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Legalization of Prostitution


LEGALIZATION OF PROSTITUTION

  The profession of prostitution has existed for centuries now, and continues to exist. Yet, we have reached a point today where those practicing it become outcasts and have no way out of this line of work regardless of whether they entered into it by choice, coercion, or force.

  This mentality of ours speaks directly of the stigma associated with sex. A completely natural activity, by the way, that with a population of over 1 billion, clearly none of us are oblivious to. People in this line of work are trapped between the battle of ‘immoral’ and ‘illegal’. My belief is that prostitution must be legalized. Most people engaging in it either choose to do so as they are plagues by poverty and illiteracy, or are forced into it. There is a marginal minority that chooses to enter into it willingly. Furthermore, making the source of these prostitutes’ livelihood a crime benefits no one. All it does is make them afraid of demanding justice for fear of prosecution and further exploitation. These are the people that are in dire need of legal aid and yet, they are the ones kept invisible before the law. Already exploited and tortured, they are forced into accepting brutal circumstances because we provide them with nowhere else to go.

  Many on the other side of this argument state that our Indian society is not ready or such a decision and that legalizing prostitution would act as a societal stamp of approval on the profession. My question to this is; why must this profession not be approved of? Why must it be considered immoral if it is out of choice that one ends up there? Granted, that legalization of prostitution would cause significant controversy, but is it fair to take away basic rights of an entire section of our own people simply because those of us privileged enough to have a voice are “not ready for it”? 

  There are people who believe that NGOs and non-profit organizations are enough to help sex workers. This is simply untrue. There are various organizations that merely take advantage of the helplessness of these people, taking them out of exploitative brothels to exploitative ‘shelter homes’. Even if genuinely helpful associations do manage to help people out of this clutch of danger, justice will remain impending in most of these cases due to the criminalization of prostitution. Recognizing this profession as real work will reduce atrocities like child abuse, rape, and other such brutal activities that go on under the guise of prostitution and which is taken advantage of by pimps. Giving a human face to this job will enable sex workers to access medical facilities, also legalizing the fight against deadly diseases like STDs, AIDS, and HIV. Legalizing prostitution will empower the profession with legal safeguards, ridding it of the exploitative and truly unhealthy practices.

  Hence, I believe closeting prostitution as a morality issue is merely ignoring the exploitation of an entire section of our society and the pros of its legalization outweigh its cons.
- Hayati Shah


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