SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

involving power analysis, implementing a crisis response system and engaging in police
advocacy. 184 The Guidelines require NGOs to report incidents of rights violations, and the
proportion of incidents of rights violations or violence reported within 24 hours. 185
In Karnataka, the Inspector-General of Police issued instructions in 2005 to address police
abuses of sex workers, after representations by National Human Rights Commission,
National Commission for Women, State Commission for Women and various NGOs:
Booking of a woman sex worker is tantamount to re-victimising the woman when she
is already a victim of trafficking and sexual exploitation. It is, therefore instructed that
henceforth no woman sex worker should be booked unless the women in question
is a ‘Madam’ or a brothel keeper…A large number of complaints have been received
from different places that sex workers are man handled, ill-treated, assaulted and
abused in an inhuman manner by the police personnel. It is also alleged that the local
police is in the habit of extracting money from these sex workers which itself amounts
to extortion and living on their earnings. Needless to say that this pernicious practice,
if true, should be stopped forthwith and strict disciplinary action should be taken
against such officials. 186
A similar direction was issued in Tamil Nadu in 2004, 187 and Andhra Pradesh in 2005. 188 In
Orissa, the state government directed police not to target sex workers for harassment or
prosecutions under the ITPA in 2007. 189
Community mobilization and human rights advocacy
Interventions that mobilize sex workers to seek changes in law enforcement practices and
to protect the rights of sex workers have proved effective in a variety of settings in India. 190
The Indian Network of Sex Workers acts as a forum of sex workers’ organizations and
advocates at the national level for law reform and increased recognition and support for
local sex worker organizations. In several states, sex worker collectives or unions engage
in advocacy on legal and human rights issues in addition to activities relating to health,
education, livelihoods and protection from violence.
Karnataka: Karnataka Sex Workers Union, Ashodaya Samithi, Project Baduku
In Bengaluru, sex workers have formed the Karnataka Sex Workers Union (KSWU) to
advocate for improved working conditions. KSWU is a trade union of female, male and
transgender sex workers, and is seeking to be registered as a trade union in India. KSWU
seeks to improve the access of sex workers to care in the event of sickness, unemployment,
old age, accident, and death. KSWU advocates for sex work to be recognized as work with
184 NACO, (nd) Targeted interventions for High Risk Groups: Operational Guidelines, pp.65-67.
185 Ibid., p.74.
186 Karnataka Inspector General of Police, Circular on Action under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, 22
November 2005, available at: http://www.altlawforum.org/gender-and-sexuality/rights-of-sex-workers
187 Tamil Nadu DGP Guidelines on the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
188 Kotiswaran P. (2011), op cit, p.128.
189 Government of Orissa (2007) Mahila and Sishu Desk: Legal Compendium for Investigating Officers. Women
and Child Development Department, Government of Orissa, p.14
190 Biradavolu, M. et al. (2009), op cit.; Swendeman D. et al. (2009), ‘Empowering sex workers in India to
reduce vulnerability to HIV and sexually transmitted diseases’, Social Science and Medicine 69(8): 1157–66; Rao
S., Sluggett C. (2009). op cit.; Beattie T., et al., (2010) Violence against female sex workers in Karnataka State,
south India: impact on health, and reductions in violence following an intervention program, BMC Public Health
10, 476.
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