Re: Amendments of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

We have been keenly observing the debate raised in response to Ms. Meena Sesu's

posting. No doubt may participates in the debate has brought forward several

important aspect of sex and sex work related issues and agenda. However we feel

that in the process of discussion the basic issues related to IPT(A) and its

proposed amendment got lost.

We would like to draw your attention in this regard. Though by name the act is

meant to stop trafficking of human beings, the act essentially deals with

" prostitution " from a standpoint of sexual morality articulated in n

era.

In all sections of the Act the terms 'trafficking' and 'prostitution' (=Sex

work) are collapsed. This does not make any sense. In all sectors of the labour

market some human beings are trafficked, but not all. This is true of the sex

sector too.

We need comprehensive laws to fighting all forms of trafficking of human beings

in all sectors of our economy, for instance, agriculture, cottage industry,

domestic services, hotels, manufacturing etc. In West Bengal Durbar, the largest

sex workers collective with a member of (60,000) sixty thousand (Male, Female,

Trans-gender) have been putting up a battle against trafficking of human beings

in the sex sector through Self-Regulatory Boards. Our experience shows that

trafficked labour into the sex sector is only a small part of the total number

of workers trafficked into and from our labour market.

The demand for trafficked workers in the various sectors of our economy awaits

mapping. Under these circumstances, the conflation of sex workers and

trafficking in persons in the IT(P)A is not at all tenable.

The ITP(A) conflates all non-marital sexual activity with sex work and, further

all sex work with trafficking in human beings. This effectively criminalizes all

non-marital sexual activities, including sex work, on the one hand and turns a

blind eye to the vast ocean of human trafficking in all sectors of the economy

on the other. Being moral is about being good. The effects of the ITP(A),

together with the proposed amendments, like the new sub-section 5© that

proposes to arrest the customer as a criminal ---will be devastating for the

sexual health of our people, as it will push the sex sector---its workers,

customers and all --- underground. The ITP(A) will be a sordid evil stocking the

wild fire of the now raging AIDS pandemic.

In this land of the Kamasutra, where our sacred texts recognized Kama as a

legitimate goal of life, let us put a stop to this Anglo-Americal inspired,

bigoted puritanical hypocrisy around the sex sector.

So, we strongly urge members of our society to recognize the sex workers and

their customers as normal people and repeal the ITP(A).

Yours sincerely,

Bharati Dey

Project Director

DMSC

e-mail: <sonagachi@...>