Another Blunder for Kushwant Singh
Sept 29
Anju Kaur
In a Sept 28 column of tribuneindia.com entitled "How a Rapist Should
be Punished," Kushwant Singh gave the following solution: "Another
necessary step is to legalise prostitution — carried out in brothels or
by call-girls — provided the sex workers are adults and have not been forced
into the trade. The more you try to put down prostitution, the higher will be
the incidence of crime against innocent women. You may find the idea repulsive
but ponder over it and you will realize there is substance in the argument."
At first, Kushwant Singh's idea - to legalize prostitution as a means to reduce
rape - made me cringe. Then I pondered over it, as he asks us to do, and I realized
that his idea is in fact down right offensive.
I pondered on the fact that the practice of prostitution is a practice of sexual
objectification of women. Every act of sexual objectifying occurs on a continuum
of dehumanization that promises male sexual violence at its far end.
I pondered on the research that shows the average age of entry into prostitution
is 13 years or 14 years, and is decreasing. Most of these 13 or 14 year old
girls are recruited or coerced into prostitution. Others are former "traditional
wives" without job skills who escaped from or were abandoned by abusive
husbands and went into prostitution to support themselves and their children.
There are boys and young men in prostitution also, but again the abuser is still
a man.
I pondered on the statistics that show about 80% to 95% of all prostitution
is pimp-controlled. Pimps target girls or women who seem naive, lonely, homeless,
and rebellious. Then they keep them enslaved by physical and mental abuse. Prostitutes
are routinely beaten and raped, emotionally traumatized, in need of constant
medical attention, and at risk of disease. A Canadian Report on Prostitution
and Pornography concluded that girls and women in prostitution have a mortality
rate 40 times higher than the national average. 75% of women in escort prostitution
attempt suicide. Over 90% would like to escape prostitution if they could.
I pondered on the economics that show prostitution is a commodity.
I pondered on the idea that decriminalizing or legalizing prostitution would
normalize and regulate practices which are human rights violations, and which
in any other context would be legally actionable (sexual harassment, physical
assault, rape, captivity, economic coercion.) or emotionally damaging (verbal
abuse).
Source: www.prostitutionresearch.com
No little girl wants to grow up to be a prostitute. In fact, prostitution actually
starts from rape. 80% to 90% are victims of childhood rape or incest. Both rape
and prostitution are crimes of sexual violence. Both are examples of oppression
of women. To suggest legalizing a crime against one group of women to relieve
crime against another group is repulsive and only feeds those who intend on
keeping the status of women low.
And to have that suggestion coming from someone who calls himself a Sikh is a disgrace.