New Delhi: The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers is held annually on December 17 by sex workers, their advocates, friends, families and allies. The day calls attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers worldwide, as well as the need to remove the social stigma and discrimination that have contributed to violence against sex workers.
The day was first celebrated by Annie Sprinkle and the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA in 2003 as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle. Over the past fourteen years, it has grown into a global, annual event recognizing the lives of sex workers lost to violence across the world, and calling for an end to sex work-related stigma and discrimination.
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In India, an estimated four million female sex workers support around 12 million dependent family members on their earnings from sex work. And, every one of these women is a criminal in this country. Sex work is legal in India but it is a crime to practice it because of the law governing sex work. On International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, the consequences of such a law are worth addressing.
Violence Against Sex Workers
- Female, male and transgender sex workers face high levels of violence, stigma, discrimination and other human rights violations.
- Violence against sex workers is associated with inconsistent condom use or lack of condom use, and with increased risk of STD and HIV infection. Violence also prevents sex workers from accessing HIV information and services.
- Violence is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that results or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, sexual or psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation of liberty.
Forms of Violence faced by sex workers
- Physical violence: Being subjected to physical force which can potentially cause death, injury or harm. It includes, but is not limited to: having an object thrown at one, being slapped, pushed, shoved, hit with the fist or with something else that could hurt, being kicked, dragged, beaten up, choked, deliberately burnt, threatened with a weapon or having a weapon used against one. These acts are operationally defined and validated in WHO survey methods on violence against women. Other acts that could be included in a definition of physical violence are: biting, shaking, poking, hair-pulling and physically restraining a person.
- Sexual violence: Rape, gang rape, sexual harassment, being physically forced or psychologically intimidated to engage in sex or subjected to sex acts against one’s will or that one finds degrading or humiliating.
- Emotional or psychological violence: Includes, but is not limited to, being insulted or made to feel bad about oneself; being humiliated or belittled in front of other people; being threatened with loss of custody of one’s children; being confined or isolated from family or friends; being threatened with harm to oneself or someone one cares about; repeated shouting, inducing fear through intimidating words or gestures; controlling behaviour; and the destruction of possessions.
- Human-rights violations that should be considered in conjunction with violence against sex workers are:
- having money extorted
- being denied or refused food or other necessities
- being refused or cheated of salary, payment or money that is due to the person
- being forced to consume drugs or alcohol
- being arbitrarily stopped, subjected to invasive body searches or detained by police
- being arbitrarily detained or incarcerated in police stations, detention centres and rehabilitation centres without due process
- being arrested or threatened with arrest for carrying condoms
- being refused or denied health-care services
- being subjected to coercive health procedures such as forced STI and HIV testing, sterilization, abortions
- being publicly shamed or degraded
- being deprived of sleep by force
Reasons for the Violence faced by the Sex Workers
- Male, female and transgender sex workers may face violence because of the stigma associated with sex work, which in most settings is criminalized, or due to discrimination based on gender, race, HIV status, drug use or other factors.
- Most violence against sex workers is a manifestation of gender inequality and discrimination directed at women, or at men and transgender individuals who do not conform to gender and heterosexual norms, either because of their feminine appearance or the way they express their sexuality.
International Organizations that are working for the rights of the Sex workers
Sex workers’ demands for the decriminalisation of sex work and the recognition of sex workers’ rights are supported by several United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), several human rights organisations, e.g. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and antitrafficking organisations, such as La Strada International and the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
How is India Addressing Violence against Sex Workers
- Building institutional accountability In India, advocacy with the police resulted in getting police administrators to issue a circular to police stations requiring them to follow the rule of law and ensure due process when arresting sex workers. Civil society groups could then monitor adherence.
- Promoting the safety and security of sex workers Promoting workplace security by negotiating with owners and managers of sex establishments to protect sex workers from perpetrators of violence.
- Providing psychosocial, legal and other support services Sex workers who experience violence or any other crisis may need a trained person to provide immediate support and referrals.
- Management, monitoring and evaluation In India, integrated bio-behavioural surveys on STIs and HIV implemented with key populations, including sex workers, have included indicators on violence faced by sex workers.
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In India, where the Avahan AIDS Initiative included crisis response systems to address violence, programmes have also collected data on reported incidents of violence faced by sex workers.
These indicators include:
- Number of sex workers who report incidents of physical violence
- Number of sex workers who report incidents of sexual violence
- Perpetrators of any violence reported by sex workers, by category
Organizations that are working for the rights of the Sex workers in India
1. The Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT)
- Addressing violence against sex workers is complex and requires a partnership with like-minded organizations. The Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT) has been working on HIV prevention among sex workers in Karnataka, India for the last 10 years.
- Preventing and responding to violence emerged as a strong “felt need” among sex workers.
- KHPT sensitized and advocated with law enforcement (police) and judiciary not to perpetrate or condone violence against sex workers.
In partnership with KHPT:
• The state’s Women and Child Welfare Department made services for violence against women available to sex workers as well.
• Community-based organizations worked with sex workers in 30 districts to sensitize them about their rights.
• The Alternate Law Forum and the National Law School of India developed and conducted legal literacy training for sex workers.
• The Centre for Advocacy and Research, an NGO, did media advocacy and trained sex workers as media spokespersons to talk about the violence they face, their resilience and actions to prevent and respond to violence.
2. Avahan’s crisis response system in India
A crisis response system provides rapid on-the-spot support to sex workers who face violence or some other crisis. The sex worker accesses support by calling the mobile phone of a member of a crisis response team. The team includes trained community members who:
- assess the nature and urgency of the crisis
- take steps to address the immediate danger
- facilitate access to medical services, psychosocial and other relevant support
- provides access to a lawyer in case of arrest to support negotiations with the authorities
- provide counselling report and document incidents of violence and the team’s response
- assist in resolving family or community issues affecting sex workers
- report back to the community regularly on incidents that have occurred and their resolution
1. The team includes a person to receive calls, other community members who are on call 24/7 to respond to incidents, and a data person to document the incidents of violence.
2. The team is supported by a social worker from the local implementing organization to provide referrals and one or more lawyers who can negotiate with authorities on behalf of sex workers who have been wrongfully arrested or detained, and who can support training for sex workers about their rights.
3. A response protocol specifies the steps for rapid follow-up in the case of physical or sexual violence; for preventing police harassment, or unlawful detention after arrest; or for rapid intervention if someone is contemplating suicide.
4. The infrastructure includes local mobile phones and/or helplines that people may call, and outreach to promote the service.
5. Details of incidents of violence and the actions taken are recorded as soon as possible after the incident. This information may be helpful as evidence for legal purposes, to provide data on the scale of violence faced by sex workers for advocacy, and planning services.
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6. The system builds links with health care, legal services, temporary housing or shelter, transport and other social services through a directory of services and establishes working arrangements with service providers to accept referrals and provide high-quality services.
7. In the Avahan programme, the system has been scaled up from a few dozen teams to several hundred in six states of India, using common minimum standards and adapting programmes to the local context. The system is managed by sex workers, although financial resources are required to sustain it.
3. Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) is an example of a collective that is centred on the agency of the women in the sex trade and their ability to choose for themselves. This committee is run in one of the largest red-light districts in the country called Sonagachi in Kolkata, West Bengal to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS epidemic, health, education, literacy, and empowerment of sex workers and their families.
4. Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society is another example of an effort to help sex workers achieve financial security and the hope for a dignified life. This cooperative gave sex workers their political identity, dignity and respect.
But these are rare examples. There's a long way to go before society accepts sex work as another profession and accepts sex workers as equal citizens. On the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, we must address the structural factors that perpetuate, condone, and justify continuous violence against sex workers worldwide. The critical first step towards ending violence against sex workers would be to end laws that prohibit consenting adults to buy or sell sex, as well as laws that otherwise prohibit commercial sex, such as laws against “immoral” earnings, “living off the earnings” of prostitution and brothel-keeping. Moreover, sex workers must have access to justice to ensure safe working conditions and security against violence.
