Adelbert Nongrum raked up the issue of ‘9 Lad being a pick-up point for sex workers’ again on the last day of the Budget session. Was it necessary? Was it not sufficient for the North Shillong legislator to work behind the scenes if there is a problem?The obsession with the subject which he had already raised during question hour on 10 March has further humiliated the sex workers and brought more stress on them though they have committed no crime.
Ever since featuring in the Assembly ‘9 Lad’has been talk of the town. The popular location called ‘PB’ has been in the news non-stop. This paper had two articles. We also witnessed the new development, that is, the coming to light called the Rot Association of Meghalaya (RAM) that bemused the public. In the meantime a pressure group filed an FIR against the association demanding arrest of its leaders. The police complaint is unprecedented. It smacks of intolerance and exposes a ‘holier than thou’ attitude. Just because we don’t agree with someone or just because certain actions are unacceptable to us do we have to go to the police?
RAM, if it has not done anything illegal, has the right to exist. As stated in media one of the reasons for forming the Association is/was because of the abuse and violations members face, including from law keepers themselves. The Association came into being to spread awareness among the members on safety both from people and from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The leaders are quite informed and have attended state and national seminars on related issues. Therefore, it is presumed the Association was created in accordance with the law. It is also learnt that the Association has moral support from some prominent citizens of Shillong. Even if some might feel repugnant by existence of sex workers vilifying, defaming, degrading and judging them is inhuman. Branding them as ‘ba iaid awria’, ‘thei awria’ is repulsive emanating from a self-righteous mind set.
Those who have been shaken by the ‘sudden’ emergence of RAM may be informed that the National Network of Sex Workers (NNSW) India and the All India Network of Sex workers (AINSW) also exist. These are ‘parent’ organisations consisting of sex worker organizations or confederations from different cities/states like AADHAR Bahuu deshya Sanstha, Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Jwala Shakti Samuh (JSS), Jharkhand, Karnataka Sex Workers Union (KSWU), Kerala Network of Sex Workers (KNSW), Kerala, Mahila Jagrut Sevabhavi Sanstha, Parbhani (Maharashtra), Me and My World, Andhra Pradesh, Nirangal Federation, Tamil Nadu to name a few. It is only inferred that RAM networks with AINSWor/and NNSW. Therefore, by extension should FIR be filed against AINSW or/and NNSW? From the reply of the Home Minister it is also certain that the central government and states government agencies coordinate and network with the sex worker associations. Moreover, WHO or the UN and International Sex Workers Associations are also associated with the Indian associations (as well as with organisations world-wide). So what would the FIR in Shillong mean? All these associations work for the rights and welfare of sex workers. They stand for human rights. RAM does not encourage prostitution per se. Just like the above organisations it works for the interest, dignity and respect of its members. If other sex workers’ organisations in the country (in fact in the world) can contribute to the society, so too can RAM!
Legal perspectives could aid us to grasp the situation better. As pointed by others the Indian Penal Code does not prohibit prostitution per se. Activities like soliciting, running prostitution in hotels, owning a brothel and pimping are illegal. Trafficking of sex workers is also punishable under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA). Minors, of course, cannot be sex workers. In 2016 a Supreme Court panel (formed in 2011) recommended that sex work be made legal in the country. In the same year the Apex Court judged that ‘consenting’ adult sex workers cannot be arrested even from a brothel as sex work is not illegal. An owner of a brothel may be arrested. In 2018 the Karnataka High Court ruled that there is ‘no penalty’ for a ‘customer’ who uses the services of a prostitute. In September last year, maintaining that ‘prostitution is not a criminal offence’ the Bombay HC ordered the release of three sex workers arrested in a hotel. So in short sex workers cannot be harassed if their activities fall within the law.
Now a word on morality and legality! Morality can be subjective. What is immoral may not be illegal. For example adultery is immoral but it is not punishable in most countries. Abortion may be unethical but persons can’t be taken to task if termination of pregnancy is legal. Prostitution may be considered immoral but it does not mean we ‘punish’ workers. It does not mean we insult, humiliate, condemn and judge them. Prostitution may not be appreciated but moral policing is also wrong. It is in fact illegal. Vigilantes can’t beat up, apprehend and abuse sex workers. More so, in the first instance, the MLA approached the problem from the moral point of view sans the social and economic realities. The Home Minister, also the Education Minister, did not understand the question and hence gave a wrong answer. He took sex work for human trafficking.
Immorality is not narrowed down to sex work. Corruption and bribe are much more rampant than sex work. The latest is the Rs 233 crore scam in the MeECL Smart Meter Project as alleged by TUR, the result of which is the 11 hour unprecedented power cuts.However, there is no community guilt. No agitation. No pressure on the government for a credible probe. Few highlight it on social media. The organisation that has filed FIR against RAM has not done so against any corrupt politician or official. It is well known NGOs thrive on ‘donations’. They demand ‘protection’ money from petrol pumps, companies, enterprises, shops and from individuals like contractors and business persons. Some organisations are formed to make a living. How do we explain the wealth of leaders of pressure groups? How do we explain when leaders contest and win elections? Where do they derive their cash from? It could be via fair means but how is it that there are hardly any anti-corruption crusader groups? How is it that most NGOs have not said a single word on corruption, illegal coal mining and transportation? No one has seconded the Lokayukta’s recommendation for a CBI probe in the illegal activities. No one will raise a hue and cry even if the government decides to keep the CBI at bay. No one is alarmed that the corruption watch dog is rendered toothless. All are eager to end prostitution not corruption.
Simple ‘solutions’ are on offer to end prostitution! One is a religious/spiritual answer – ‘change your ways…trust in Jesus…’ This may work but there are individuals who don’t believe in Jesus. Should they be excluded? Even for Christians it is a simplistic solution. The stories of anonymous sex workers confirm that the common cause is poverty. Abandoned by husbands, death of parents, death of husbands, alcoholic husbands are reasons. Despite their best efforts to find work in people’s home (mostly washing clothes) or in tea stalls their earning is never sufficient for house rent, food for the family, education of their children and other requirements. Therefore, to just exhort to place one’s hope in God in such cruel conditions is insensitive.
Another ‘solution’ is for Christian denominations who run schools, colleges and hostels. ‘Give free education to the children of sex workers. Place them in identified hostels’. One is not a spokesperson for Church leaders. They could well accept the suggestion but the difficulty is that sex workers will not wish to reveal their profession. They are anonymous.
The socio-economic issue has no easy solution. Sex work has existed in all ages and in all societies. If there was a ready-made solution we need not battle it today. Sex work is there today, in rich and poor countries in all the seven continents and in all the countries. It is not new here in the ‘Ri Tip Briew Tip Blei’ too. It does not mean we don’t do anything about it. We do it without being judgemental. We approach it not merely from the legal point of view. We may or may not be able to eradicate it. There may be individuals who find reasons to indulge in the ‘oldest profession’. It does not mean ‘ki Hynniewtrep’ will crumble.
We once again refer to ourselves as being a ‘Christian’ state. There are Christian organisations working for sex workers. In Kolkata I once encountered members of a religious society going to a red light area carrying loads of contraceptives and condoms. Clearly they have no easy solution. The next best solution is to reduce the spread of HIV-AIDs and educate the children in the red light areas so that they need not continue the occupation of their mothers. So RAM is part of the solution not the problem.
Email: [email protected]
