Introduction
Sex work exists in various forms in South Asia. India is said to have some of the world’s largest red-light districts. Although selling sex in exchange for money is not a crime per se, the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, 1956, criminalises maintaining and managing brothels, pimping, aiding, abetting or compelling prostitution, etc. According to a 2007 report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, there are more than three million sex workers in India.
The number must be on the rise in the past decade and yet, there is rarely any mention of the sex workers when talking about marginalised groups, despite their wretched conditions. One of the reasons for such disregard is attributed to the attitude that demeans sex work itself, which in turn leads to sheer neglect in ensuring the cleanliness of streets in red-light districts and callousness of public hospitals in providing access to healthcare.
Water, Sanitation And Hygiene Challenges
In a meeting convened by the Global Interfaith Wash Alliance in 2019, 140 people belonging to various disadvantaged communities across India discussed the sanitation and hygiene challenges faced by sex workers. Sultana, a sex worker, explained the issues faced by her community. “I am a sex worker by profession,” said Sultana, “and therefore, society treats us as outcasts. When we talk about menstruation or hygiene, people think “it is a sex worker, your opinions don’t matter.”
“The government needs to rehabilitate us so that our lives are better. We also have many incidents of violence with us, and when we go to the police, they do not even file a complaint. They say that you are a sex worker, what should you complain about?” She also highlighted how scavengers discriminate against them. Even garbage pickers are not interested in cleaning up the lanes in the red light areas.
Talking about the living conditions— running water does not even reach them as pipelines need to be replaced, which would take years if there is an initiative of some sort. The houses they live in are ill-equipped conditions, but since they are owned by private entities, the municipal corporations do not intervene either. With the advent of Covid-19, sex workers are claimed to be one of the most vulnerable groups at risk, especially due to their already dilapidated conditions.
Most sex workers live together in 10×12 ft windowless rooms, as many as 50 people share one public bathroom. More than 40% of sex workers from Kamathipura, Mumbai (largest red-light area in Asia) are homeless and hence, live on the streets and footpaths. This tells us that they are dependent on public bathrooms for water and privacy. They rent a brothel room when they get a client. Salima, one such sex worker in Kamathipura, recalls ‘We manage food in hotels, for bath I go thrice in a week to the public toilet. Life in brothel was good but I had to give a lot of rent’,
The Link Between Water, Sanitation, Hygiene And Sexual And Reproductive Health Rights
It is well understood that poor WASH facilities affect the SRHR system and services as well.
Lack of gender-sensitive wash facilities limits the ability to manage periods privately and hygienically. Sex workers are missing on safe and accessible toilets equipped with clean water and soap, where they can also dispose of the menstrual hygiene products and clean themselves.
According to a working paper by William Rachna on reproductive health practices by sex workers in Tamil Nadu, very few sex workers are aware of menstrual hygiene practices; at times, they cannot afford or have time to clean themselves. The figures presented by them tell us that 85% of sex workers use and reuse cloth during periods, 7% of them use cotton rolled in cloth while 7.8% of them use sanitary pads. During periods, 41.8% of sex workers don’t wash themselves suggesting to us unsafe menstruation practices that are prevalent, although the data presented might or might not be generalised.
Article 21 Of The Indian Constitution: Right Of Sex Workers To WASH
The Court has regularly reiterated that right to life under Article 21 is more than mere animal existence. Lack of access to water and sanitation facilities in red light areas is the most pervasive human rights violation. It has been underlooked by both the judiciary and the government.
The Court in the case of Virendra Gaur v State of Haryana had observed that a hygienic environment that includes sanitation facility is an integral facet of right to healthy life under Article 21. This, in application, also poses a duty on the government to make policies and schemes by which sex workers who live in red light areas could get WASH facilities. The disregard shown in making WASH facilities in red light areas up till now could also be attributed to the problem that red light areas are largely seen as places where illegal and unauthorised activities take place.