SC directs govt to provide vocational training to sex workers

The Supreme Court earlier this week directed the Centre and states to provide vocational training programmes for sex workers to empower them earn their livelihood.

Noting that poor economic conditions drove sex workers into prostitution, the court directed the government and states to give training to sex workers and provide them with suitable employment through social welfare boards.

"We direct the Central and state governments to prepare schemes for giving technical/vocational training to sex workers and sexually abused women in all cities in India. The schemes should mention in detail who will give the technical/vocational training and in what manner they can be rehabilitated and settled by offering them employment," a Bench of Justice Markandeya Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra said.

The Bench remarked that "prostitutes also have a right to live with dignity under Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution since they are also human beings and their problems also need to be addressed."

It noted that a woman is compelled to indulge in prostitution not for pleasure but because of abject poverty. "If such a woman is granted an opportunity to avail herself of some technical or vocational training, she would be able to earn her livelihood by such vocational training and skill instead of by selling her body," it said.

According to sources, there are around 6,88,751 registered sex workers in the country and the National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) estimates the actual figures to be around 12.63 lakh.

The highest numbers of sex workers are from Andhra Pradesh followed by Karnataka and Delhi.

The Supreme Court's directive this week came while dismissing the appeal filed by Budhadev Karmaskar against a Calcutta High Court judgment upholding the life term imposed upon him by a lower court for the murder of a sex worker in 1999.

"A person becomes a prostitute not because she enjoys it but because of poverty. Society must have sympathy towards sex workers and must not look down upon them," the court noted.

Suggesting effective alternatives, the court said goods produced by the sex workers would find a good market. However, it advised that "if technical training is for some craft like sewing garments, then some arrangement should also be made for providing a market for such garments, otherwise they will remain unsold and unused, and consequently the woman will not be able to feed herself."

The court has issued notices to the Centre and state governments to respond by May 4.