. Aurangzeb being an
orthodox unlike other Muslim ruler issued public proclamations ordering a ban on singing and

38
dancing girls asking them to either marry or leave the kingdom. He even demolished a temple
in Maharashtra that had a large number of devadasis. These historical developments
undermined the position and livelihood of devadasis in the society. Gradually, this so called
religious and noble practice led to a clandestine sort of prostitution where the devadasis who
were now predominantly lower caste women were sexually exploited at the hands of upper
caste men. Even the Christian missionaries in the 19th century under colonial rule tried to
abolish this tradition calling it immoral and against Christian values. However, interestingly
the British government did not do much to abolish this caste based exploitation even as they
outlawed the devadasi system in paper. This was because they wanted prostitutes for their army
men to satisfy their sexual needs. This further embedded the tradition of intergenerational sex
work for lower castes as upper caste women did not take up this work due the increased caste
divide during colonial rule. Caste also became the determining factor for lower caste women
to enter into this work due to the resistance of the lower castes against established social
structures and the modern ideas that were challenging the legitimacy of the caste system itself.
This could've led to the reconstruction of this tradition in a way that exploits the Dalit-Bahujans
further through caste based prostitution.

Prevalence Today

Despite the abolition of the Devadasi tradition through various government Acts such as the
Karnataka Devadasi (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982 (amended in 2010 to rehabilitate
the existing devadasis) that makes consecration of women to temples illegal and gives the
devadasis legal marriage rights, the practice of dedicating young girls and women to temples
still continues as a culturally and economically valued form of sex work especially in South
India especially in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and even in
Maharashtra and Orissa. According to a 2017 report by the National Commission for Women
(NCW), the devadasi custom is still prevalent in India and thousands of Dalit women are forced
and lured into this tradition annually by priests and other middlemen. Back in 2006, NCW had
found the number of devadasis in India to be between 44,000 and 2,50,000 and till date these
are the it official figures available in the country. In the past few years, as recent as 2017, there
have also been reports of minor girls being offered to temples and stripped naked after being
devoted to the deity.

39
A majority of these devadasis come from extremely poor landless families who cannot afford
to pay dowries for their daughters. The devadasi system is justified by poverty-stricken low
caste families as a source of livelihood as women who enter this work are given shelter over
their heads along with some regular remittance to their families. Some families also hope for
prosperity, a better future, birth of a male child or cure for diseases while they give up their
daughters into this tradition. The devadasi women are also seen as assets within the community
as they become providers of the family when they enter into this tradition. Commercial sex
work happens under the shield of this religious tradition today and socio-economic pressures
enable its continuation. This tradition asserts and strengthens the social control on lower caste
women by upper caste patriarchy through their defilement and appropriation of their sexuality.
In fact, being a lower caste woman is a "prerequisite" for becoming a devadasi. Numerous
studies also suggest that almost all devadasis belong to the lower caste communities. The mere
position of these castes in society leave them vulnerable to all kinds of abuse especially from
the upper castes. These women are exploited by upper caste men to satiate their sexual needs
but otherwise they are looked down upon. This hypocrisy is captured in the common
expression, "untouchable by day but touchable by night". In fact according to tradition, after
a young girl is brought into this practice and married to the deity through rituals, she is required
to spend the night with an upper caste man. Throughout their lives women who enter this
tradition are controlled by the upper caste men who run the system. This system clearly has
become a tool for the upper castes to assert and maintain their supremacy over the lower castes.

Apart from their duties in the temple and the the sex work that comes with it, devadasis also
earn their livelihood through manual labour or agriculture in case they are disowned by their
upper caste patrons who brought them into the tradition through deflowering. No other sources
of income seem to be available for this community as they face marginalization in every aspect
of life. With the abolition of the devadasi tradition, the art and livelihood opportunities of these
women were snatched away while the regressive and abusive practices against the community
continued. It is accepted by many devadasi communities that the practice of dedicating young
girls to temples was horrible but they did want to continue performing worship and practicing
various art forms. It is the casteist and hyper nationalist society that demonized their practices
and sexualized their entire being leaving them bereft of their sexual and economic agency.
Manjari Chaturvedi, an acclaimed Sufi Kathak dancer says that the record of history the
devadasis who practiced art were unfairly referred to as "fallen women". In fact the devadasi

40
women in the 1920s and 1930s resisted being labelled so and this very resistance led them to
be seen as "bad women".

This only indicates that the measures taken to prevent the atrocities against the devadasis
communities are inadequate and do not aim to help the members of the community in the long
term. The community also goes through other multitude of problems such as sexually
transmitted diseases like AIDS due to multiple sexual partners and lack of awareness regarding
safe sex practices and personal hygiene. Abortions and stillbirths are very common and
contraception is still considered a taboo. This means that unhealthy and crude methods of
abortions are adopted in the community and not much care is given to the reproductive health
of these women. Moreover, the children of the devadasis also go through a lot of stigma and
trauma.

There is a need to address the root cause of the situation of the devadasis in India. It is evident
that problems of illiteracy, lack of opportunities, superstition and poverty are the main reasons
for the continuation of the intergenerational practice of the dedication of young girls into
temples and the ostracization that comes with it. These are the immediate areas that need to be
worked upon further by the government as well as other organisations by involving members
of the community in decision and policy making and letting them speak for themselves. There
are several NGOs who have been tirelessly working to help and empower this community
through education, leadership training, and providing income generating opportunities. There
is also a lot of emphasis on self-help groups to encourage community building and self reliance.
There are some beautiful success stories of women who escaped the systemic exploitation
through hard work and intervention. One example is of a woman who with the help of Milaap
organization opened a pan shop to support her family and educate her children.

Looking at the history of sex work and present factual evidence it can be deduced that caste
system not only facilitated the social division in labour but also determined its sexual division.
Today, it is the women of lower castes who are predominantly pushed into sex work not only
because of poor socio-economic conditions or trafficking but also because sex work in many
lower caste communities is passed down through generations as a 'legitimate' community
practice and source of income, which means that the entry of a lot of these sex workers into
this business could've been "consensual". It is important to note that this "choice" or "consent"
is heavily determined by the extreme caste based ostracization and prejudice towards such

41
communities that leaves little to no room for upward social mobility and alternate job
opportunities.

Other Communities Involved in Sex Work Today:

THE BACHHADAS

Sex work is a tradition in the Bachhada community which was once a nomadic tribe involved
in singing, and dancing and is now classified as a Scheduled Caste in the country. Women of
this community have engaged in sex work for centuries now and in the old days they were
trained to become respected royal courtesans. This community now resides in the villages
spread across the three districts of Neemuch, Ratlam and Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. In a
country where the male child is preferred more, the birth of a girl child calls for celebration in
the community as it means another breadearner for the family. In fact the male members of the
family are financially dependent on the women and are therefore looked down upon by the
upper castes for not fulfilling the stereotypical role of a man as the provider of the family. Even
though a lot of these men have higher education through the hard earned money they're not
able to find jobs due to their caste and therefore no other source of income is available for them.
They are also then forced to also act as pimps for the women in the family. Even though the
financial burden lies upon the women, the community is not untouched by patriarchy as the
jyaati panchayats of the villages are still male dominated and the decision making largely
favours the interests of men. Women also face ostracization within this close knit community
if they try to leave this work to educate themselves or find better opportunities of livelihood.

Women in the community are forced to take up sex work in the garb of tradition very early on
in life by their families and a lot of times even before they reach puberty. This means that
pedophilia is rampant here and the "customers" of minors are basically rapists who have
violated the country's laws on child rape and sexual crimes. These laws may be strong in paper
but their implementation is a huge problem as they do not seem to reach the villages where
these sex workers live and operate along the Neemuch-Ratlam-Mandsaur state highway by
sitting on charpoys all dressed up in bright clothes and loud makeup to solicit passing drivers.
According to The Quint, in a 2017 petition filed by Akash Chouhan, a member of the Bachhada
community, 1500 underage girls enter sex work annually from this community whose average
population is 23,000. Of this population 65% are women which indicates a sex ratio favouring

42
women. This rise in the number of women in the community is not only due to their birth but
also because of the rampant purchase of trafficked girls into the community through a nominal
amount ranging between Rs. 2000 to Rs 10,000. The need to improve their financial conditions
drives families of the community into this illegal organised business of buying young girls
from across the country.

In the Bachhada community, sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS thrives. In fact, the blood
samples taken from 5,500 members reveals that about 15-16% of them are HIV positive. These
diseases are also transmitted to their customers especially truck drivers who are the most
frequent customers. According an estimate of National AIDS Control Organization, 0.2% truck
drivers were living with HIV in 2017-18. These truckers also become carriers of these diseases
leading to infection in the community. There is a serious lack of proper and accessible health
care available for the community. Moreover, lack of awareness of safe sex practices also is a
major problem.

Positive change in and for the community is slow paced as the lack of social awareness at
grassroots remains a real problem rendering the governmental measures to help the community
through various policies, programmes and allocation of funds mostly inadequate. While people
from the community are slowly trying to get out of this tradition of caste based sexual
exploitation, the future still remains bleak for most members of the community due to the very
casteist and discriminatory nature and attitudes of the society. It is extremely important that the
government takes cognizance of the multi- dimensional issues faced by the Bachhadas by
understanding a social audit for them and follow by targetted intervention through a variety of
social welfare programmes to bring about real chamge and justice for the injustices meted out
to the community. There also needs to be planned intervention to sensitise the men in the
community. These steps need to be given more importance than police intervention through
raids which more or less only lead to humiliation, harrassment and further financial burden.
Several activists and NGOs such as the Jan Sahas Nai Abhi Samajik Chetna Samiti, and Udan,
are however actively working to empower women from the community through education and
other programmes. Children in schools are also being taught about various social issues and
also Dalit literature to instill awareness and a zeal for asking probing questions.

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THE BEDIA COMMUNITY

The Bedia community inhabits many small villages of Madhya Pradesh and that of central
India. Originally, the Bedia community was basically engaged in singing and dancing as “rai”
folk artists during the rule of monarchy in central India. It was also said that the Bedia
community were a nomadic tribe and that they used to be engaged in criminal activities as well.
However, after the end of the monarchy and the amendment of the laws, the Bedia community
was left with nothing for their survival. Since their primary source of income was nothing but
pure entertainment, they faced a hard time picking up an occupation to serve their families.
Thus, it was then that the Bedia women engaged in prostitution. The sex work served as a good
source of income, and gradually it became their primary source of livelihood. It became a
tradition. Every girl child born into the family belonging to this community was trained to be
a prostitute, and was forced into prostitution as soon as they reached puberty. The family
structure consisted of the women practicing sex work, where the girl even used to dance at
bars, and the men worked as pimps/agents for the girls and their clients. Because of such rigid
traditional mentality, Bedia women have been vulnerable victims of their community’s
traditional and cultural practices. The women were given no choice to get out of this work, and
since the entire family used to be dependent on their earnings, they had no choice but to
sacrifice their own willingness and continue the profession.

The profession of prostitution is viewed as disreputable by the other communities, as a result

of which the Bedia community was not accepted by the other communities in the society.

HISTORIC BACKGROUND

The Bedia community was basically an entertainment community, they used to sing and dance
to entertain the kings and the land owners. Then in the Mughal era, Bedia women used to
entertain the Mughal soldiers by singing, dancing and by providing sexual pleasure to them.
This tradition continued even under the patronage of the British armed forces. However, later
it was revealed that the Bedia community along with the other communities like bachada,
kanjar and sansi had played a significant role in the sepoy mutiny in 1875 against the British
crown, which later provoked the British authorities to include these communities in the
“Notified Tribes and Criminal Tribes list”. They faced a lot of repression, for example their

44
stay overnight at any village was supposed to be reported to the local administration and the
police. This repression deprived them of their essential sources of livelihood.

After being very high on demand during the king and land owners period, and the after during
the Mughal era, the Bedia community was ignored after the war in 1875, and the community
started facing extreme repression.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL FEATURES OF THE BEDIA COMMUNITY

In a recent interview conducted with senior male member belonging to the Bedia community,
he said that they are artists, and they have been recognized by several national and reginal
societies for their “rai” folk dance. The senior male member continued to say that their
ancestors had to adopt prostitution because of contemporary circumstances, as the British
government treated them wrongly, to survive their families the women can forward and adopt
the practice of sex work, and thus gradually it became their identity. Even the independent
government if India did not do anything for them, and as a matter of fact whatever they have
today is because of prostitution. Thus, they cannot leave prostitution.

It can be very clearly seen that why the Bedia community still after so many years continue to
practice sex work, and why the women are not able to get out of this work. This particular
community faces repression from the other parts of the society, the women find t difficult to
get a source of livelihood other than this, and even if they do, gender discrimination, societal
conditioning, stereotypes, less opportunities, exploitation, and many other factors forces them
to go back to practice sex work.

The field work done in Madhya Pradesh, and other villages around it showed the sex
proportion, the women are more in number than the men. This is because the brides come
outside of the community, while the women of the Bedia community were not allowed to
marry. There is a lack of education, and the percentage of illiteracy is high, which leads to
unemployment and poverty. But prostitution serves as a great source of income, they use the
money to buy agricultural land, renovating their houses and afford other basic amenities. The
Bedia families consider themselves lucky, if a girl child is born into the family.

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CASTE DISCRIMINATION

The Bedia community considers prostitution a legitimate source of income. For them
prostitution is a culturally and socially accepted form of livelihood. But the derogatory label of
prostitution has stigmatized the entire community and hence they are treated as “untouchable”
and “immoral” people by the society. This discrimination can be observed in the social isolation
of Bedia children and the other castes. The other castes of the region treat them very poorly,
they don’t allow their children to play with Bedia children. The women and the children are
subjected to humiliation from the other castes as they are constantly belittled for their
profession. The children od the Bedia community are even deprived from education, as they
face extreme discrimination and abuse in local schools, as a result of which many Bedia
children continue to remain illiterate. However, the women do their best to be able to send their
children to schools, and many have been successful in providing education to them.

DOMINATION OF TRADITION

Traditional practices of a particular culture coerce the natives into following it without
question. These cultural practices have been followed from one generation to another. As a
result of such traditional dominance that has been carried forward since a long time, prostitution
has been accepted as a tradition amongst the Bedia community. The women belonging to this
community are deprived of the freedom to dream of education, career or a respectable marriage.
Their bodies are used as a commodity to earn for the family and the community. Since they
have been grown up in an environment where they have been conditioned to believe that this
is what they have to do, and they don’t have a choice. They were made to accept the fact that
their bodies don’t belong to them, and since their entire upbringing has been like that, it is
actually very difficult to break these walls they have created in their heads, and to bring about
a change in their psychology where they can be made to believe that there are many other
sources of livelihhood as well and they can actually provide better conditions to their children.

Talking about upbringing, the Bedia community has formed arrangements to teach the girls
special skills, like they are trained in folk dance, they must learn how to do makeup and wear
suggestive clothes. Hence, the acceptance of these traditional norms becomes the part of the
normal growing up process of these young innocent girls. But the extraordinary point here is
that the same considered to be suitable for these girls to enter into such an adult profession, is

46
not supposed to be appropriate for them to be able to take their own decisions. The women of
the Bedia community often says that prostitution is their destiny, therefore they can do nothung
to change it. The violation and the exploitation of women’s rights and emotions is very evident
amongst the Bedia community. The women are often abused, physically, verbally and sexually
be their clients. In spite of being the crucial earning members of the family, women are
controlled by the patriarchal norms.

THE LIFESTYLE OF THE BEDIA COMMUNITY

The condition of women in the community is not that great. The girls born into the Bedia
community have no choice but to practice sex work and earn for their families, the brides that
are married to the male members of the community belong to other parts of the society, and
they are responsible for taking care of the household and the children. The children born to the
Bedia community are considered to be illegitimate, as they don’t have the support of their
fathers, and these children are subjected to maximum suppression and discrimination. Even
though the women run the household, patriarchy still exists and the women have no right in the
decision making.

The Bedia community is facing a number of issues ranging from illiteracy, unemployment,
domestic violence, and suffering from health issues like tuberculosis, sexually transmitted, and
HIV/AIDS.

Domestic violence is a common problem for the wives of the Bedia wives. As long as the Bedia
sisters and daughters are practicing prostitution and earning money for the family, they are
treated well, but if they try to get out of this work or deny continuing the family tradition, they
are subjected to violence. The Bedia men spend all their money on alcohol which leads to
untimely and premature deaths, while the health of the Bedia women is ruined by sexually
transmitted diseases and other related issues.

Although Bedia people claim that government has not done anything for them, yet Bedias
are included in the scheduled caste (SC) category. They are unable to get reservation
benefits because of their own illiteracy.

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DISCUSSION

Thus, it is very evident that due to traditional norms and conditioning, women are forced into
this work. Young girls accept it as a part of their life, and once they grow up they find it very
difficult to get out of it, as they feel it is already too late to change their lives and it is next to
impossible to be accepted again in polite society. Such cultural and traditional practices keep
on encroaching on their rights and victimizing them. The practice of sex work has violated
human rights for centuries and still have a relative dominance in this Bedia community. Thus,
the major reasons for the women to get into this area of work without any right to make a
decision for themselves is traditional dominance, illiteracy, lack of awareness, lack of
resources, and opportunities.

People have started considering this a real issue, and have started working towards it. The state
administration of Madhya Pradesh has done some developmental work. Harsh Mander, one of
the former bureaucrats, has spoken about the difficulties faced by the Bedia women on public
platforms and worked for change in the Bedia community. Other than this, Madhya Pradesh
state government has started the “Jabali Yojna” since 1992 for the eradication of traditionally
practiced prostitution. The scheme focused on eliminating the commercial and sexual
exploitation of the women in the community and to empower the children of these specific
communities. However, since the institutional support of prostitution is the biggest drawback,
the scheme was not entirely successful. Government tried to rescue prostitutes and handed them
back to their families, but these families again sent the women back into the same work.

A number of NGOs have been working with the communities like Bedia, although they have
failed to completely eradicate prostitution until now. There has been some ray of hope in the
right directions, as there have been cases reported where the girls from this community have
pleaded to rescue them from their community’s traditional occupation. The increasing
awareness has helped the women to acknowledge the importance of education, as a result of
which they have started sending their children to schools. Now, they don’t force their daughters
into this work, simply because they want them to have better lives. Men also started to work
for the survival of the family.

Bedia women have been a victim of institutional prostitution since long. Colonial state policy,
poverty, social institutions, cultural history, patriarchy and sluggish nature of male are
responsible for same. Apparently, the problem may seem local but links at the ground level are
responsible for creating a vicious chain for girl-child trafficking. Bedia pimps and agents buy

48
girl children from poor families and sell them in red-light areas in India as well as in the
international market. However, a more active role is expected from the Government and other
organizations for its total eradication. A longterm intervention can certainly change their lives.
The Bedia community should be encourage to develop their folk art of ‘rai’ dance which can
establish them as artists in the national and international arena in the future. Their heritage can
be utilized as a source of livelihood and can give them their identity and dignity. This historical
practices of victimization of women can be rooted out through multiple interventions by the
Government through legal efforts, special opportunities for such communities and adoption of
effective policies.

CITIZENSHIP

Migration is process of social change wherein an individual or a group of people move from
one region to another for permanent or temporary settlement due to natural disasters, political
conflicts, debt traps or in search of better livelihood opportunities, education and so on. In
India, thousands of migrants move to big cities in the hope of a better life. However, unless it's
for marriage purposes where the number of women migrants is higher, society still finds
migration of women questionable especially if it's for sex work. There is absolutely no doubt
about the fact that human trafficking is a real social evil that pushes people into sex work and
in itself is a huge illegal business in the country. However, it is important to understand that
thousands of non-trafficked women leave their homes and families at their own will to become
sex workers due to a multitude of socio-economic reasons. These migramt sex workers have to
face a lot of marginalization and discrimination due to their cultural identity in addition to the
stigma that is attached to being a sex worker. They also go through a lot of psychological issues
such as depression, anxiety and trauma due to their situation. Apart from these issues, sex
workers in India also face the problem of lack of access to legal aid and their membership in
the society is often questioned.

Non-trafficked Migrant Sex Workers

A woman deciding her future and being economically independent has always been seen as a
threat to the patriarchal society. It's not surprising when more eyebrows are raised if a woman

49
decides to migrate for sex work and the society immediately either demonizes or victimizes
them. As aforementioned, trafficking is inextricably linked to sex work and does lead to the
exploitation of so many women every year. However, it is important to recognise both human
trafficking and sex work as separate from each other. So many women from across the country
and even from cross borders willingly migrate to larger cities in the country, like Delhi,
Kolkata, Mumbai to work in brothels and red light areas as sex workers and are mostly always
driven by economic betterment. For them sex work is an easy source of livelihood and they
may or may not see it as sexual exploitation. In fact, sex workers may also find freedom and
agency which they might not have previously enjoyed.

By constantly linking human trafficking for sexual exploitation and consensual sex work, the
focus inadvertently falls upon criminalisation of sex workers and the unfair application of non-
criminal laws on them. This often leads to human rights violations and denial of fundamental
and important rights such as right to life and dignity. These sex workers are extremely
vulnerable to violence of verbal, physical and sexual nature as they are perceived as criminals
in the eyes of society in addition to being regarded as "public property". This violence and
exploitation comes not only from domestic and work spaces but also from local authorities and
the police. These sex workers are often asked for sexual favours in return for services from
people in positions of authorities. Due to their "criminal" tag they're always seen with suspicion
and are also face arbitrary arrests for minor offences under public nuisance or obscene conduct
provisions of the Indian penal code. However due to their nature of work and the stigma
attached to it they often refrain from seeking legal help.

Moreover, due to this conflation of migrant sex work and trafficking, sex workers who are
consensually in the business are also often forcefully "rescued" or rehabilitated through police
raids and intervention of NGOs when they register complaints. Thereafter they are sent into
correction homes or rehabilitation centres where they're deprived of their source of income and
their situation may further deteriorate as sex workers recount instances of physical, mental and
sexual abuse in those places of "rehabilitation". In a lot of cases, police intervention also results
in forced eviction without provisions of alternative housing. Thus, when voluntary sex work is
confused with human trafficking, it leads to further gender based discrimination through laws
and restricts women's right to mobility.

Case studies and research on migrant sex workers suggest that these women come from
families who've been plunged into extreme poverty due to various reasons such as loss of

50
livelihood due to natural calamities, death of a breadwinner of the family and so on. So many
of them also belong to marginalised communities of lower castes many of whom also continue
the tradition of intergenerational sex work for example, the Bediyas and the Bachhadas as
discussed earlier.

When these women enter sex work they are faced with many challenges concerning their
intersecting identities of caste, gender and culture and this could result in an identity crisis and
erasure which could lead to a lot of psychological issues. However, this could also mean a
sense of belonging for them in a span of time as they settle down in the new environment and
get accustomed to the sex worker community and it's various practices through assimilation or
biculturalism. Despite all the cultural and language barriers and the marginalization and
exploitation that comes with it in the community, these women also end up forming
connections with other people in the community due to their common line of work and this is
where they find acceptance at the end of the day.

Migrant Refugees

Women from the neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bangladesh also migrate to become sex
workers in the country. The Nepalese sex workers face a lot of discrimination and stigma in
their country as well and they migrate or sometimes rather escape and move to continue sex
work in big Indian cities and in the hope to reclaim their livelihood and security. In fact
according to Ritumoni Das, a co-founder of the Kat-Katha NGO that works with sex workers
and their children Delhi's largest red-light area known as Garstin Bastion (GB) road houses
more than 3,000 sex workers alone and among them about 400-500 are Nepali. While
authorities in both India and Nepal collaborate to keep a check on cross border trafficking of
these sex workers and take measures to prevent it, government interventions have always been
inadequate and often lead to problems that usually come with rescue and rehabilitation work
as discussed earlier. They fail to target the real issue of human rights violations and deep rooted
structural violence and exploitation that these sex workers endure.

On speaking to one of the Nepalese sex workers in GB road, it was discovered by Ritumoni
that she had left home in her country at her own will 15 years ago after an ugly divorce that
turned her family against her. She also mentioned however that she wasn't ready to face the
exploitation that takes place due to this work. She recounts having travelled to various states

51
in the country for sex work and dealing with extreme exploitation before shifting to Delhi. The
woman also mentioned that many women she knew from her district back home in Nepal also
had taken to sex work in GB road after the destructive 2015 earthquake that shook the whole
of Nepal.

Unlike this woman, there are many Nepalese women who are also tricked into the business of
sex work and sometimes their ultimate destination of work is uncertain. There also seems to be
a misconception that one can easily reach the middle east by travelling through India and then
earn large sums of money there.

Just like any other community involved in sex work, Nepalese women too face the threat of
sexually transmitted diseases. Access to health care for these women is also a huge problem.
Moreover, the fetishization of Nepalese women who are preferred by those clients who can
afford their higher rates in red-light area due to their "youthful appearance" as described by
clients, also somehow leads to misconceptions like the belief that Nepalese women act as
protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

Developments Regarding Citizenship

While speaking of citizenship it becomes imperative to also talk about the trio of CAA-NRC-
NPR, which are laws that aim at changing the entire idea of citizenship in India and will render
many people especially from marginalised communities and in this case the sex worker
communities stateless. Numerous questions arise regarding how these laws are really going to
affect the sex wokers especially those who have fled their previous homes and even countries
and come to work in India. So many of these sex workers today were victims of human
trafficking, had escaped natural calamities, state persecution, unsafe domestic spaces, and
various such tortures and it's impossible for many of them to actually produce documents
giving proof of their citizenship. So many women and transgender persons who are sex workers
today had entered this work at a very early age when they were minors. Some of them had also
escaped their homes at those young ages and so many of them also do not know their real
parents if they died or abandoned them. In that case it is obvious that they might not have any
documents to prove their citizenship according to the guidelines of the new law. The trans
persons in the sex worker community are even an even more vulnerable section of society as
some of them do not even have their voter IDs since the right to vote was granted to them only

52
a few years ago. So many of such sex workers who are in their old age now will not be able
produce papers of ancestry. All of this is only a gist of the how the CAA-NRC-NPR are highly
exclusionary and oppressive policies that the government of India wants to push into effect
without considering the intersectionalities that exist in the very society they're part of.

Conclusion

There is a serious need to address the issues faced by migrant sex worker who are national
citizens and even refugees in India to help them lead a life free of stigma and exploitation.
Rehabilitation work should not only mean detaining them in squalid places where they are
deprived of their only source of livelihood but there should also be an effort to provide
education and income generating opportunities for the community. The Indian state needs to
do a serious reflection about how the laws they make affect people from various socio-
economic backgrounds and listen to the concerns of the people who will be affected by directly
them instead of muzzling their voices.

Appearance

Throughout the world, across societies and cultures, beauty ideals vary tremendously. This
holds true for both men and women, but women are more clearly and heavily weighed down
by these ideals that are now ingrained within the cultural standards. They’re impacted by these
ideals almost everywhere they go: from attracting a potential partner to earning a living.

Women have always been shackled by the patriarchal norms of the society. If that was not
enough, Western beauty ideals have become the standard, the norm. These have spread
throughout the rest of the world and are now being upheld even in Southeast Asia. If you don’t
conform to the norm, you’re seen as abnormal.

In the words of Susie Orbach, “We’re losing bodies as fast as we’re losing languages.”

Studies suggest that the average white American woman exposes herself to 168 personal care
chemicals a day, seven days a week. In the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
researchers suggest that the cumulative toxic burden for American women of color is
even higher. Women of colour face more pressure than white women to conform to European

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standards of beauty. Dark-skinned has been historically discriminated against, and white is
considered superior. To achieve this, women subject themselves to countless treatments and
chemicals, to be accepted by the society. When they do, most of them are subjected to ridicule,
because they are not “natural”.

Professional work environments have rules that put immense focus on appearance. For e.g.
black women are under immense pressure to straighten their hair, as their natural hair is
considered “less professional”.

Even in India, a woman’s physical characteristics determine, to an extent, how she’s going to
be treated.

Looking back from the Paleolithic era to the 21st century, the “ideal” beauty type has fluctuated
a lot, but one thing has remained constant: men’s interference and entitlement with respect to
a woman’s body. For instance, Pythagorus was the one who decided to give the ratio for beauty:
he declared that in order to be considered beautiful, women should have a symmetrical face,
and that the width of the face should be two third of the length of it.

Another example is from the Victorian era, where the makeup products of the time were full
of toxic substances like lead, ammonia and mercury. Nonetheless, women poisoned themselves
with those substances in order to be more appealing, not to themselves, but to the male folk.
The male-dominated population desired women who were pale and fragile, and thus the trend
began.

In the 21st century, currently existing beauty standards are influenced by media and models.
The extent to which women are objectified in the film industry and in songs, by their portrayal
of an ideal woman and the choice of lyrics respectively, when seen all around the world, and
in India, is horrifying, but not surprising. Women have fallen into this trap of patriarchy too.
According to them, only young, skinny women with curves and a “natural” face of makeup are
desirable. Young girls are brainwashed into believing this from the age they are exposed to
media and it results in low self-worth, that consequently leads them to harm themselves in
order to please everyone.

Everywhere in the world women suffer, and prostitution as a profession is not devoid of these
standards either.

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Current Scenario

GLOBAL

A number of reports can be found talking about the sex industries operating in different parts
of the world. In an account talking about African-American experiences, it was observed that
the selection for a sex house in the Caribbean was based upon applications. Women apply to
the immigration departments for permission to work at the “hotel”, and a few women are
selected from thousands of applicants each time. The women who are selected for working in
the brothel are strictly in their twenties, light-skinned, with silky or bleached blond hair, and
skinny, i.e. catering to the image of a sensual Caribbean woman.

A number of activities are performed here, which are based on female exploitation, where they
constantly remain under government scrutiny, whereas their customers are completely ignored.

Another study analyzed resistance in the works of artists like Rosana Paulino, Maria
Magdalena Campos-Pons and Renee Cox, where their works addressed the stereotype of black
women as inherently hypersexual and potentially harmful. They seek to investigate staring by
the subject as an act depicting power, which was seen as attempt at objectification or
judgement. The staring emphasizes specific characteristics of black women. Their busts and
buttocks have been historically viewed as identifiers of sexuality and to support claims that
these women are less than human, or even animalistic.

Historical facts show the extent of exploitation of black people and these stereotypes further
subject them to the same even today. As their characterization is hypersexual, the assailant can
either assume that his victim desires sexual pleasure when they don’t, or that he’s free to violate
their body without any remorse or consequences.

INDIA

Every year, hundreds of women are trafficked into India, tricked into it by trafficking agencies.
Currently, it is estimated that over a million women and minors are a part of the sex industry
in various corners of India. Of these, a large percentage of victims are women from Nepal.
NGOs working in the area estimate that up to 10,000 of these women work in the brothels of
Bombay itself. Of that population, one fifths are considered to be minors working in the area.
Nepal’s economic conditions and political relations with India have facilitated the trafficking

55
of Nepali women into Indian brothels. Nepal shares its borders with two huge nations, China
and India and depends upon them for trade.

Trafficking on the Indian-Nepal borders takes places through the hills and has been prevalent
since the 19th Century. In the rural areas, where the Panchayat system exists, the underserved
have to make alliances with the people who will provide them work, as the power of the
panchayat is caste-based. Since landless villagers had no option but to comply with the
demands of those wielding power, an ideal system for trafficking was created.

According to a report, Nepal’s poor economic conditions make it easy to “recruit” people for
various odd jobs. Thousands of people cross the border every day in search of work or for
finding temporary provisions. This makes the area a vulnerable spot and is extensively used
for deceiving young women and trafficking them in the name of providing support. A large
number of victims of sex trafficking are not aware of what is going to happen to them. Young
girls, as young as pre-pubescent girls have been kidnapped from these borders and sold for sex
work.

Indian red-light areas are areas bustling with “customers” and the demand for Nepali women
with their fair skin and exotic features is high. Even more specifically, a report from 1995
mentions a high demand for virgins with Mongolian features. Young girls are especially
sought after and it is hard to estimate just how many Nepali girls have been forced to live this
life. This can be related directly to the beauty standards or how younger women are considered
more desirable because they cater to some twisted notion of an ideal woman.

Power dynamics have much of a role to play here too, as along with finding younger women
physically desirable, men think it is easier to control and abuse younger girls. There are various
studies that conclude that men are attracted to females up to 25 years of age because of the
above mentioned two reasons. This reasoning can be further extended to understand why
lighter skinned women are trafficked from another country.

The government of Nepal has tried to reduce trafficking attempts by establishing anti-
trafficking agencies and laws, which, amongst other things, focus on identifying more male
trafficking victims than ever before. Nonetheless, this has not brought about much change.
Apparently, human traffickers now lure women into India by promising them jobs, a steady
wage and/or shelter. Sometimes they are downright kidnapped and brought to brothels where
they are sold into sexual slavery. When these women are taken from their homes, many of these

56
men are their own relatives or lovers. It is extremely hard to monitor illegal activity because
no official documents like passports or visas are an official requirement for nationals travelling
between these two countries.

A study from 1995 identified distinct patterns of abuse. The oldest identified pattern is the
trafficking of Tamang girls from the hilly areas, where flesh trade serves as the traditional
source of income.

Apart from Nepali girls, there is a great demand for Thai girls in sex work masquerading as
massage parlours, as they’re considered high profile, owing to their skin colour and features.
According to a study from 2017, 40 girls were rescued that year from massage parlors acting
as fronts for prostitution rings in cities of Mumbai and Pune. These women too, are lured by
men who pretend to be helpful and promise them jobs. Activists say that most of these women
are brought under these guises, and are forced or sold into sexual slavery with no means to
escape.

Both police and activists have confirmed that there is a growing demand among the customers
(i.e. Indian men and foreign tourists) for women of exotic roots, for instance, from Thailand.

Case Studies

Case-1

• A Nepali woman was rescued earlier this year from an Indian brothel in Delhi where
she had been forcibly sold into sex trade by her husband, with the help of another
woman. Her husband turned out to actually be an agent for women trafficking and lured
her into the business by gaslighting her. The rescue was possible with the help of the
Rescue Foundation run by Afanta Nepal.

• Initially, the woman was brought to Malviya Nagar but had no idea about what was
being schemed against her. Her husband used to keep all of her income and she was
rendered helpless. After being returned to her home, it has been established that she
was being provided non-prescribed drugs and a counselor will be required to help her
work through her trauma.

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Case-2

The Human Rights Watch conducted a series of interviews with Nepali women in Bombay’s
brothels. One of the women, let’s call her X, represents a case of abduction.

• X got married to a man when she was only thirteen, and stayed with him till she was
sixteen. This was when he started seeing another woman and married her, taking her to
Kathmandu with him. Her in-laws took her to her husband’s place where she was
physically abused and ill-treated. In 1990, a stranger started paying visits to their house,
and X’s husband sent her with him and another man for a “movie”. X stated that they
boarded a bus that did not stop moving even when they crossed the border.

• These men left X at a brothel in Bombay and promised to pick her up the next day but
never came back. She was clueless, barely an adult and her life had been snatched from
her hands.

• In that brothel, X found other women from her village who were brought there without
their consent. It was a cramped, dingy space and she started working there but all her
income went to the man managing the brothel.

• The women were working 13 hours a day and were given no education on
contraceptives and no days off. They were physically assaulted if they refused to work
or did not earn enough.

• The brothel owner told them they could leave only when their debt had been paid off
but they were never told how much they owed.

• She stayed there for three years, but after one year itself she developed physical
symptoms like high fever and fatigue.

• X and some other sick girls decided to run away and when after days of journey, they
reached their village, X developed more severe aches and fevers and is unable to work.
She was diagnosed with HIV and her symptoms are consistent with it.

• At the police station that helped her reconnect with her family, she was promised that
people would be arrested but according to her, no legal action was taken.

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A local health worker believed that she was expelled from the brothel because of contracting
HIV but X dismissed this story.

One section of the community that is less talked about in this sector is of the male sex workers.
Not many studies are available on the lives of male prostitutes as they are still stigmatized.
According to the United Nations Report, certain cultural traditions and societal norms have a
role to play in the perpetuation of male sex trade.

The term Launda is used widely to refer to such men who do not conform to traditional male
gender norms. In simple language, their appearance or how they choose to portray their gender
identity casts them out. According to Krishna Naidu of Suraksha Society (Hyderabad-based
organization), many men and young boys who join this line of work do so because they have
lived their lives in a very stigmatized way, with no educational or monetary opportunities.

These young men are hired by poor families as they can’t afford more expensive “women
dancers”. This is a way for them to earn their livelihood. This community is also extremely
vulnerable to physical and sexual assault.

Sex workers in the community face tremendous ordeals in their lives and as women, they are
subjected to objectification and most of their lives go by in pleasing their customers. This
leaves them with little to no self-worth, and in communities where this has become the
tradition, women have accepted their fate.

Female sex trade has always been rampant but recently, the demand for male sex workers is
going up. Beauty ideals as norms are toxic and degrading, and determining how someone lives
their life based upon factors that are quite literally natural, such as their caste, gender identity
or sexual orientation is a violation of the highest degree.

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 Chapter-4

LEGAL RESEARCH

Introduction research plan

• In 2011, the researcher, for the purpose of an International conference organized by the
Faculty of Law, Delhi University, submitted a research paper titled "Restoring the
faith of the beneficiary over the legal aid services in India" which was selected for
participation. During the course of presentation in the said conference in a particular
Technical session chaired by Senior Advocate Mr. Colin Gonsalves, Chairperson,
Human Rights Law Network, New Delhi a lot of issues were raised about the herculean
task of restoring the trust of the legal beneficiaries of legal aid services over the legal
aid services. Interactions with experts on legal aid service in the conference also
provided valuable impetus for further research over the quality of legal aid services.
• In 2012 modified research paper title "Revitalizing the faith of people in free legal
aid services provided by the empaneled legal practitioners: challenges and
solutions." was submitted to international Journal on Law and Public Policy. The
research papers were published in the International Journal in 2013.
• In 2013, a research proposal title "Impact Analysis of the Legal Aid Services
provided by the Emplained Legal Practitioners on the Legal Aid System in the
City of Delhi” To carry out empirical research in the State of Delhi, was submitted to
the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi for the award of UGC Research
Award. In December 2013 the researcher was awarded with the UGC Research Award
in Law 2012-2014 to conduct empirical research topic related to competency and
commitments of the LACs of a period of two years.

This research papers have also highlighted the difficulties faced by major stakeholders of legal
aid system in Delhi. Further, this research has made endeavor to suggest some viable solutions
to overcome hindrances and to promote the quality of legal aid services. The final report of the
Empirical Research on the issues will be submitted to the Ministry of Law Justice, National
Legal Services Authority (NALSA) DLSA and other concerned agencies for promoting quality
legal aid services across the states.

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Objectives of research
After in depth-scrutiny of the existing literatures on the subjects and prevailing ground realities.
• To study the existing law relating to the legal aid system.
• To examine the functioning of the legal aid services provided by LACs.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the service provided by the LACs.
• To critically examine the commitments and competency of LACs for providing legal aid
services.
• To enhance the quality of services of the LACs provided legal aid services under a scheme.
• To make remedial viable measures to improve upon the operations of the services of LACs.

Hypotheses:
The proposed hypotheses will describe, explain and explore the relationship between pertinent
independent and dependent variables related to competency and commitments of the LACs and
its impact on the quality of legal Universe. The proposed research shall try to scrutinize the
following hypotheses.
• Dearth of Committed LACs has negatively affected the quality of legal aid services.
• Lack of competency of the LACs has adversely affected the quality of legal aid services.
• The LACs due to their incapacity and lack of commitment, have not lived up to the
expectation of the beneficiaries.
• Lack of Accountability of the LACs under the Existing System of Legal Aid Services have
diluted the quantity of legal services.
• Beneficiaries of the legal aid services have lost faith over the legal aid system.
• People prefer a private legal practitioner instead of LACs engaged under the free legal aid
services.
• Ineffective control/monitoring over the LACs has resulted in the poor quality of legal aid
services.

OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS
a) Legal aid services: Means and includes free legal aid services provided by the
enameled legal aid counsels or Legal Aid Counsels (LACs) under the Legal Services
Authorities Act 1987. Free legal aid services are provided to poor and down trodden
strata of the society in the form of drafting and pleadings in case of plants, written

61
 statements, consultations services to undertrials and convicted persons in civil as well
as criminal cases before various judicial and quasi-judicial authorities.
b) Legal aid services authority: (LASA) Authorities constituted under the Legal Services
Authorities Act 1987 to regulate legal aid services in India. Such authorities include
National Legal Services Authorities (NALSA) State Legal Services Authorities
(SLSA). District Legal Services Authorities (DLSA). High court Legal Services
Committees (HLSC) and Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC).
c) Legal aid counsels: (LACs) Legal practitioners registered with bar counsels of the
states described under the Advocate. Act 1961, expanelled or engaged for a period of
three year on case basis, ad-hoc basis, for civil and criminal offices before civil and
criminal courts in Districts, High Courts and Supreme Court. Such Advocates are
remunerating on the basis of cases handled and other free legal services provided under
the regulations, Rules and Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, to the beneficiaries.
d) Legal aid system: (LACs) The LAS includes National Legal Services Authority
(NALSA), State Legal Services Authorities (SLSA), District Legal Services
Authorities (DLSA), High Court Legal Services Committees (HLSC) and Supreme
Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) for providing and monitoring free legal aid
services according to rules, regulations and the LSA 1987.
e) Judicial officers dealing with cases involved legal aids counsels : Judicial officers
for the purpose of this research would include, Civil judges ( senior and junior division),
and Magistrates ( Chief Judicial Magistrate, First and Second Class Magistrate,
Metropolitan Magistested in Metropolitan cities) & Session Judges dealing with
serious crimes such as murder, rape etc. ; dealing with disputes/complaints involved
LACs.
f) Regulators of the legal aid service: Member Secretaries and other members,
Chairman and Executive chairperson appointed to regulate legal aid services at
Districts, State High Courts, and Supreme Court as per the directions of the
Regulations, Rules and LSA 1987.
g) Beneficiaries of legal aid services: People who are entitled to free legal aid services
under section 12 of the LSA 1987, before various judicial and quasi-judicial authorities.
Free legal services are provided to women, ST, SC, workman, person below poverty
line, person having an annual income less than the specified stipulated income limit
victims of disaster, disabled persons etc.

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LEGAL AID SYSTEM IN INDIA
Free Legal aid services has a close relationship with the welfare state and the provision of legal
aid by the State, is influenced by attitudes towards welfare. Legal aid is a welfare provision by
the state to people who could otherwise not afford access to the legal system. Legal aid also
helps to ensure that providing people entitled to welfare provisions, such as social housing,
with access to legal advice and the courts, enforces welfare provisions. Historically legal aid
has played a strong role in ensuring respect for economic, social and cultural rights which are
engaged in relation to social security, housing, social care, health and education service
provision, which may be provided publicly or privately, as well as employment law and anti-
discrimination legislation.3As classic welfare states were built, it was assumed that citizens
had collective responsibility for economic, social and cultural rights and the state assumed
responsibility for those unable to provide for themselves through illness and unemployment.
The enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights was to be collective, through policies
rather than individual legal action. Laws were enacted to support welfare provisions, though
these were regarded as laws for planners, not lawyers. Legal aid schemes were established as
it was assumed that the state had a responsible to assist those engaged in legal disputes, but
they initially focused primarily on family law and divorce.
The challenge of social justice is an essence of the challenge for equal opportunity and for
equal protection of the laws. Today the challenge before legislators and judicial statements is
to develop appropriate policies and forge relevant tools to promote equality with freedom and
protect fundamental right with social justice. The promise of social justice find expression in
the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. The Constitution of India aims to secure to all citizens,
justice, social, economic and political and equality of status and of opportunity. The provisions
of the Constitution should be interpreted and implemented in such a way that the legal justice
to be available to all the people of India including poor, indigent, weaker and helpless and
illiterate sections of the society.

The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987

Further, in order to accomplish the objectives encompassed in Article 39A of the Constitution,
the LSA was implemented.33 The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, as amended by the
Act of 1994, which came into force on 9 November 1995, aims at establishing a nation-wide
network for providing free and comprehensive legal services to the weaker sections. It makes
it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system, which promotes
justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all. Legal aid strives to ensure that constitutional

63
pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit and equal justice is made available to the poor,
downtrodden and weaker sections of the society. The LSA provides for creation of some legal
services authorities for making available, free and competent services of the empaneled legal
practioners, to the disadvantageous strata of the society. The basic objective of the Act is to
secure social justice to those who are not in a position to approach judicial/administrative
authorities due to legal, social, economic, or other disabilities. Free legal aid services are
provided before the judicial and quasi-judicial authorities, at different levels such as tribunals
subordinate courts, high courts and the Supreme Court, by the specified agencies under the
LSA. According to Section 2(1) (a) of the Act, legal aid can be provided to a person for a ‘case’,
which includes a suit or any proceeding before a court. Section 2(1) (a) defines the ‘court’ as
civil, criminal or revenue court and includes any tribunal or any other authority constituted
under any law for the time being in force, to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial functions. As
per Section 2(1)(c) ‘legal service’ includes the rendering of any service in the conduct of any
case or other legal proceeding before any court or other authority or tribunal and the giving of
advice on any legal matter.

Major role of NGO’s in sensitization and protection of Human Rights

The World Conference on Human Rights appreciated the contribution of NGO‟s in increasing
public awareness of human rights issues, to the conduct of education, training and research in
this field and to promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. While
recognizing that the primary responsibility for standard setting lies with states, the World
conference also appreciates the contribution of nongovernmental organization to this process.
It also urged NGO‟s to intensify their efforts in co-operating and coordinating their activities
against the human rights violations in general and against the evils like racism and racial
discrimination in particular. Recognizing the human rights of women and of the girl child as
an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
World Conference has urged the NGO‟s to intensify their efforts for the promotion and
protection of human rights of women and the girl child11. Amnesty International concentrates
only on political imprisonment, torture and execution. Its basic concern has been the individual
in the cell. Amnesty International seeks to achieve its goal through persuasion and dialogue
with National Governments. It seeks to have transparency in its working and finances. It has
gained respectability around the world due to its voluntary character, moral stance and
marshalling of facts and figures.12 It has grass roots capability through case adoption groups
and takes initiative at national and international levels. Human Rights NGOs vary in their

64
approach. Some NGOs perform extensive research in order to document human rights abuses.
These organizations serve as watchdogs, monitoring potentially abusive actions of
Governments. Many Human Rights NGOs work to bring public attention to human rights
abuses through information campaigns, NGO member updates, and coordination with the
press.

The Main Functions of Human Rights NGOs

It is remarkable to note in the context of India that the positive role that the non-governmental
organization can play in furthering the cause of human rights has been recognized both by the
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The Act, 1993, in Section 12(i) has enjoined upon the NHRC to encourage the efforts of the
NGOs and institutions working in the field of human rights. In the first report itself, NHRC,
clearly spelt out the three areas in which NGOs could be its direct assistance to it, in its mission.
Firstly, because of their grass roots contacts, NGOs can most effectively identify human rights
violations, articulate them and seek redress from the Commission. The Commission expects
the NGOs to play an active and positive role in bringing violations and complaints to its notice.
Secondly, because, of the rapport the NGOs have with the public, they can be great assistance
to the Commission by helping the Commission’s investigating staff as well as undertake
investigations of violations on behalf of the Commission. Thirdly, the NGO can undertake
research and serious studies as specific problems and issues in view of their specialized
knowledge. NGOs perform different functions depending upon the purposes for which they are
established. Their performance of function also depends upon their resources, the geographical
regions where they operate and the nature and number of the membership. Some of the
functions, relating to human rights are as follows:
• Collection of Information: NGOs collect information and analyse data with regard to
conditions of jail, treatment for prisoners who are under trial, their duration etc. by
conducting a detailed survey and prepare a report on it. They also circulate those
reports, as widely as possible to make aware the public and the government.
• Mobilization of public opinion: NGOs arrange seminars, workshops, conferences and
meetings on different aspects of human rights to mobilize public opinion. Officers from
different disciplines like, administration, jailors, judicial officers, police department,
advocates, journalists etc. are invited and opinion must be gathered. The propaganda

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 and message of human rights may also be carried to the common men who are the
victims of human rights violation.
• By providing direct service: NGO‟s may work directly with victims and assist in
solving their problems. They often collaborate with advocacy groups to provide legal
assistance before the government authorities and the court to ensure full protection to
victim’s rights.
• Legal assistance: NGOs may take up the task of bringing cases before the Court of law
where a right has been violated, and no action has been taken by the victim to secure
the redress either because of the lack of resources or ignorance.
• Dialogue with Governments and International bodies: NGO‟s can take up the task
of pressurizing the government to keep check on the growing problem of torture and
inhuman treatment of police and jail authorities, to submit their report in time to
international committees set up under different international conventions and
implement human rights standards through their foreign policy. International bodies
like UN General Assembly had been pressurized by Amnesty International to adopt
Convention against Torture or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.
• Filing of Writ Petitions: NGO‟s also file writ petitions before the Court by way of
Public Interest Litigation for the purpose of providing access to justice to large masses
who are denied their basic human rights and to whom freedom and liberty have no
meaning.
• Processing of information: NGO‟s can perform the task of processing information by
imparting education to the people about the extent of their rights and edge of violation.
Disciplinary Research Institute Pvt Ltd., International Journal of Law and Legal
Jurisprudence Studies They also publish reports about rights violations, gathering and
evaluating information, and sensitizing by creating awareness among people about their
basic rights.
• Communication to the Commission on Human Rights: NGO‟s can communicate
any report or matter with regard gross violation of human rights. They may make
communications when acting in good faith in accordance with recognized principles of
human rights, not resorting to politically motivated stands contrary to the provisions of
the Charter of United Nations, and having direct and reliable knowledge of such
violation. ‘

66
 • Human rights education: Along with formal education, there is need to provide
informal education to the people about their rights and threat of violation of their human
rights. So, NGO‟s can play a vital role in proving education to the general public by
sensitizing them about their rights.

To support these above points, we have live example in south Karnataka, in a district called
Udupi, where Dr. Ravindranath Shanbhaugh works a lot on various activities in which human
rights are violated. He fights for grave violation of human rights in different parts of Karnataka.
Other than these, Development and Operation of Infrastructure functions are also managed by
NGO‟s. Their organizations and cooperatives can acquire, subdivide and develop land,
construct housing, provide infrastructure and operate and maintain infrastructure such as wells
or public toilets and solid waste collection services which are also basic rights and facilities for
human beings.

Cases initiated by NGO’s in India on Human Rights

In the Indian context, the present Non-Governmental Organizations movement towards human
rights activism owes its origin to emergency era and inherently to some of the leading events
such as increasing weakness in professional efficiency of the State apparatus and many of the
democratic institutions. The emergency was a period characterized by the curtailment of civil
liberties through amendments to the Constitution to clamp down on the right to enjoy the
fundamental rights enshrined within it, the promulgation of ordinances that legitimized the
government actions, such as arresting people on the pretext of preventive detention as well as
the establishment of new intelligence outfits, such as the CBI and RAW, which assisted the
government with its agenda. As a result of the severe repression of civil liberties by the
government, several individuals and organizations came to the forefront, as champions of
human rights. The most prominent among these was socialist Jayaprakash Narayan’s Peoples
Union for Civil Rights. A similar organization that was established was the People’s Union for
Democratic Rights. The importance of these organizations was that they were autonomous of
the government and critical of its actions. NGOs work towards the release of prisoners by
writing letters to prison officials, judges, and various government officers of the State. The
Supreme Court and NHRC has taken action on several human rights violations complaints
relating to accused person mainly reported by NGOs from different parts of the country. An
accused person is also a human being and his fundamental human freedoms in all
circumstances must be protected. The accused person has certain substantive rights in criminal

67
investigatory process against legally unwarranted investigations as well as legally unwarranted
arrest and pre-arrest illegal detentions and confinements. The Executive Chairman of a
nongovernmental Organization called Legal Aid Services, West Bengal, Sri. D K Basu brought
to the cognizance of the Supreme Court regarding deaths in police lock-ups and custody, by
addressing a letter to the Chief Justice of India drawing his attention to certain news items
published in the Telegraph dated 20- 22 July, 1986 and in the Statesman and Indian Express
dated 17th August, 1986 regarding deaths in police lock-ups and custody. The chairman
submitted that it was imperative to examine the issue in depth and to develop Custody
jurisprudence and formulate modalities for awarding compensation to the victim and family
members of the victim for atrocities and death caused in police custody. It was requested that
the letter along with the news items be treated as a writ petitions under public interest litigation
category. It has been accepted as Writ petition. Justice Kuldeep Singh and Dr. A.S. Anand, JJ.
observed that any form of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment would fall within
the inhibition of Article 21 of the Constitution, whether it occurs during investigation,
interrogation or otherwise. “Custodial torture” is a naked violation of human dignity and
degradation which destroys to a very large extent, the individual personality. Custodial death
is perhaps one of the worst crimes in a civilized society governed by the rule of law.

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 Documentation

Give legal recognition to sex workers: Supreme Court panel

Recommendations include issuance of ration cards, voter IDs, among others to sex workers

November 9,

A Supreme Court panel formed to look into the status of sex workers in the country has
recommended that sex work be given legal recognition in India. The panel, formed in July 2011
after the Budhadev Karmaskar vs State of West Bengal case, was headed by advocate Pradip
Ghosh. Panel members included advocate Jayant Bhushan, who was the co-chair, Dr Samarjit
Jana of the Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Bharti Dey of the Durbar Mahila
Samanwaya Committee, and Saima Hassan.

“... The most apparent problem for sex workers was their lack of legal status in the country. As
sex workers are criminalised, it is difficult for them to acquire proof of identity such as ration
cards or voter ID cards, owing to lack of proof of residence. The local district authorities do
not recognise the identities of sex workers and their children, even though every citizen of India
is entitled to basic human and fundamental rights. Consequently, sex workers cannot access
the schemes meant for their rehabilitation, even if they want to. Similarly, sex workers have no
access to credit facilities offered by the state because of their inability to open bank accounts,
due to lack of supporting documentation,” said the report, which submitted its report in the last
week of September.

Recommendations include that state authorities should issue ration cards to sex workers, that
sex workers should be given voter identification cards, and that the children of sex workers
should be given admission in government schools. The panel was appointed by the apex court
in 2011 while dismissing a criminal appeal and affirming the conviction of the accused,
Budhadev Karmaskar, for brutally murdering a sex worker in Calcutta in 1999. The appeal was
converted into a public interest litigation to look into various aspects of sex workers’
rehabilitation and to provide them with a dignified life. The panels has prepared fifteen interim
reports till now.

The panel has also recommended that rehabilitation be made a right for those who seek it, and
recommended that a scheme should be made to protect, rehabilitate, provide livelihood
alternatives, and prevent re-trafficking of sex workers. The scheme should allow for monetary

69
provisions of up to Rs50,000 for sex workers to eke out alternative work. “The Panel was quite
surprised to learn that there existed no exclusive scheme for rehabilitation of sex workers who
wish to leave sex work, either at the central and/or at the state levels,” said the report, noting
that existing schemes, like Ujjwala, are mostly aimed at trafficking victims. The panel also
noted that all rescued sex workers, irrespective of whether they seek help or not, are sent to
state-run shelter homes, keeping them away from their families and friends.

Forms of violence faced by sex workers

Physical violence: Being subjected to physical force which can potentially cause death, injury
or harm. It includes, but is not limited to: having an object thrown at one, being slapped, pushed,
shoved, hit with the fist or with something else that could hurt, being kicked, dragged, beaten
up, choked, deliberately burnt, threatened with a weapon or having a weapon used against one
(e.g. gun, knife or other weapon). These acts are operationally defined and validated in WHO
survey methods on violence against women. Other acts that could be included in a definition
of physical violence are: biting, shaking, poking, hair-pulling and physically restraining a
person.
Sexual violence: Rape, gang rape (i.e. by more than one person), sexual harassment, being
physically forced or psychologically intimidated to engage in sex or subjected to sex acts
against one’s will (e.g. undesired touching, oral, anal or vaginal penetration with penis or with
an object) or that one finds degrading or humiliating.
Emotional or psychological violence: Includes, but is not limited to, being insulted (e.g. called
derogatory names) or made to feel bad about oneself; being humiliated or belittled in front of
other people; being threatened with loss of custody of one’s children; being confined or isolated
from family or friends; being threatened with harm to oneself or someone one cares about;
repeated shouting, inducing fear through intimidating words or gestures; controlling behaviour;
and the destruction of possessions.
Human-rights violations that should be considered in conjunction with violence against sex
workers are:
• having money extorted
• being denied or refused food or other basic necessities
• being refused or cheated of salary, payment or money that is due to the person

70
• being forced to consume drugs or alcohol
• being arbitrarily stopped, subjected to invasive body searches or detained by police

• being arbitrarily detained or incarcerated in police stations, detention centres and

rehabilitation centres without due process
• being arrested or threatened with arrest for carrying condoms
• being refused or denied health-care services
• being subjected to coercive health procedures such as forced STI and HIV testing,
sterilization, abortions
• being publicly shamed or degraded (e.g. stripped, chained, spat upon, put behind bars)
• being deprived of sleep by force.

Contexts of violence
There are several contexts, dynamics and factors that put sex workers at risk for violence.
Understanding them is key to designing appropriate programmatic responses.
• Workplace violence: This may include violence from managers, support staff, clients or co-
workers in establishments where sex work takes place (e.g. brothels, bars, hotels).
• Violence from intimate partners and family members: Stigmatization of sex work may lead
partners or family members to think it acceptable to use violence to “punish” a woman who
has sex with other men. It may be difficult for sex workers to leave an abusive relationship,
particularly when perpetrators threaten them, or have control due to ownership of a home, or
the power to harm or refuse access to their children.
• Violence by perpetrators at large or in public spaces: In most contexts, the antagonistic
relationship with police creates a climate of impunity for crimes against sex workers that may
lead them to be the targets of violence or of other crimes that may turn violent, such as theft.
Some perpetrators specifically target sex workers to “punish” them in the name of upholding
social morals, or to scapegoat them for societal problems, including HIV. Sex workers may
also face violence from individuals in a position of power, e.g. nongovernmental organization
(NGO) employers, health-care providers, bankers or landlords.
•Organized non-state violence: Sex workers may face violence from extortion groups, militias,
religious extremists or “rescue” groups.
• State violence: Sex workers may face violence from military personnel, border guards and
prison guards, and most commonly from the police. Criminalization or punitive laws against
sex

71
work may provide cover for violence. Violence by representatives of the state compromises
sex
workers’ access to justice and police protection, and sends a message that such violence is not
only acceptable but socially desirable.

Documenting violence faced by sex workers and defending their human rights
Activities could include:
• gathering data or information on different forms of violence faced by sex workers
• documenting abuses and incidents of violence faced by sex workers
• facilitating their access to justice through legal services.
In some settings, careful and systematic documentation of violence against sex workers has
been used to develop resources for sex workers to promote their safety. For example, in 2002
the sex worker-led NGO Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute documented violence
against sex workers and used this information to produce a magazine for sex workers to
encourage them to report violence and seek support and services.
Data on violence faced by sex workers have also been used to advocate with police, local
authorities, media and national policy-makers about the extent of the problem and the need to
change the application of laws, policies and police practices to reduce violence faced by sex
workers.

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 Chapter 6

SEL MODULE BUILDING

The SEL theme for our community project was ‘Relationship building and trust’ which
involved relationships with oneself, with others and the component of trust. As subcomponents,
we realized several aspects through research in the form of studies published as also more
informal but highly relevant and powerful sources like interviews, documentaries, videos, news
reports, etc. For the aspect of relationship with oneself, we found emotional resilience, self-
talk, body image and mind-body awareness and individual identity to be compellingly
important. However, the aspects of body image, self-talk and individual identity would require
on-ground judgement and experience, and could also be triggers, so we decided to take up
communication through verbal and non-verbal channels. In the relationship with others and
trust aspect, we finalised on communication, body language and conflict resolution.

‘Relationship building and trust’

Day: [Friday] Activity Duration: 10 minutes

Module Theme: [Icebreaker] Art Form: Physical activity/Dance

Module Anchor: NONE

Materials Required: NONE

Module Objective: Increase engagement in further activities by orienting body to pay

attention, to increase level of comfort and see the team and the beneficiaries as a cohesive
team/group, introduce humour and movement to both physically and mentally lighten the
tension or discomfort

Ask the participants to move each part of their body as if there was an imaginary wall in front of
them and they are painting it with the said body part
Use movements of the head, shoulders, hands and legs one by one in the beginning and break the

73
activity down to as detailed parts as required according to time available and responsiveness of the
participants
Instruct them to use combinations of the above body parts to paint the wall and then all, till it seems
everyone is actually dancing

Day: [Friday] Activity Duration: 20-30 minutes

Module Theme: [Communication, Active Art Form: Origami

listening and conflict resolution]

Module Anchor: [Know, Understand, Reflect & Express through discussion]

Materials Required: Coloured papers of equal dimensions

Module Objective: to help understand that everyone hears and interprets things
differently, even if we are given the exact same information

Give each participant one sheet of standard-sized paper (8.5 x 11 inches).

Tell them that you will be giving them step-by-step instructions on folding their piece of paper into
an origami shape.
Inform them that they must keep their eyes and mouths closed as they follow instructions and that
they are not allowed to look at the paper or ask any clarifying questions.
Give the group your instructions on folding the paper into the origami shape of choice.
Once all the instructions have been given, have everyone open their eyes and compare their shape
with the intended shape.

Discussion points:
Each paper looks different, but same instructions to everybody
Would results be better if they kept their eyes open or were allowed to ask questions?
Communicating clearly is not easy, we all interpret the information we get differently that’s why
it’s very important to ask questions and confirm understanding to ensure the communicated
message is not distorted

Resource links: https://www.trainingcoursematerial.com/free-games-

activities/communication-skills-activities/communication-origami

74
Day: [Friday] Activity Duration: 5 minutes

Module Theme: [Energiser] Art Form: Play, music

Module Anchor: NONE

Materials Required: As available in the space

Module Objective: To shake off heavy feelings, reorient to current setting and energise

Choose a beat or another type of music, teach them to do it on any surface available and then play
it all at once. This can be as complicated according to the number of people in the group.

Day: [Saturday] Activity Duration: 10 mins

Module Theme: [Energiser] Art Form: Dance

Module Anchor: None

Materials Required: None

Module Objective: Non-directive-To shake off heavy feelings, reorient to current setting
and energise

One person from team will play a popular song that they are familiar with and all the group
members will dance and let all their stress and over thinking out.

Day: [Saturday] Activity Duration : 20-25 mins

Module Theme: [Emotional intelligence] Art Form: Drama

Module Anchor: [Know, Understand, Reflect & Express]

Materials Required: Paper, Pens, Bowl

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Module Objective: To orient participants with not just different emotions, but the different
expressions of a single emotion

Cut several strips of paper.

On each strip of paper, write down a mood, feeling, or disposition, like guilty, happy, suspicious,
paranoid, insulted, or insecure.
Fold the strips of paper so you can’t see what is written on it and place them in a bowl or jar. These
are your prompts.
Have each participant take a prompt from the bowl or jar and read the exact same sentence to the
class, but with the emotion the prompt specifies.
The sentence everybody will read is: “We all need to gather our possessions and move to another
building as soon as possible.”
Have the participants guess the emotion of each reader by writing down what they think the
speaker is feeling (or what they are supposed to be feeling).

Discussion points:
What made people guess correctly and if there were mistakes, what contributed to that judgement?
What are the different aspects of non-verbal behaviour, like tone, voice, hand gestures and
expressions, and how do they contribute to conflicts?

Resource links: https://www.thoughtco.com/nonverbal-communication-activities-1857230

Day: [Saturday] Activity Duration: 30 mins

Module Theme: [Body awareness] Art Form: Discussion

Module Anchor: [Know, Understand]

Materials Required: NONE

Module Objective: To promote body awareness, discuss on understanding of sexual health

and attitudes towards sex

76
[Description of the Activity] This session can be very triggering or overwhelming. Instructor
should give trigger warning to all the people of the group. If someone feels triggered they should
be given some space and some time to calm themselves.

Ask: How many of you have the knowledge of sexual health?

Discuss: In this session we will talk about why sexual health is important. It is important because
it enable people to take charge of their emotional well- being surrounding the relationship with
themselves and others also. Sexual health requires positive and respectful approach to sexual
relationship, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe experience, free of coercion,
discrimination, and violence.

After the introduction, we will talk about different options of reducing your risk of sexual diseases
like genital herpes, chlamydia, HIV-AIDS etc. As a first step we will talk about different things that
put people at risk of getting HIV, and which of these might apply to you:
• Unprotected Sex with multiple partners.
• Unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
• It also spread through contact with infected skin, wounds or mucous membranes.
• My mother to baby by pregnancy, labor or nursing.
• By sharing needles.

Next we will discuss about different HIV-prevention options:

• Use new condom every time you have sex. Women can use female condom.

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 Chapter 7

LIVELIHOOD

• LIVELIHOOD OPTION NO. 1

A. Name of the program(s):

a. Six-month training courses: Graphic design, fashion design, customer relationship
sales, beauty culture, basic IT, cutting and tailoring, embroidery, and customer and sales
relations
b. Advanced training courses in textile design, graphic design, fashion design, spoken
English and personality development, and bank clerical/financial literacy training
c. National Institute of Open Schooling is an ongoing partnership to help girls prepare
for class X and XII, particularly in English, Science, Maths, Home Science and Painting.
d. Non-Formal Education classes are for dropouts (adolescents and women) in order to
prepare them for re-admission in both private and government schools.
e. State Bank Academy provides training to students for appearing in bank clerical
examinations. The students are trained in three main subjects: Mathematics, English and
Reasoning, while some classes in Marketing and General Knowledge are also held. These
training sessions take place every Saturday and are conducted by the SBA faculty. Regular
tests are also held.

B. Details of the Program:

a. Since 2011, SEWA Delhi has set up two polytechnics in deprived areas, Bhajanpura
and Ashok Nagar, to fill the gap in quality training institutes that are accessible to the urban
poor.
b. Programs are eligible to girls 14 years and above.
c. All the courses offered, develop girls’ soft skills and provide personality development,
leadership building, spoken English and team-work experience.
d. SEWA Rozgaar Kendra (job placements)

78
 • Internships and training: SEWA Delhi connects girls to programs in its polytechnics
and offices so that they can experience formal working environments, develop the skills
to prep them for employment, and are active in creative projects.
• Ruaab SEWA internship: Girls engaged in SEWA Delhi vocational training or
courses in fashion design, embroidery, and stitching and tailoring can be placed in
Ruaab SEWA. The one-year program incubates girls to prepare them for working in
Ruaab or other export houses.
• Supporting girls’ entrepreneurship: SEWA Delhi connects girls with the Mahila
SEWA Urban Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society to give girls special loans in order
to set up their own vocational training centres and enterprises.

C. Organisation/Ministry: Sewa Delhi

D. Program Area: Bhajanpura and Ashok Nagar

E. Duration of the Program: 6 months+

F. Financial Requirement: N/A

G. Website: http://sewadelhi.org/programs/skill-and-education/#polytechnics

H. Location: SEWA Delhi, 7/5 South Patel Nagar, New Delhi 110008. INDIA,
Tele/Fax: +91-11-2584-1369, 2584-0937, Email: mail@sewadelhi.org.

• LIVELIHOOD OPTION NO.2

A. Name of the program(s):

a. Cutting and Tailoring.
b. Machine embroidery.
c. Basic IT.
d. Domestic workers programme.
B. Details of the Program:
a. Cutting & Tailoring- they are taught basic stitches, making apparels for ladies, gents
and kids; designing dresses, both regular wears and fancy dresses. The Cutting & Tailoring
Course at Kamalini Kishangarh and Shahpur Jat centres follow the syllabus approved by the

79
DGET (Directorate General of Education and Training) and is structured in theoretical and
practical classes. See details under Government Certification section
• Duration: 6 months (Monday to Friday)
• Advanced: 3 months (Monday to Friday)
• Venue: Shahpur Jat
• Batches Timings
• Batch 1: 10 – 11:30 am
• Batch 2: 11:30 am – 1 pm
• Batch 3: 2:00 – 3:30pm
• Batch 4: 3:30 – 5 pm
b. Machine Embroidery- The students are taught hand and machine embroidery
with a varied form of stitches like stem stitch, chain stitch, long stitch, feather
stitch, running stitch, shadow stitch, satin stitch and many more based on their
interest/
• Duration: 3 months (Monday to Friday)
• Batches Timings
• Batch 1: 10 – 11:30 am
• Batch 2: 11:30 am – 1 pm
• Batch 3: 2:00 – 3:30pm
• Batch 4: 3:30 – 5 pm
c. Basic IT- This course is a partnership between EDI and NIIT Foundation, where
the NReach programme of the foundation ties up with the NGOs to improve the
course structure and provide quality services in IT. The course is structured into
theoretical and practical classes that provide the students with knowledge about
computer terminology devices, basics of Typing, Microsoft Office (Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, Access etc.), Internet and E-mail.
• Duration: 3 months
• Days: Monday to Friday
• Batches Timings
• Batch 1: 10 – 11:30 am
• Batch 2: 11:30 am – 1 pm
• Batch 3: 2:00 – 3:30pm
• Batch 4: 3:30 – 5 pm

80
 d. Domestic Workers' Programme- Employers are encouraged to send their
domestic workers for skill enhancement courses at Kamalini. The classes in
Housekeeping and Cooking are organized in modules, allowing the students to
work and study at the same time.
• International Cooking (French, Italian, Thai, etc.)
o Duration: 6 months
o Days: Wednesdays
o Batches Timings
o Batch 1: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
• Housekeeping Course
o Duration: 3 months
o Days: Fridays
o Batches Timings
o Batch 1: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
• Venue: 33 Shahpur Jat, near Siri Fort
• Registration is open throughout the course.

C. Organisation/Ministry- Kamalini.
D. Program Area: Gurugram
E. Duration of the Program: Mentioned above. The duration is different for every
course.
F. Financial Requirement: N/A
G. Website: https://www.kamalini.org/Training.php?trid=44
H. Location:
a. Kamalini Centre – Shahpur Jat (Protsahan Registered Office)
• Address- 33, Shahpur Jat, Ground Floor, New Delhi 110049, India.
• Telephone- +91 11 2649 8556, +91 8473971254
• Email- info@kamalini.org
b. Kamalini Vocational Training Institute (Haryana campus)
• Sohna Road, Village Alipur, Gurugram 122 102, India.
• Telephone: +91 9896439647
• Email- info@edi.org.in

81
 • LIVELIHOOD OPTION NO.3

A) Name of the program(s):

a) Digital and Social Media Expert.
b) Fashion Designing.
c) Computer Programing Language
d) Electrician
e) Basic Computer and Spoken English
f) Retail / BPO Skills
g) Hospitality

B) Details of the Program:

a) Call for details- 9953993511 9354850158 011-45150465

C) Organisation/Ministry: ANK India

D) Program Area: Ongoing projects are located in the following areas-

a. Maidan Garhi.
b. Badli.
c. Kaushambi.
d. Noida Sector 66.
e. Khora.
f. Sikanderpur.
g. DLF Phase 3.
h. Gurgaon.

E) Duration of the Program: Not mentioned on the website.

F) Financial Requirement: N/A

G) Website: https://www.ankindia.org/get-skills.html

H) Location: M-38, M Block, Sector 66, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301

82
 Chaper-6

CONCLUSION
While researching and trying to understand the challenges faced by the sex worker community
(a community that already faces discrimination at large) during the pandemic we realised that
a lot of these issues steam from existing problems of the “pre-COVID” phase like lack of
documentation and marginalisation of the community to the extent that it’s almost entirely
neglected. All of these got further translated into newer issues like no sanitisation of the red
light areas by the government or no supply of any sanitisation kits as well. This is an important
point to highlight because how does the government expect the underserved population to
afford masks and sanitisers when these individuals are struggling to earn their daily bread.
Majority of the policies put together by the government to tackle COVID-19 also largely
neglected the unique set of issues that are faced by the sex worker community. There have not
been any specific policies or aids put together by the government to help the sex worker
community.

While focusing on the struggles faced by the community and researching about the same, we
also learnt quite a few things about research ethics. Researchers must engage with historically
marginalised and oppressed groups in a manner that ensures minimal exploitation and
maximum benefits for participants, as well as the inclusion of their voices. We have gained an
understanding of the fact that it is only by addressing the issue of trust and building meaningful
relationships with the participants of the study that researchers can gain insight into the lived
experiences of historically stigmatised groups like sex workers. Using long-term
methodologies helps in bridging the insider-outsider boundaries as building meaningful
relationships with the participants allows for a more in-depth insight into the lives of these
women.

During the course of this project, we also explored the various sources of oppression that play
a significant role in the lives of these sex workers and after getting a fair idea about why women
are into this area of work in the first place, and why they are not able to get out of it, we realised
that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to break these traditional normas, we have to
provide education and empower these women by providing them with alternative livelihood
options so that they know there are many occupations that they can take up, and bring about a
change in their lives.

Upon gaining a better understanding of “why” someone would opt for this profession and why
they were not able to get out of it (if they wished to) we understood that it is the lack of
opportunity to opt for another/better livelihood option. The community of sex workers is so
marginalised and stigmatised that they tend to be kept at bay. The lack of livelihood options
and the major gap in the pay that they would receive in another livelihood option are the
primary reasons why women choose to continue sex work. After researching extensively on

83
the livelihood options for the profile that we were provided with, we managed to put together
information about several different courses offered by NGOs for the underserved communities.

While conducting research related to the legal aspects of the sex worker community and its
impacts, we recognised the major role of NGOs in this community. They play a significant,
dynamic and tremendous role in imparting justice to thousands of poor, weak, suppressed,
downtrodden and exploited people, especially the undertrials, prisoners or accused persons,
through its activated, sensitised, dynamic and dedicated approach towards the protection of
human rights of these persons and have emerged as a powerful protective shield of assistance
in the field of the legal battle to these needy persons. These voluntary organisations are
providing justice to the under trial prisoners or accused persons through legal aid, by its
strategic arms like public internet litigation, Lok Adalat, etc. It is quite evident that the NGOs
have functioned as the conscience of the national public in the field of human right by taking
prompt action to investigate the instances of human right violation by undertaking studies and
publishing the observations.

It is clear that legal aid is not a charity or bounty but is an obligation of the state and right of
the citizens. The prime object of the state should be ―equal justice for all‖. Thus, legal aid
strives to ensure that the constitutional pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit and equal justice
is made available to the downtrodden and weaker sections of the society. But even though free
legal aid has been held to be a necessary adjunct of the rule of law14, the legal aid movement
has not achieved its goal. There is a wide gap between the goals set and met. The major obstacle
to the legal aid movement in India is the lack of legal awareness. People are still not aware of
their fundamental rights due to which the legal aid movement has not achieved its goal yet. It
is the absence of legal awareness which leads to exploitation and deprivation of rights and
benefits of the poor.

While researching about the struggles faced in terms of getting basic documentation for sex
workers, we found that the panel has also recommended that rehabilitation be made a right for
those who seek it, and recommended that a scheme should be made to protect, rehabilitate,
provide livelihood alternatives, and prevent re-trafficking of sex workers. The scheme should
allow for monetary provisions of up to Rs50,000 for sex workers to eke out alternative work.
“The Panel was quite surprised to learn that there existed no exclusive scheme for rehabilitation
of sex workers who wish to leave sex work, either at the central and/or at the state levels,” said
the report, noting that existing schemes, like Ujjwala, are mostly aimed at trafficking victims.
It was also noted that all rescued sex workers, irrespective of whether they seek help or not,
are sent to state-run shelter homes, keeping them away from their families and friends.

The panel has also called for recommendations to amend the existing Immoral Trafficking
(Prevention) Act. This includes the recommendation that section 7 of the Act be amended to
include the clause that sex work will not be illegal if conducted near a public place like a
temple, hospital, educational institution, etc., in cases where these public places have “come
into existence subsequent to the prostitution has started.” Some of the other recommendations
include changing the definition of a brothel (section 2a), not penalising those living on the
earnings of a sex worker (section 4), deletion of the section on soliciting (section 8), and the

84
doing away of the section on the removal of a prostitute from any place (section 20), among
others. The Pam Rajput Committee, too, in its report, submitted to the women and child
ministry early this year, recommended for the decriminalisation of sex work.

We as a team have also realised the importance of social-emotional learning and have gained
greater insight into this topic while developing the SEL module. In the SEL module for building
relationship skills (with self and others, trust+ attachment) we have included various mind-
boggling activities like sex education through counselling, body awareness, self-talk through
activities, negotiation during different situations etc. Being in a group and addressing their
problems in an indirect or anonymous way will boost their self –esteem. We decided to keep a
check on a few critical things in mind while delivering this module to the sex worker
community. One of the most important things was not to mention “getting out of sex work” as
it might be a sensitive topic and should not be touched upon recklessly. However, if someone
says that they wish to get out of this profession, then we can take it from there and see how we
can help them with what they want. All the activities will help them with self-reflection and
exploring the deepest recesses of their mind. It might be overwhelming, but in the long run,
will help them in being free of many stressful situations.

In conclusion, the project highlights various aspects of the life of a sex worker and the
challenges faced by the community. It helps us understand how these issues are interlinked and
majorly impact one another.

85
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 MEMBER CONTRIBUTION

1. Ecosystem Mapping:
Mansi Pase (Challenges during COVID-19 crisis)
Jannat Jain (Privacy and Anonymity)

2. Sources of Oppression:
Jasmine Bajaj, Mehak Mishra and Michelle Sanya Tirkey

3. Legal Research:
Kirti Gohil

4. SEL Module Building:

Mayura Mulay (Module development for communication, conflict management and
emotional intelligence+compilation and formatting of report)
Meenu Dhawan (Module development for Body awareness and body image, sex
education)

5. Livelihood:
Mansi Pase

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