Socio-Legal Dimension of Prostitution in India.
It is said that all round development of a nation depends upon the development of its women andchildren. The constitution of India ensures not only equality to women but also empowers the Stateto adopt effective measures in favour of women and children, for neutralizing the cumulative socio-economic, educational, political disadvantaged faced by them. The directive principle of state policy also lay down the major goal of a welfare state with gender equality as a core objective. The Indianconstitution prohibits all forms of trafficking under Article 23. The Suppression of ImmoralTrafficking Act, 1956 (amended as to the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1986) was in response tothe ratification of the International Convention on Suppression of Immoral Traffic and exploitation ofprostitution of others in 1950 by India.
Inspite of these instruments, the violence against child,particularly, is trafficking in child for prostitution in on the rise.
Trafficking in children is one of the worst and most brazen abuses violating the rights of child. It is ablot on our collective consciousness. One of the most visible and widespread is the trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation. The issue of the sexual exploitation of women and children is not new, as it goes back into the history, cultures and traditions of many societies. What is new is the unscrupulous and massive scale of the problem, exacerbated by globalization, modem technology and its link to a lucrative tourist and sex industry. Trafficking is increasing dramatically in the Asian region,but the phenomenon spans the globe. While the fact of its existence is known to most of us, the enormity of the problem, its underpinning and its ramification are often blurred. Those who have experiencedthe exploitative and dehumanizing experience of being trafficked and sold into servitude undergo severe emotional and mental trauma.
These children are sexually exploited for profit. It is an intensely depraved form of sexual exploitation. Although all prostitution is exploitative, but in case of mature men and women there is some element of volition or consent. They aresubjected to unspeakable torture to adopt a way of life from which there is no escape. With the growing number of cases on child prostitution and child abuse there is an urgent need for law and also for law reform. The new law must honour the basic dignity of human life regarding the innocence of children making an unambiguous distinction between commodities, services on the one hand and human body and life and other. The law enforcing mechanism should consider the phenomenon of child prostitution as a socio-legal and human problem. They should be strict, on one hand, with the persons involved in the procurement of girls and on the other, be considerate and sensitive to the girls who become victims of circumstances.
Therefore, in the present study an attempt is made to examine the socio- legal issues in relation to the victim, so that some concrete ways can be made out which can help in reducing this gross violation of human rights in India. For the convenience of discussion and to explore better possibilities, the concept of international law on trafficking in child for prostitution, has been discussed in the succeeding chapters. This study is divided into seven chapters.
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