SEXUAL HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS A legal and ... - The ICHRP

and non-rehabilitative juvenile justice systems. Rescues and raids on behalf of minor sex
workers often place them in abusive conditions of detention in ‘rescue or remand homes’.
Girls face particular problems when rescued from sex work, as they may be returned to
communities in which they are culturally stereotyped as no longer ‘good’ women, assumed to
be HIV positive unable to re-integrate. Moreover, the raid and rescue strategy has not proved
sustainable in many sites, as debt structures that facilitated the minors’ entry into sex work
motivates indebted families to send still-younger children in their place. Alternative
livelihood strategies and education must be created.
The laws of the research countries reflect the broad criminalization approach to sex work. As
discussed below, while Nepal and Sri Lanka criminalise sex work, India, Bangladesh and
Thailand do not criminalise sex work per se but the actions surrounding sex work including
public solicitation while Indonesia has a complex legal regime operating in different
provinces which determines whether sex work, the running of brothels and other actions are
criminalized or not. The Indonesian legal regime with regard to sex work is, however, not
discussed here due to a lack of access to verified English translations of the various
provincial laws. However, even in the case of India and Bangladesh, although there is a
narrow de-criminalization of sex work per se, the criminalization of nearly every other aspect
surrounding sex work effectively creates a milieu of criminalization in the absence of
legalization or regulation. The research countries also follow the trend of dealing with sex
work within a trafficking framework. Only Thailand and Indonesia have separate laws
dealing with trafficking and separate laws dealing with sex work.
Within this general criminalized context that sex workers find themselves in, this section
examines certain positive developments as they connect with sexual health and human rights.
This chapter, therefore, should be read in the context of the larger environment of
criminalization and violence that sex workers find themselves in the research countries.
8.1 (De)criminalization
Of the research countries, Bangladesh is the only one where there is a Constitutional
mandate to prevent prostitution. 801 The law relating to sex work in Bangladesh is found in the
Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933 which was enacted to make it “expedient to make
better provision for the suppression of brothels and of traffic in women and girls for immoral
purposes.” The provisions in this law dealing with trafficking and minor girls are discussed in
the section on sexual exploitation.
This law is specific to women and “prostitution” is defined as “promiscuous sexual
intercourse for hire, whether in money or kind” 802 and a prostitute “means any female
available for the purpose of prostitution.” 803
As noted above, while sex work itself is not punishable, the law does punish public
solicitation with imprisonment up to a month and/or a fine up to 100 taka. 804 The law includes
places of public amusement and of public entertainment as public places. It also outlines
certain circumstances where a police officer can arrest a woman for solicitation without a
801 In this paper the authors have used the term ‘prostitution’ while referring to a statutory provision, which uses
the same. While generally referring to the issue they use the term ‘sex work’.
802 Section 3(4), Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933 (Bangladesh)
803 Section 3(5), ibid.
804 Section 7, ibid.
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