Tamil Nadu, India. Feng Zhong/Flickr. (cc by-nc-nd)
In the wake of repeated shelter scandals, some anti-traffickers have taken the bold step of acknowledging the harms inherent to India’s current anti-trafficking law, the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1986 (ITPA). Those who seek to redress the abuses inherent in this system should be applauded; however, some points need clarifying before designing a more humane response to the problems of sex trafficking in India. Ultimately, the ITPA needs to be repealed and India’s new Trafficking of Persons Bill, 2018 (ToP Bill) should be sent to select committee and redrafted.
When framing the problem of sex trafficking in India, anti-traffickers often claim that the majority of those who sell sex in India are forced or begin when they are underage. The best available research, however, provides a different picture. A survey of over 6500 female sex workers in South India aged 15 and above found that the mean age of entrance into sex work was 21.7 years. The most comprehensive data set included 3000 sex workers from across the nation. Of these, 81.59% entered sex work when they were 19 years old or above and 14.53% between 15-18 years. The Pan India Survey found that across all modes and sites of sex work in India, 79.4% of women entered the trade voluntarily, while 7.1% were forced, 2.8% were sold, and 9.2% were cheated.
