SOME MORE THOUGHTS ON THE SUPREME COURT ORDER

So, what the bench at the Supreme Court, who passed the recent order saying `sex work' is a `profession', is thinking is that there is `dignity' in selling your body and adult women should be allowed to go about doing their job. And since they will not have an agent, also popularly known as pimp, they will go about in public calling out to men and exhibiting their ware, since that is the way this job is done. 

What the Supreme Court is saying is to arrest all pimps, brothel owners or anybody making money out of the body of a woman. Which was always the case. There was no pimp or brothel owner who put up a board or carried a visiting card on himself. It was and is always word of mouth and there is a chain of control of these people. Which is one of the reason that it takes a very long time to convince the girl to go to court against them. 

The terrorising of the girl in court is another story. Wonder if the judges know about all this. Previously the women on the street selling sex were known as `street walkers'. And in Hyderabad this happened when the Mehndi area was entirely destroyed in a couple of hours by powerful police persons and these women with no wherewithal and many children in tow had to literally walk the streets to make ends meet. 

These women have not known anything else other than to subjugate themselves to all kinds of violations and indignities, till they begin to believe that this is the way of life. For them to return to any kind of normalcy takes yeoman effort. 

These are women who have seen abusive relationships and have led bloody lives. And this probably by being under protection of a brothel keeper or a madam. Imagine if these women are allowed to sell their bodies for `sex work' without any kind of protection. Where would they do their `job' ? Assuming the world is full of rapacious men and therefore they will get a client, where will they go to do the `job'.

So, one presumes, the women will go back to truck stops, dark alleys, street corners where there is no light bulb and solicit. There are some who already do it. While previously soliciting was an offence, now that it is a `job' wonder what the courts will say to women who will call out to men from these places. 

While pimps and brothel owners were a coven, they will do it with more subtlety and teach the women to say they are independent workers and increase the fear in them. It is not that the police is not in the know that there are flats in all kinds of posh areas of Hyderabad too, where prostitution is a racket. The police also hits only when the iron is hot.

This prostitution `racket' as we call it is a multi-crore business where every single individual involved makes money. The sacrificial goat is the woman. Of course she makes money, but at what cost is the question.