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Nepal Social Life - Women |
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Moral,
cultural factors hindering the real issues of sex-work
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Housing
and sanitation facilities were abysmal,the localities were crowded, most
sex workers looked quite poor suffered by police harassment and violence
from local thugs. To top it all, deprivation and distress, stigmatisation
and margina-lisation, - the social indignity of being "sinful", being mothers
of illegitimate children, being the target of those children"s frustrations
and anger- this is all at-a-glance scene in Sonagachhi, a brothel in Kolkata.
As I entered the dark lanes of the brothel, I could hear blasting music
and children wailing. The brothel owner introduced me to the Nepali girls.
The colorful clothes they wear, the bizarre make-up and loud speeches cover
up their pain and anguish. But later the feelings followed. It is after
all a very tough occupation, I learnt. With the physical labor, occupational
hazards like unwanted pregnancy, painful abortions, and risk of sexually
transmitted diseases all prevalent, who can ask for more? I joined the
Nepali girls to the mass gathering at Kolkata, the city of Tagore, Teresa
and of Joy was not a mere social or political gathering but a union, with
a strength of 5000 sex-workers and delegates from the Asia-Pacific Region.
There each of the prostitutes were willing to stand up in the crowd proudly,
to declare their status and to reach out to others. Women sex workers of
Sonagachhi and neighboring red light areas originally formed the Durbar
Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC). Today, it is an organisation of 60,000
sex-workers. General secretary of the DMSC, Putul Singh, a sex -worker
said, "Like many other occupations, sex work is also an occupation, and
it is probably one of the "oldest profession" in the world because it meets
an important social demand, namely sex". Well, but in our country, anti-trafficking
campaigns are carried through by linking the sex trade with an emphasis
on emotive words like "trafficking, slaves, and child prostitution".
Thus
reinforcing the moral condemnation of prostitution and deflect from the
real issues; the exploitation of migrant workers, not just sex workers,
and their vulnerable position. Nepali sex workers who seek employment in
the sex industry do so for the same reasons as Indian workers, that is
to make a good living, to have money, to support families and so on. Because
the sex industry is criminalised in much of India and Asia and sex workers
cannot travel freely, it is their illegal status as workers that the employers
exploit them. Nepali sex workers in Kolkata are not "trafficked " because
they were aware of the work and chose to enter freely into the sex-industry
on contracts.Recognizing the complexity of the issues and taking into account
the range of cultural and moral factors makes it difficult to talk about
choice in this context. It is most important however, not to bring in moral
views of sex workers as victims. It is sex workers" rights and working
conditions that need to be the focus.
There
are rare cases where sex workers have been deceived about the type of work
they will do and this practice is totally unacceptable to them. Prostitution
is bad and should be abolished. It has grave consequences for all the Nepali
sex workers. As a result of these campaigns the public is often not able
to differentiate between forced prostitution and prostitution as a choice.
I myself confused about that matter as to what is better for the sex-workers
themselves. But we need to draw a line somewhere between girl trafficking
and voluntary prostitution.Girl trafficking is illegal, as it is banded
in view of sexual abuse, mental torture and abandons Human Right laws.
Whereas voluntary prostitution should by all means be her sole decision
and her right to make the decision, provided she is an adult. "Charity
organisations are proned to rescue us and put us in safe homes, developmental
organisations are likely to rehabilitate us by managing income generation
activities, and the police seem bent upon to regularly raid our quarters
in the name of controlling "immoral trafficking" says Purna Maya. "We are
not exempt from stigmatisation or social exclusion. As powerless, abused
victims with no resources, we are seen as objects of pity" her friends
add. But it is very true that people, who are interested and are genuinely
concerned in their welfare, often can not think beyond rehabilitating them
or abolishing prostitution altogether. However, in reality it is perhaps
impossible to "rehabilitate" a sex worker because the society will never
erase their identity as prostitutes. Moral, cultural factors hindering
the real issues of sex-work.
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