Would legalisation of prostitution, be of any help?

Can you imagine how life in a brothel is? Can you imagine how life is for a girl who is being taken to a foreign land and then sent to at least 4 clients each day of varied age groups?  Can you imagine the intensity of disgust, embarrassment, and desperation to escape and spiral down somewhere safe? Well, you can only understand these things if you have an empathetic view to the reality of life inside the tiny rooms of giant brothels. 

The scenario and it’s issues are chronic since the time the whole whoring-business came into existence, but it’s been just a few years that people have started talking about these grave issues after getting shocked and touched by documentaries, music tracks and also, main-line films. The idea apart from earning big-fat money and rank over the box-office, is to sensitise people about things which people prefer staying mute about.

Just because crime rates against women are shooting-up, doesn't mean we legalize prostitution. Though, by legalizing prostitution, the crime rates would possibly reduce but there is no surety. India, is a different place, it’s influenced by religious factors which is not in the case of other countries; visiting brothels, would anyway be a clandestine affair. 

If you talk about Indian laws regarding prostitution, they are frankly fuzzy. And, there isn't any quick-fix solution to this problem. People in India, happen to have mixed opinions about whether or not prostitution be legalised. One can reason for legalization of prostitution on the grounds that would probably eliminate the middlemen, bringing into focus related activities such as women & child trafficking. But, at the same time, one can also argue against legalization by pointing out that prostitution commoditizes sex or that prostitution is essentially a concept relating to the female sex.

With changing times, prostitution has been legalized in developed countries, and mind you, these are the ones with high literacy rates. But, in India, things are pretty much complicated; poverty, domestic violence, namesake respect for the female sex, shooting rape cases, ever increasing competition in work and education, these are all the factors which either closely or distantly affect the whole problem.

Well, I certainly don’t buy the suggested solution of legalising prostitution anywhere in the world, especially in India.  Here are a few reasons which only make my opinion firm:

It’s an utterly vague idea to assume that the middlemen would simply shoo away from whole business-affair. What would happen instead is, pimps would feel empowered and they would further more supply an increased ‘lot’ into the prostitution market. Though, there is also a vague belief, that it’s the prostitute, who’ll then be called a ‘sex worker’ who will get empowered and better equipped to come out of the vicious circle of sex trade and find life for herself in the world outside. But, to me that sounds like a false utopia, as in India things are lot complex and legalising would just be a heresy.

Our newspapers and digital dailies are flooded with articles reporting how family members ‘sold’ their wife/daughter/sister into prostitution for money or revenge. It’s very difficult to usually decipher between the ones who step willingly into the industry and the ones who are forced into it. They all are given training back in their dirty dark room where-in they are beaten, abused both sexually and verbally, and made to forcibly wear make-up to appease the clients. So, who knows, if things would change if the whole affair is legalised?

And, what are we even talking about; why do we so willingly trust upon the police-men?  Who knows how things are under-the-table and whose things are under the sheets? It’s often seen that men-in-khaki are in very much connect with the brothels, they instead engulf heavy tax amount from them and also visit the place themselves. They after all are people too of the county as me and you.  So, how sure are you of a prostitute getting justice when a pimp beats her off to continue working or steals her money?

Many argue that prostitution is the oldest profession. Let’s say your friend get into the profession of baking. And, if you are too motivated by the baking profession then you can go on and talk to your family folks about becoming a baker yourself. But, would you do the same if your friend is a prostitute; would you then go to your family folks and discuss of joining the same ’profession’ which happens to be one of the oldest one? No, right?

There are many more reasons but I think these are some of the most crucial defences. I believe, we have to make rape and prostitution Illegal. But, where only the criminal is punished and not the victim that is the woman. And, I think, to craft the most suitable conclusion it shall be better that insiders of the industry are included too. Because, as outsiders we can only assume; laws and amendments made based on mere assumptions do no good.