भेद भाव / Rights of Sex Workers with Priti Patkar (HRW Day 3)
भेद भाव /
Rights of Sex Workers
with Priti Patkar
Priti Patkar is an Indian social worker and human rights activist. She is the co-founder and director of the organisation Prerana that has done pioneering work in the red-light districts of Mumbai, India to protect children vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking.
We see a lot of discrimination around us, based on gender preference, caste, race, etc. The speaker talked about her organization 'Prerana' which witnessed that there was no adult supervision for adolescents in these areas. The sex workers and the right to dignity of children's both of their rights are being violated. Then she also talked about the red light areas where women face many problems and are fighting for their rights.
Life of Sex Workers and the Societal thoughts about them:
The life of sex workers is not as depicted as in the movies. Violence is normalized in this trade. The aim is to alter the perception towards Sex-Workers and to understand the concept of human trafficking in relation to the Sex-Trade.
There is a deficiency of understanding of reality in violation of the human rights of the students. A lot of individuals feel that women end up in the trade, free choice. People bend to believe that women in the trade are 'frivolous' women. Sex-Workers are considered unethical. COVID-19 had deep outcomes on marginalized groups, including out of sight victims (victims of human trafficking).
"UN issued statement: COVID-19 is making the task of identifying victims of human trafficking very difficult, more prone to contract this virus". Brothels had shut down in March 2020, strict alertness was put on them. Women were not permitted to move out of the areas. No care for them or their rights were catered, only anxiety that it might spread the virus even further. Mobility and reaching the victims of trafficking were challenged during the COVID-19. The Government did not consider this a necessity of service, and they hence did not help. Alleviation work was only received in Kamathipura, and no service was yielded to those in fewer acknowledged red light areas. Women walked from Sion to Kamathipura because they had found out that they were perceiving help. Women had no source of income. And no word was covered in Media. Women moved out and returned to their villages, but not all of them could. They were not for sure that they would accept them. They were going back without any resources, and they would have to depend on their families, so they felt further unwelcomed. The aforesaid Yale Study increased their distress. This added further fear in civil society. There is no security under the law for these women. They have the same rights as everyone else, nobody can deny them these rights.
Despite that, women still find it extremely difficult to recover their ID documents, justice, etc. Prerna helped these women access their social security rights. Reiterating: This was unfortunately not uniform in all these areas. Only a handful of women could access the subsidies that the Government had declared. Financial relief to these women was provided by Maharashtra. Prerna helped unify these women and ensure that women could access these relief packages. Sexual violence- women in Sex-Trade never come forward to talk about Sexual-Violence.
Problems faced by the children born to sex workers:
Children's faced social exclusion and stigma due to the nature of their mother's profession. Children born to sex workers struggles for their basic rights. They lack a life of dignity. Listening to these women is the cornerstone for assisting them. All the women in the trade wanted a way out for their children, 'izzat ki zindagi' (a life of respect). These women wanted the freedom of CHOICE; letting their children choose their own path. Children, assisted with long term residential care, helped with finding their identity papers.
We should support the children born in red light areas and give them human rights. Human Rights are unconditional, they should not be conditional for children born in these brothels. Unfair expectations are put on these children, they should be able to enjoy basic human rights without having to prove their worth. The government is investing so much in education to give the guarantee that we will be responsible, productive citizens. "We are all a sum of our surroundings". Everyone deserves a safe and enabling environment, which Prerana strived to provide unconditionally for children born to mothers in the Sex-Trade.
Women and children in the Sex-Trade, are the rescued people treated as victims of offenders? Are we listening to them? They should be assisted to make sure they are making informed choices, but the choice is up to them. They should be believed and trusted. Rescue and Rehabilitation is their right.
Few questions raised by students:
Q1.) Ma'am, you mentioned that these women face a lot of violence in the brothels; is it at the hands of their bosses/pimps, by their customers, or a combination of both?
Ans: The violence faced by these women's was the combination of both, not only ones who were abused by the men, but there were also the customers who were possessive towards them, there were the customers who felt that they could only be with them and that they have bought the worker which is not so, and if the women are going to sleep with someone else, which is basically her job, then the customer would get very angry, possessive towards her, and would sexually abuse her. The second thing mentioned was that Prerna helped them with support and knowledge.
Q2.) Are there any institutions or policies that can provide Health Care Services to the women and children in the sex trade, if not how to facilitate them the Right to Health?
Ans: Many Health care services are already available, and society needs to let them have the right to Health without judging or discriminating.
Q3.) Inclusion is provided to trans women working in the sex industry?
Ans: The answer provided by her was that her organization doesn't just cater to women but is open to all individuals.
Report drafted by Vedanti Patil (SYBA)
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