Adults In The Room
SC did well to liberate voluntary adult sex workers. They’re neither victim nor offender
In an excellent judgment, Supreme Court has centred on ‘individual agency’ to decide on a framework for rescue & rehab of adult sex workers. It raised the key question the law skipped: why rescue adult women who are sex workers voluntarily, and do not need “rescuing”? SC went on to sharply delineate categories – coerced, trafficked, or voluntarily engaged in sex work. It called out Sec 17 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA) for its “paternalistic assumption” that treats all persons rescued from prostitution-related situations in the same manner, that such a “one-size-fits-all” approach fails to account for the different realities of the “rescued”.
The bench took its time and delivered a powerful, empowering and progressive judgment, using its powers (Articles 32 and 142) to write out how police should go about their missions. Cops and magistrates must first question – hold a threshold inquiry – before embarking on rescuing adult sex workers. And for those rescued, SC has also detailed conditions for safe houses. It’s clear: there is no confusion – prostitution is legal, soliciting illegal, an individual practising prostitution, as livelihood, cannot be criminalised. Where ambiguity lay, SC said, was in the law treating all sex work as “solely being abusive or exploitative.” It’s empowering for voluntary adult sex workers – their own wishes and choices will be key to decisions on rehabilitation, or returning to the community. The only exceptions, SC ruled, are when there are safety risks or when their decision is influenced by pressure, threats, or coercion. Determining that is the magistrate’s job.
This order is a first step in freeing sex workers from police harassment during raids. They are harassed even otherwise – these exploitations are well-documented. Failure to distinguish voluntary adult sex work from trafficking in ITPA’s wording has long meant inconsistent application, even misapplication of the law. SC has cleared the air, and liberated a whole lot of workers.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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