SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

from Sampada Gramin Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM). SANGRAM is a community-based HIV
organization. VAMP has succeeded in reducing police brutality and brothel raids. VAMP
maintains strong relationships with power brokers in the community, including local
government officials, police and brothel owners.
India
VAMP arbitrates community disputes, lobbies the police, helps sex workers access
government programmes, advocates for decriminalization of the sex industry and
develops the leadership potential of sex workers. VAMP negotiates in disputes between
sex workers and owners of brothels. As a result of VAMP’s negotiations with police, raids on
sex worker establishments have been reduced. 198 A study of VAMP’s approaches observed
that sex workers exchange information with police about criminal activities gained
from interactions with clients. This was a deliberate strategy adopted by sex workers to
influence police and build rapport and support for their HIV prevention programmes. 199
Andhra Pradesh: sex worker mobilization in Rajahmundry
A study in Rajahmundry described a community mobilization intervention that changed
policing practices:
Established brothels commonly paid for protection from raids, or participated in rituals
in which a few pre-selected sex workers would be arrested in a ‘‘raid’’. Sex workers
understood that arrest would mean several hours or a day in jail and the payment of
a customary fine or bribe. Sex workers also faced rampant police extortion. Better-off
sex workers paid bribes in exchange for conducting business without fear of police
reprisal...In some cases, the bribe system was so well-established that it was mediated
by village officials as an acknowledged aspect of communal governance…
The initial attempts to influence the police through persuasion and education did not
bring desired results, setting the stage for mounting a more systematic challenge.
The revised mechanisms to regulate police behavior rested upon leveraging the
combined forces of community empowerment, collective action and network-based
punishment…where abuse of any kind – mental or physical – was unacceptable… 200
A Crisis Intervention Team was formed that included ‘Social Change Agents’, lawyers,
human rights activists, politicians, government officials and members of the media. Sex
workers were empowered to confront police abuses through collective action and legal
education. A rapid response mechanism was instituted and sex workers were encouraged
to file court cases, if arrested, fined or forced to pay bribes.
[The intervention] sought to curb the arbitrary use of police power that led to
violence, abuse, and failure to uphold certain legal rights of sex workers. The situation
remains fluid, but it is clear that egregious police violence has abated as a result of the
intervention. Sex workers, especially those most involved with the intervention, are
aware of certain legal rules and are confident of using these to deter police arrests.
When arrested, sex workers are calling upon their [community-based organization]
members for assistance. Sex workers have begun to manage their stigmatized
identities with the police, by highlighting that they are critical to HIV prevention and
are not ‘vectors’ of the disease.
198 Misra G., Mahal A., Shah R., (2000) op cit., p.107.
199 Cornish F., Shukla A., Banerji R. (2010), Persuading, protesting and exchanging favours: strategies used by
Indian sex workers to win local support for their HIV prevention programmes AIDS Care 22 Suppl 2:1670-8.
200 Biradavolu M. et al. (2009), op cit..
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