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Bombay HC observed that prostitution is not a criminal offence thus, sex workers cannot be convicted under it. This is what it means.
Last September, the Mumbai police arrested and forcibly detained three women at a correctional facility after they raided a guest house. The Bombay High Court has ordered immediate release of the three sex workers. Bombay High Court judge Justice Prithviraj Chavan observed the fact that prostitution is not a criminal offence under the law.
Under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of 1956, prostitution is not a criminal offence. Thus, sex workers cannot be convicted under it.
The Act was enacted in 1956 to ‘provide pursuance of the International Convention’ and was signed at New York on 9th May 1950. This Act comes under the Ministry of Women and Child Development and under it, prostitution is not a criminal offence.
However, sexual exploitation or abuse of a person for commercial purpose and seduction is punishable under the law. In other words, one cannot earn his bread or make money by exploiting a person or abusing him/her, which we often witness in many cases.
The three women were picked up by the police last September in a raid at a guest house and were sent to the correction facility. Following this, the three women filed a plea at the Bombay High Court. They challenged the order passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate, Mazgaon, that upheld their detention at the correctional facility against their wish.
The Bombay High Court said that as adults, the women have every right to choose and practice their own desired vocation. Coercing a person or running a brothel is punishable under the law, but prostitution is not identified as an offence.
On the one hand, the verdict upholds a woman’s will to freely practice her profession. And on the other, it also makes it clear that sex workers are not committing an illegal act, so long as they consent to it.
While sex-trafficking is immoral and punishable by the law, practicing prostitution with the sex-worker’s consent is the recognition of the person’s fundamental rights. This verdict also empowers women to practice their own desired profession with the support of the law and the judiciary. And it liberalises the thoughts and stereotypes of the society.
Picture credits: Still from movie Lakshmi (2014)
Anamika is an English literature student with a strong inclination towards feminist literature, feminist literary criticism and women's history. read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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