Varanasi Sex Workers Welcome Supreme Court's Suggestion to Legalise Prostitution

Sex workers in Varanasi have welcomed suggestions by the Supreme Court to government to legalise prosituation in the country.

Nisha, who has been in the trade for the last 48 years, has seen it all.

"The society does not even let us eat what we earn. They tell us to leave the place. The police officials also come and beat us. Where would we go then? They did not ask us to go when we were young and now that we are old they are forcing us to leave the place. I have small children and though I can still earn enough to provide me two meals a day but why would I spoil my children's lives? I want to provide them a good future," said Nisha.

Though Nisha is now too old to reap any benefits if and when the legalisation comes through, yet she is hopeful that the new law will help her children lead a better life.

"If the law provides us with a license to legalise our trade, we'll be very happy. It will be the biggest thing for us. Our livelihood will be returned to us and we'll be able to provide a better future to our children," said Nisha.

Afsana, another sex worker has a similar tale to tell.

"We deal with lots of problems here in this trade. The administration goes to the extent of lodging false cases against us. If the government comes out with this licensing we will be very happy," said Afsana.

Justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Patnaik on Thursday told Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam to consider legalising it.

The directive came after a PIL (public interest litigation) was filed by two NGOs namely Bachpan Bachao Andolan and Child line, which knocked on the Court's doors seeking measures to curb child trafficking.

Source-ANI
SRM