Sex work should be legal

From South China Morning Post, 4 March 2002

Thousands of sex workers and their representatives mostly from India but also from Bangladesh, Holland, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, and the USA gathered in Calcutta to discuss an agenda dominated by a campaign to legalise sex work.

Most welcome were five of India’s top trade unionists who backed the call for legal recognition.

Because prostitution is not legal, sex workers are systematically exploited and abused by clients, pimps, and the police. In addition, the children of sex workers suffered discrimination in access to health and education. Indian poet Sunil Gangopadhyay said, “Nothing is more immoral than attacking prostitution on moral grounds.”

Unionist Shobendev Chattopadhyay said, “It is ironic that the world’s ‘oldest profession’ is yet to be recognised as a profession in most countries.” Swapna Gyne, head of a 60,000 strong collective of Indian prostitutes, said, “The stigma attached to prostitution can only be wiped out by legalising our business.”

General strike

From BBC, 5 March 2002; WSWS, 16 March 2002

Thousands of sex workers and their representatives mostly from India but also from Bangladesh, Holland, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, and the USA gathered in Calcutta to discuss an agenda dominated by a campaign to legalise sex work.
Most welcome were five of India’s top trade unionists who backed the call for legal recognition.
Because prostitution is not legal, sex workers are systematically exploited and abused by clients, pimps, and the police. In addition, the children of sex workers suffered discrimination in access to health and education.
Indian poet Sunil Gangopadhyay said, “Nothing is more immoral than attacking prostitution on moral grounds.”
Unionist Shobendev Chattopadhyay said, “It is ironic that the world’s ‘oldest profession’ is yet to be recognised as a profession in most countries.”
Swapna Gyne, head of a 60,000 strong collective of Indian prostitutes, said, “The stigma attached to prostitution can only be wiped out by legalising our business.”