“Are we not women?” was the question posed by sex workers in Bengaluru to the Karnataka State Women’s Commission. The sex workers associated with Sadhana Mahila Sanghatana gathered outside the Women’s Commission building on Dr Ambedkar Road on March 9 to highlight their plight. The women have alleged that they have constantly been subjected to inhuman treatment, and assault by the police, and have received no respite from the issue.
The demonstrators sang Kannada songs to highlight their stories, with some holding placards that read, “We are not criminals”. Others held placards displaying the bruises on their body allegedly after being assaulted by police officials.
“In the past two years, physical and mental violence against sex workers by the police and especially against the women in street sex work in different areas of Bengaluru city has been increasing. The police have been beating sex workers, publicly humiliating them and forcing them to pay money illegally in the form of "fines" without receipts. Women returning home have been beaten up and dragged to the police station, money is extorted from them with the threat of false cases,” alleged the sex workers in their letter to the Chairperson of Women’s Commission, Pramila Naidu.
The women said that their photos are clicked in public places and police stations by these officers who then threaten to out them. Not only the sex workers; but the activists who assist them have also been threatened as well, the demonstrators said.
Recalling the daunting day when she was arrested, Ragamma* said, “I was arrested by the police officer at Uparpete Out Police Station near Majestic Bus Station while I was boarding a bus to go to the court for a hearing of a case. It still sends shivers down my spine when I remember the officer threatening to book me for selling ganja if I were to be seen in the locality.” She added that she has loans to repay, her daughter’s education to fund and menial work rarely helps her pay the bills. “They treat us like we are criminals, the dirt of the society,” added Ragamma.
Sex work in India is not a criminal act according to a Supreme Court ruling, pointed out activist Madhu Bhushan. “The police cannot use violence against the women, they cannot keep them detained in police stations after 7 pm, or use unparliamentary language that they have been using. The police need to abide by the law, they are not the morality keepers of society,” Bhushan argued. She said that she has been approaching various committees for 25 years over these issues, but they continue to persist.
The women, in their letter to Chairperson Naidu, emphasised, “Every woman has a right to choose livelihood under Article 21 of the constitution and women in sex work are workers like any other workers. Supreme Court has categorically recognized that sex workers are not criminals, but are victims of economic necessity and circumstances. The Karnataka Police Department has itself issued circulars in 2004 prohibiting violence against sex workers.”
Pramila Naidu has assured the women of a resolution assistance in her capacity as the head of the state Women’s Commission. “I will send a letter to Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant and ask for a probe into the matter. Once their report arrives, we will take the next appropriate action against those found guilty of misconduct,” she said.
Naidu announced that she will hold a meeting after March 18, as per the demands of the women, with the Nodal Officer for Trafficking, Hitendra, and higher authorities, in presence of the members of Sadhana Mahila Sanghatana.
When quizzed about the long-term solution of the issue, Naidu told TNM, “We will have to determine what can be done after the situation is examined. We have a development board for women and children, they have a department dedicated to working for the welfare of sex workers. The women can approach them if they have issues related to healthcare, work and we are here to address their grievances.”