Should we not be treating the real disease?

Namita Bhandare writes about the debate between abolitionists and activists in how to tackle the problem of prostitution. She starts with the story of an American woman, Dee Clarke, who is "three-quarters black and one quarter Native American". Clarke was trafficked at the age of 12 years. "They beat the crap out of me. Then they showed me how to turn tricks. How to make men feel great. How to wear make-up. I was 12. Hell, I didn't even have a full growth of pubic hair," said Clarke, speaking at the Last Girl First Congress in New Delhi. Terrible heartbreaking story. Prostitution is not illegal in India but pimping and soliciting are. Some women are forced into this trade by poverty, some are trafficked. Thousands of women from other countries are trafficked into India. Perhaps, a growing economy means that more Indians can afford to indulge their fetishes. How do you stop it? In 1999, Sweden passed a law that passed the responsibility on to men who pay for sex. Norway, Iceland and Canada have followed suit. New Zealand and the Netherlands have decriminalized sex work, while states in the US are trying to educate young men against paying for sex. But, transferring the blame on to men means that women are not responsible for their actions. Feminism is based on sexual freedom for women, which means women able to have sex for pleasure with any partner of their choice. Women have claimed that the right to abortion is an extension of their right over their own bodies. In Britain 'dogging' is practiced openly. Pornography, in which women are paid for having sex in front of a camera is legal almost everywhere in the world. Watching pornography is legal in India, but producing it is not. Even the most ardent feminist would probably accept presents from male friends. So, what if a woman demands money for the use of her body? "Yes, for some women there is no choice," says Bishakha Datta, executive director, Point of View,"But what we're seeing in India is that for many women -- daily wage construction workers for instance -- selling sex is a rational economic choice." "There are thousands of women seeking to enhance their income through sex work," said Meena Seshu, general secretary of Sangram, a Sangli based NGO. "The activists see voluntary sex work as potentially empowering; it could place women at the head of their households," writes Bhandare."The abolitionists say everyone in the trade is a victim of patriarchal exploitation." We should pay attention to Dee Clarke who was actually trafficked. "If you grow up in extreme poverty, you get exploited. You do not have a choice," she says."Even if you're not trafficked, there is no conscious choice ever." Poverty is a cancer that eats into society. Sadly, it is also a trillion dollar business.