Page 110 - KDU Law Journal Volume 4 Issue 2

KDU Law Journal Volume 04 Issue II
September, 2024
labourers to supply sex labour with sought-after services. Slightly
labourers are entirely in the direction of becoming prisoners free of
their ‘supposed wickedness’ as in songs for education worshipful
tunes. Sex workers in these homelands also suffer from physical
violence, as through many of these hometowns, that are associated
with “rape, bribery and prostitution” and are evident by “of evil
places then other brothels”. 10

Legal Provisions in India
The ITPA, initially enacted in 1956 and amended in 1986, targets
individuals involved in the illicit trafficking of people for commercial
sexual exploitation, specifically prostitution. It criminalizes activities
such as brothel keeping, pimping, solicitation, and the detention of
women or girls in places for commercial sexual exploitation, as
well as deriving profit from prostitution. Discussion of sex work
regulations in India invariably involves consideration of the ITPA .
11
However, India’s legal framework erroneously conflates sex work
with sex trafficking, as evidenced by the provisions of the ITPA.
Consequently, this legislation imposes criminal penalties on both
sex workers and victims of sex trafficking . Such an approach not
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only stigmatizes sex workers through fines but also perpetuates
the victimization of those ensnared in sex trafficking. The inherent
bias in India’s laws, policies, and enforcement practices towards
equating sex work with sex trafficking are evident in the ITPA’s
failure to include an exemption for individuals willingly seeking
customers.
Moreover, the ITPA impedes sex workers’ ability to provide for
their adult children and other family members, as it prohibits adults
from earning an income through prostitution. This restriction

10 Associations between sex work laws and sex worker’s health: A systematic review and
meta analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies< https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
articles/PMC6289426/>accessed on 19 August 2024
11 Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, No. 104 of 1956, INDIA CODE (1993) § 5(1)
12 U.N. Office on Drugs & Crime, Toolkit to combat Trafficking in Persons, at 271, U.N.
Sales No. E.06.V.11 (2008) (advocating for the decriminalization of trafficking)
law.faculty@kdu.ac.lk
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