Practices that deviate from our established social norms are considered taboo. Taboo can be any subject that has been forbidden, prohibited or excluded and constitutes the belief that such a practice will instigate supernatural punishment. One of such a taboo subject is prostitution, a profession which is as old as history itself.
The laws against prostitution varies from one country to another. Article 18(2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh provides that the “state shall take effective preventive measures against prostitution and gambling” and the Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933 prohibits prostitution of underage girls (girls under the age of 18) and brothel keeping. It is also an offence for third parties to import, export, sell, or hire a woman for prostitution under Oppression of Women and Children (Special Enactment) Act, 1995. Section 290 of the Penal Code of 1860 categorises prostitution under public nuisance and Section 74 of DMP Ordinance, 1976 defines it in the frames of public nuisance as an attempt to attract attention, solicit, or molest in a public place for the purposes of prostitution.
However, there is no concrete law which bans prostitution as a profession. The legality of prostitution in Bangladesh was challenged by 100 sex workers in a land mark case called Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR) and Ors vs Government of Bangladesh and Ors reported in 53 DLR (2001), and a High Court division bench delivered the verdict – that the trade for a living is legal. Therefore, Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim countries which does not make prostitution illegal.
Bangladesh as of now has 18 registered brothels and around 200,000 active sex workers. However, almost every sex worker in Bangladesh does not come to the trade by choice. They are either born into it or sold into it – be it because hardship or coercion. Once they are in the trade, there is no looking back. Even when the trade is conducted in private, the crushing social stigma does not let them live the life worthy of a human.
For generations, sex workers in several brothels around the country were forbidden to wear shoes in public and were fined if they breached the rule. To this date, brothels always have their private burial grounds, as the society considers them impure and refuses to bury or perform the last rites of a sex worker.
However, these registered brothels are also being systematically closed down by the police and local authorities, and the residents receive only a few hours notice.
Such closures stem from tremendous social pressures, however, more often than not it can be a case of land grabbing under the guise of piety. This was recently done in Kandapara, Tangail on July 14, 2014 and about 1,500 sex workers were evicted as a result.
Though they have been promised rehabilitation, all the sex workers are on the streets and facing a life of danger and uncertainty. They have now lost their only safe haven, which may have been rife with disease and discomfort but still was a place where they found home. Such an eviction by the authorities is also illegal and unconstitutional according to the above mentioned case law.
The authorities need to realise that such evictions without any rehabilitation will put the sex workers on the streets where they will either breaks laws by soliciting in public or resort to begging to feed themselves. These consequences in turn will increase the crime rate of the country, the streets will be rampant with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and most important above all – Bangladesh will breach the basic right of its citizen as provided in Article 27 of the Constitution of Bangladesh which talks of equality before the law. In order to combat the issue and uphold the basic rights of sex workers, UN released a development report titled “Sex Work and the Law in Asia and the Pacific.”
This report seeks to discuss the national laws surrounding sex work, the effect of these laws and policy recommendation. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Bangladesh can take into account such recommendations and implement them into a legal framework which will formulate a national policy for sex workers to ensure their social and constitutional rights, and to recognise sex work as a profession. Furthermore, in order to restrict the blatant breach of the constitution, the High Court can also be requested to clarify Article 18(2) regarding prostitution.
