Thorn in the Flesh Trade

What made the Supreme Court ask state governments to provide allowances and rations to them? It relates to the peculiar situation governing sex workers

- Sujit Bhar

THE Supreme Court recently asked all state governments to assure that dry rations and other allowances reach sex workers across the country. This was an extraordinary move, coming out of an appeal to the effect by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, an organisation that works for the benefit of sex workers.

When there is a national policy about distribution of relief material during this pandemic, why did the top court have to come out and issue a special order? And why were sex workers denied relief in the first place?

This was because of the peculiar situation that sex workers in the country—as well as in many other countries—find themselves in. Prostitution in this country is not illegal. Technically, a sex worker can carry on her trade without the fear of law. However, there are stipulations in place that make this very act of the sex worker impossible. Pimping, for example, is illegal. Also illegal would be existence of a place—a brothel or such—where prostitution can take place. Even soliciting for sex by a prospective client is illegal.

Is there, then, a logical and legal way in which prostitution can happen, through which a sex worker can earn her living? Unlikely. More importantly, there is complete opacity in the very status of a sex worker in society. While the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) religiously records actions for and against sex workers, noting down data, no national census would want to touch them. So how is this large swathe of marginalised population represented?