The Unfortunate Souls

Prostitution is legal in India but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in hotels, child prostitution, pimping, and pandering are illegal. 

For many years now people are debating whether to make prostitution legal or not. People who want to make prostitution legal have a point of view that it would stop human trafficking and would help to prevent diseases like HIV and AIDS.

But I am against making prostitution legal even if a person is willfully involved in such activities. As Ms. Thompson says in her research article "In the 11 years I've been there, I've never met one woman who has chosen to be there. Every woman I've met has been trafficked or born there."  

Research shows that people join the sex trade due to weak financial conditions or have been forcefully trafficked or are born in such conditions.

And another thing how would anybody guarantee that trafficking and child prostitution would be stopped, when it still exists when child prostitution and prostitution in public places are banned. Legalizing prostitution would give the culprits cover and confidence to continue destroying the lives of many unfortunate souls. 

Many survivors of India's brothels describe a horrific conditioning period during their first days and weeks in the sex trade. Rape, beatings, starvation, and isolation are used to break the spirit and capture the mind.

As per a trafficking survivor," I said that I didn't want to stay there. I started crying." " So the manager took off all my clothes, she didn't leave one piece of clothing on and took me to the door. She said ' You can now go wherever you want. ' Then she put on the music and beat me a lot. She also put green chili in my body and beat me. "  

As per another survivor " She traveled to the city from another part of India on the promise of a good job. When she arrived, she was told she had been sold to a brothel, where she was held captive and forced to have sex with three to four men a day. A friend eventually helped her escape. " 

Recently two Sikkim minor girls were rescued by the Sikkim and Delhi police from the traffickers. This incident again put India under the scanner as a source, destination, or transit country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking.

Many women and girls, predominantly from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Burma, Asia, Africa, and Europe are subjected to sex trafficking in India. 

And the worst part is traffickers, pimps, and brothel owners get encouragement to do such a heinous crime when people visit or contact or take the services of such people. And it is not that people are not aware of human trafficking or child prostitution, they knowingly become part of such crimes. 

As per Indian criminal law, a customer can get imprisonment of 3 months or 7 to 10 years if a sex worker is below 18 years of age.   

Another social problem that is faced is that when a girl is rescued from this horrific trade, rehabilitation can take a lifetime. Many girls are not accepted by their parents because of social stigma.

What great nation are we when the GB road red light area in Delhi is just in the vicinity of the country's Parliament House? There are many others like Sonagachi (Kolkata), Kamathipura (Mumbai), Budhwar Peth (Pune), Meergunj (Allahabad), etc. 

As per research, there are around 20 million prostitutes in India of which 16 million women and girls are victims of sex trafficking. 

So do we only blame each other or try to solve the real problems of India. Just a real thought from my heart.