Response to Kole's To Trade in Pleasure

[Guest guest]

To AID-INDIA Former members:

My following response to Mr. Subir K, Kole’s article,

“To Trade in Pleasure” published in the Telegraph (Jan

25) was published in the Telegraph (Feb 7).

Moni Nag, Columbia University

Working rules

Mr. Subir K. Kole argues against legalization of

prostitution in India (“To trade in pleasure”, Jan 25)

but prostitution per se in not illegal in India.

Unlike the United States of America. (except Nevada

state), one can practice prostitution in India

legally, but it has to be done in accordance with the

restrictions imposed on it by Immoral Traffic

(Prevention) Act, 1986 and other relevant

legislations. Some of these restrictions (for example,

a poor mother living on the earning of her sex worker

daughter can be punished) are very unfair to the sex

workers and their family members.

Perhaps the term ‘legalization’ in the context of

prostitution has been inaccurately used by Mr. Kole

and many others in the sense of mandatory possession

of work license and periodical medical check-up

certificate for practising prostitution, as is the

case in Australia and some European countries. . Sex

workers’ collectives in India are, in general,

opposed to the introduction of mandatory licensing and

medical check-up systems on the ground that it would

open up new avenues for their exploitation by the

police and medical personnel.

The vast majority of existing sex workers in India

were forced into prostitution or were victims of

extremely adverse circumstances which pushed them into

sex work. Efforts to rehabilitate them and their

children by government and non-government agencies

during the last few decades have had very little

impact. The demands of sex workers for the repeal of

all legal provisions unfair to them and for their

basic human rights deserve support.

Yours faithfully,

Moni Nag, New York

E-mail: <mn1925@...>