THIS VIEW IS IN FAVOUR OF THE MOTION

OPINION: SHOULD PROSTITUTION BE RECOGNIZED BY THE GOVT?
Should prostitution be legalized? On the face of it, the answer should be ‘Of Course’. Let the people get a fair deal for their trade. By allowing the government to recognize it, the prostitutes will no longer be an underbelly in our society. They will have all the rights that any legitimate employee has and therefore they will be empowered.

Policemen and other law enforcement agencies will not constantly harass them. They will be able to raise their families decently and will hopefully allow their children a chance at education and a future that will be different. They will have access to decent healthcare and possibly some retirement benefits. From the perspective of our society, legitimizing prostitution will allow monitoring the trade better and if laws are set they can be implemented. It may help prevent underage girls from being forced into this field. It may help spread more awareness of STDs and therefore minimizing health risks in women. In summary, a transparency of any trade offers the opportunity of a professional approach and therefore improvement in working conditions.

‘Of course’ this is all a pipedream of a middle class society that is filled with hypocrisy! Let us hypothetically assume that prostitution is legalized (or given the recognition by the government). . How exactly will these women be empowered? Empowerment comes from one’s education and possible professional achievement, power of position or money. Clearly, our hypocritical society will not wake up and start calling prostitution a ‘noble’ profession! So, even if they are recognized by the government, they are still ‘fallen’ in the eyes of the society. And this is where the crux of the problem is. All the well-meaning folks in our society who are dying to see the profession legalized will treat these same women with utter disdain and contempt irrespective of the legality of the profession. Prostitution will never be a noble profession and never will the women in the profession treated with dignity and respect. So, will they be in a position of power if there is legitimacy? Well- they will have the law ‘technically’ on their sides. But as we know that just having the law on your side doesn’t ensure that the law is implemented properly in our country. So, as a prostitute expecting the law to help you out is probably wishful thinking. Can the prostitutes unionize and demand certain rights. Yes, but from whom? The government is too corrupt and too fragmented to yield anything positive.

And the final aspect is money. Money transcends legitimacy and that is exactly how today’s prostitutes stay afloat. Since their profession is not recognized, they have to live under a garb by bribing various layers of the society for their various functions. Once the process is legalized, they will have to pay taxes for their services and then their income will drop! In addition to that, they will still have to keep bribing different members of the society because they will still have no recognition. So, in the process they will hurt from both directions. In summary, the very nature of the profession and the society’s perception of the same will never allow prostitution to be a part of our mainstream.

Legalizing a trade that preys upon the darker side of human character only encourages it more. We all know that almost all the people who belong to this trade are there because of forces of circumstances. How many of us would want our sisters or daughters to be a part of this trade? If not, then why legitimize it for some perceived benefits that will never come to these people and yet create the illusion of empowerment? What society needs to do is try to support them in ways that helps them find repatriation, not recognition. There are a number of NGOs that steadfastly work towards those goals and they should have all the support of the society.
Caveat: Having debates about something we know only from films and stories but rarely experience is an exercise in waste. There are may other problems where we (who are followers of the magazine) may have legitimate input and we should focus our limited time on those topics.