Last week the news media both print and television were
abuzz with the news of a once child start caught in a prostitution racket. The
lady herself was rather candid about her situation. She said she had made some
wrong choices in my career, and that she was in dire need of money to support her
family and some other good causes. She
said that all the doors were closed, and some people encouraged her to get to
turn to prostitution as choice of living. She said that she was helpless, and
with no option left to choose, she got involved in this prostitution.
As expected the news media showed no restraint or judgment
in dealing with the story, within no time the lady was named and pictures of her
as a child artist were all over the place. Funnily enough none of her
‘prominent’ clients were named. The usual experts were rounded up and within no
time they were passing moral judgments and lamenting about the dark side of the
film industry. Various news
websites carried stories which had a similar tone and the comments from
general readers also showed that most were outraged and words such as ‘immoral’
and ‘indecent’ were tossed around without much thought. They forget that the
most decent and moral thing to do is to not scurrilously attack an individual
without knowing all the fact and circumstances that led them to a situation.
So let’s take a million steps back and try to judge the
circumstances surround this situation dispassionately. The economy functions on
the simple principle of give and take; this has been happening since the
beginning of mankind, it began with the barter system until money was invented
as a medium of financial transaction. Somebody sell a product or a service and
for which payment is made. Be a doctor,
who examines a patient to diagnose an ailment or a cobbler who makes his
customer a pair of shoes or a teacher who teaches his students or an actress who
portrays a character or a writer who writes a book or even a journalist to
files a report.
For each and every profession known to humankind the service
providing individual uses their natural resources i.e. the body and the mind to
provide a facility. Let’s now think of a prostitute, she too provides her
customer with service. She too uses her body and her mind to provide these
services for which a payment is made.
So why do we the people look down upon this profession, that
many call the oldest profession in the world? There are two major reasons, the
first reason is probably because the service is of a sexual nature and a very
close second is because prostitution is almost always involved with criminal
who are always looking to exploit and victimize everybody involved.
So let’s deal with the sexual aspect first. It is no secret
that, we in India are not most comfortable talking about matters that are of a
sexual nature. I confess I probably will not be comfortable reading aloud what
I am writing in this article to my parents. There are those who say that sex is
not Indian culture and they will be right because commodification of sex and objectification
of the female form was never a part of Indian culture. We land of the Kamasutra
where sex was treated with a wholesome attitude, was described as an act of
giving pleasure and taking pleasure and even the possibility of creating a
life.
The reason we all are here is because of sex. There is no reason to not
talk about it since; it is a bodily urge just like the hunger for food. Can we
survive without food for long? A healthy and open discussion of this matter
will ensure positive attitude and will prevent the possibility of the young and
inexperienced resorting to external sources to satisfy a natural body urge and
finding themselves get into trouble. The suppression and repression of this
desire can never lead to anything good. There is no doubt that schools should
have compulsory sex education that will doubtlessly clean up our prudish
attitude with respect to matters pertaining to the libido.
The second problem is the criminal aspect of prostitution. But
making prostitution illegal only encourages participation of only the worst
criminal elements to become purveyors, this leads to exploitation and
enslavement of prostitutes, there are also instances of sex trafficking that
even involve underage girls. A prostitute often experiences situations of
extreme violence but owing to the illegal nature of her profession has no
option but to suffer in silence. Exploiters and predators are often emboldened to
prey on prostitutes since they know it will never be reported to police. There
is also the preponderance of sexually transmitted diseases owing the lack of
health education.
We all know that there will always be a certain sort of
individuals seeking company and there will always be women willing to offer
their company, hence this profession will continue till the end of time, this
clearly isn’t a passing fad. So what is the solution? Plain and simple, make it legal; this provide
a completer regulatory mechanism that will be crucial in protecting the rights
of prostitutes. Nobody is suggesting that brothels be opened all over the city
that would be wrong. There can be certain areas in cities and towns where
prostitution officially permitted. The prostitutes themselves will be those who
offer services out of their own volition and will have the ability to screen
and reject client without and fear of repercussion. Most importantly this will
prevent enslavement; the prostitutes decide their own prices and can quit their
profession whenever they want to. There can be a permanent presence of doctors
in these areas who can educate prostitutes and potential client about safe sex
and help them in situations of need.
There also can be a permanent police
presence that will reduce the possibility of violence and victimization, should
any such incidences occur, the police can deal with it with authority and the
prostitutes can seek legal action without any fear. The prostitutes themselves will have an
official profession and can pay taxes that will be a great source of revenue
for the government to do something positive as opposed to all the money going
into the pockets of criminal elements which can be used to fund anything from
criminal and terrorist activities.
This will also enable prostitutes to avail
themselves of the same social-welfare programs as other professions. Since
everybody is registered it will reduce the possibility of sex trafficking or
under-aged girl being force into the situation. Legalization will also save
precious time of the police and courts, all the time spent raiding brothels
that can be better invested investigating and prevent real crimes that cause
harm to mankind. Had prostitution been legal, the story of the actress would
have been a non-issue and perhaps she could have moved on with her life without
this becoming such a sensational and squalid piece of gossip news.
We are a country that doesn't discriminate based sex,
religion, case, and creed; let’s add profession to this list as well. In the
end this legalization of prostitution is about protecting the individual and
her dignity and there can be nothing indecent or immoral about it.
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