Press Release

Women’s rights and human rights activists expressed solidarity with sex work networks in their call to stop all criminalisation of consensual sex work. Proposed amendments to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA) seek to criminalize clients and customers, rehabilitate ‘prostitutes’ engaged in sex work by sending them to protective and rehabilitation homes.

The Committee, in its report of January 23, 2013, proposed certain amendments to Section 370, IPC, to introduce a definition of the offence of ‘trafficking’ into the IPC and the punishment thereof. The Committee also notes that the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, by way of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 (“Ordinance”), dated February 3, 2013, has amended Section 370 of the IPC in terms of the Committee’s recommendations.

International and National commitments call on States to exercise “due diligence in preventing, investigating and punishing acts of violence against women” and providing women “access to mechanisms of justice” and due redress in accordance with national legislations.

This is to express our concern at the ambiguous manner in which the term “prostitution” has been used in Section 370 IPC of the Verma Committee Report. In this section, which deals with the offence of Trafficking of Persons, the term "exploitation" includes "prostitution" itself. This in essence means that "prostitution" will now be interpreted as exploitation. This problematic formulation has now been incorporated into the recently passed Ordinance.

The submission is made by a coalition of partners working at the grassroots on sex worker rights, women’s rights, dalit rights, HIV/AIDS prevention and LGBTI rights. It also comprises collectives of people in sex work and LGBT people. The coalition of 18 partners is working in seven states of India (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu ) with over 25000 people in sex work.