Prostitution : Legal Provisions in India

Submitted by admin on April 11, 2013 - 11:02am

Prostitution is not a criminal offense in India but soliciting prostitution and prostitution in any public place are illegal. It is the use of ones body to be used for sexual services such as oral sex or sexual intercourse in return for payment. Prostitution is defined as the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons for commercial purposes or for consideration in money or in any other kind. Prostitution Vaguely Defined The definition of prostitution in the law governing it in India is vague and ambiguous. The main statute dealing with prostitution or sex work in India is the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, the amended version of the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act 1956, which came into force on 26th January 1987. The law was intended to limit and abolish prostitution in India by gradually criminalizing various aspects of sex work. The law does not refer to the practice of selling one's own sexual service as "prostitution". So the act, as of now, does not criminalize prostitution per se, but it intends to punish acts by third parties facilitating prostitution like brothel keeping, living off earnings and procuring. A sex worker can legally practice her profession inside a house but cannot solicit clients on the streets. What this essentially means is that a woman is free to use her body for material gains. But a brothel - a house or room - shared by two or more sex workers is illegal. Brothels normally consist of several rooms or chambers, with grilled windows, where women are locked up. Any adult who knowingly lives on the earnings of the prostitution of any other person shall be punished. If any adult is proved to be living with a prostitute in aiding her prostitution, it shall be presumed that such person is knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution of another person. The law penalizes those prostitutes who solicit customers by words or gesture or willful exposure of her body. This can be punished with imprisonment of up to six months and/or fine of up to Rs. 500. The persons such as pimps and procurers soliciting on behalf of a commercial sex worker in a public place can be similarly punished. But this law is being used illegally to harass prostitutes charging wrong things on them. Any person involved in the recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring, or receiving of persons for the purpose of prostitution is guilty of trafficking. The act provides for the appointment of a special police officer for investigating offences with inter-state ramifications. Police can enter and search any premises on suspicion. The women who are resented by the police during raids will be questioned only by women police officers and if none is available they can be interrogated only in the presence of a female representative of a recognized welfare organization. To make a search or to conduct a raid, the police officer has to be accompanied by at least two police women. The punishment for procuring, inducing or taking away persons for prostitution is a minimum of three years and a maximum of seven years of rigorous imprisonment. Forcible detention for prostitution can also be punished with imprisonment for seven years to a life term. The law

provides for engaging special police officers, non-official advisory bodies and police officers to stop trafficking and to establish special courts to deal with cases under the act. It also provides for establishment of protective homes for rescued girls who can stay there for not exceeding three years. The law does not provide for punishing the client. All offences are cognizable under the Act. No Concept of Child Prostitution Exists Now Child Prostitution, as per Indian laws as existed before the enactment of the Criminal Law (amendment) Act 2013, was the practice whereby a child hires out his or her body for sexual activities in return for remuneration or any other form of consideration. Child prostitution referred to the prostitution by a minor, or person under the legal age of maturity. Children are generally not expected to be able to make an informed choice to prostitute themselves. Under the law there were three categories of victims-children, minors and majors.

Children: Children are those up to 16 years. Minors: Minors are those between the age of 16 to 18 years. Majors: Majors are those who are above 18 years.

The punishment for offences committed against the three categories had much differences depending on the category to which the victim belonged to. The offences against children and minors were dealt with more severely than those against majors. The Section five of the act states that if a person procures, induces or takes a child for the purpose of prostitution then the prison sentence is a minimum of seven years but can be extended to life or a term which may extend to ten year and also a maximum fine of one lakh rupees. The Criminal Law (amendment) Act 2013 enhanced the age of consent from 16 to 18 and hence the concept of child prostitution no longer exists now. Conclusion The act appears to have failed to prevent & intercept trafficking but has become a source of repression for sex workers, who face routine harassment & repeated arrests. So the law needs thorough amendment. Amendment to the act has been proposed in 2006 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The bill has not yet been passed. The issue of legalizing prostitution is being debated. Even the Supreme Court of India on December 9, 2009 in a PIL petition had asked the Government of India to consider legalizing prostitution so that it can monitor the trade and rehabilitate workers if it was unable to curb it effectively . http://www.gangothri.org/?q=node/9