Essay on Problems Related to Prostitution In India !
Any discussion on sex crime without reference to the problem of prostitution shall be incomplete. Prostitution as a menace is essentially an outcome of sex delinquency. As rightly observed by Donald Taft, “Our attitude towards prostitution varies from approval through acceptance and tolerance to violent opposition.” To quote him again, “whenever the institution of marriage weakened, prostitution declined because sex gratification could be obtained without payment.
Thus, prostitution in a way is an index to morality.” In India with the declining morality and impact of western culture the attitude of people towards prostitution has considerably softened and it has been accepted an inevitable evil for maintaining the general moral discipline in the community.
In spite of repressive policies and regulatory measures on prostitution as an organised crime, the institution still survives as a regular profession as it offers unlimited opportunity for sex gratification, monetary rewards to prostitutes and pimps for reasons of promiscuity.
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However, one remarkable feature of modem reforms on prostitution is that it has now been possible to rehabilitate the prostitutes to normal life. This was not possible three or four decades ago because of the stigma attached to this profession.
Many innocent girls and women who fall victim to this dubious profession can now be saved from leading a life of immorality through the process of rehabilitation. Social service agencies for rehabilitation of neglected and victimised women, girls and children are operating throughout the country.
Indian history reveals that prostitution has been an age-old practice in this country. The Mourya period is well-known for its State-regulated prostitution. An analysis of the forces behind the causes of prostitution shows that nearly sixty per cent of the prostitutes embrace this profession due to poverty while forty per cent accept it due to hereditary influences or the force of circumstances.
Besides sex gratification, these circumstantial causes include disturbed domestic life, mutual quarrels, cruelty and running away from home due to the fear of punishment and displeasure of members of the family.
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Though effective provisions exist under the Indian Penal Code for suppressing prostitution, it has not been possible to wipe it out completely because of its peculiar nature. There are specific provisions in the Indian Penal Code, which seek to discourage prostitution. They are as follows:—
Section 361, I.P.C:
“Whoever takes or entices any minor under sixteen years of age if male, or under eighteen years of age, if a female, or any person of unsound mind, out of the keeping of the lawful guardian of such minor or person of unsound mind, without the consent of such guardian, is said to kidnap such minor or person from lawful guardianship.”
Section 362, I.P.C:
“Whoever by force compels, or by any deceitful means induces any person to go from any place is said to abduct the person.”
Section 372, I.P.C:
“Whoever sells, lets or hires, or otherwise disposes off any person under the age of eighteen years with intent that such person shall at any age be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, or knowing it to be likely that such person will at any age be employed or used for any such purpose, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
Section 373, I.P.C:
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“Whoever buys, hires or otherwise obtains possession of any person under the age of eighteen years with intent that such person shall at any age be employed or used for the prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, or knowing it to be likely that such person will at any age be employed or used for any such purpose, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also be liable to fine.”
Section 498, I.P.C:
“Whoever takes or entices any woman who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of any other man from that man, or from any person having the care of her on behalf of that man, with intent that she may have illicit intercourse with any person or conceals or detains with that intent any such woman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine or with both.”
Most criminologists have projected prostitution as a woman’s characteristic crime which enables her to earn wealth and status. But as Prof. Wootton puts it, each act of prostitution requires male partner too. Therefore, it is erroneous to exclude man from the purview of this crime although it has been accentuated by the growth of woman’s sex freedom in modern time.
At present, there are nearly one lakh known prostitutes in India but they have been deprived a good deal of their trade by the educated call-girls. Now-a-days exchange of wife and marriage by ‘hiring’ is becoming a common menace among the so-called elites of metropolitan cities which is destroying the social fabric of the Indian society.
Prostitutes can be male or female but more than 90% of them are females providing sexual pleasure by working in streets (20%) massage parlor (15%), brothels (20%), bars (10%), and hotels (10%) or as call girls (15%). Male prostitutes are usually homosexuals in the age group of 14 to 18 years. Many prostitutes have pimps who usually recruit newcomers into the life of a prostitute and they share the earning of the prostitute.
Besides the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 has also been enacted to suppress the menace of prostitution.