Rights And Issues Faced By Sex Workers And Their Displacement
- IJLLR Journal
- Mar 24
- 2 min read
Priya Kushwaha, Trinity Institute of Professional Studies, Dwarka affiliated by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Ankita, Trinity Institute of Professional Studies, Dwarka affiliated by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
ABSTRACT
In India, sex work is legal, but it is associated with dishonor and authoritarianism that has persisted for decades in the lives of those who engage in it. Sex workers are a word that, whether used in Indian society or anyplace else in the globe, conjures images of low-status women who lack respect and dignity. The Indian Supreme Court ruled that sex workers should be protected from police abuse in May 2020.
Article 15 of the Indian Constitution states that discrimination should not be practiced based on caste, creed, gender, race, sex, or place of birth. In contrast, Article 19 of the Constitution preserves the freedom to engage in any profession or occupation. But because of their line of employment, sex workers face discrimination. Their work is viewed as a filthy, characterless line of work.
Speaking of their rights, sex workers lack access to basic healthcare, safety, and education. Their communities suffer from numerous economic inequalities, and lack of sanitization, and are frequently placed on facilities deny lists.
The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, of 1986, which forbids sex work and prevents trafficking in India, deals with sex workers. Even though this law's stated goal is to protect sex workers, it has sadly more frequently been used to harass them.
The 1986 Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act has been guilty of crimes such detaining people with or without their agreement, which can lead to crimes like kidnapping or wrongful imprisonment. Sex workers are stigmatized as disease carriers and vectors because of HIV/AIDS.
The Indian court must put the laws pertaining to the advancement of sex workers into effect and alter them, as necessary. Sex workers also require a suitable institution that will educate and assist them in overcoming their own prejudices and societal expectations. Commercial businesses should become involved so that they can fall under the protection of the law and be protected by it.
Sex work is therefore more than just a job because everyone has the right to human rights, regardless of what their line of employment may be.
