Legalization of Prostitution

Legalization of Prostitution in India

A decision whether or not to legalize organized prostitution in India can be arrived at in one or a combination of the following four ways.

One- Majority Decision. Seek majority opinion of the people. Through referendum involving the entire population. Taking the opinion of the people’s representatives is an option. However, this issue not having been discussed at the time of elections, the opinion of the current representatives may not be fully representative of that of the people.

Two- Based on anticipated advantage. Analyze empirical data from societies across the world where prostitution is legalized to find out whether such a step provided benefit for society, government and to the prostitutes.

Three- Based on ethics. Answering the question- “Is this the correct move ?”
This question demands application of mind and serious thinking unlike in the case of parsing of data or punching of personal preference in voting machine.

Four- Based on the fundamental purpose of life. Does it help achieve it.
The fundamental purpose of life needs to be clear in this case. That is for the society to arrive at, collectively.

The first option is the most easy. The advantage is that it absolves everybody from responsibility for the decision, including the people themselves.

The second option needs to also analyze the applicability in India of systems prevalent in those societies from where the data is sourced, considering the differences between the two societies, particularly the size of the nation and demographics, in addition to diversity in culture and extant belief systems. Forceful implementation of policies that may be incompatible with societal characteristics, as sometimes done in communist and other such autocratic states, is neither endearing nor enduring.

The third option demands the society to be more responsible, more accountable towards all its constituents. It demands an outlook going beyond narrow identification with individual self and understanding the interrelationship between all constituents of the society including Nature in which it functions. It also calls for comprehending the effect of current decisons on the shaping of society and subsequent generations.

The fourth option requires the society to be evolved, to understand itself comprehensively, which would give it sense of direction regarding its purpose in relation to that of the entire creation. bharatiya samaj was knowledgeable in this aspect at one time.

Legalization means accepting prostitution as a legally supported profession. The following issues need to be considered while taking the decision.

Objectification

First is the question whether prostitution can be considered a profession at all, in the sense that a profession provides an avenue for livelihood while also developing the personality of the person, giving him/her a sense of responsibility, direction and control over life, self-esteem and dignity.

There is a viewpoint that prostitution is like any service industry where customers pay to get satisfaction.
That maybe so in few cases of call girls known as escorts.
However, a large number of prostitutes are brought into the field through abduction, coercion, trafficking and/or due to poverty and unemployment. While many adjust to that way of life under duress, many others may wish for a different way of life.
Majority of these prostitutes get their visitors from among daily wagers, labourers, drivers and other lowly paid professions. In may of the cases what these visitors seek is sexual release, at the end of a hard day wherein they worked like automations, rather than any demonstration of ‘professional’ skills by the prostitute.

Even in the case of more affluent customers, often the driving need is sexual satiation and what they seek is an object, one that titilates senses.

This ‘objectification’ is central to prostitution.
It dehumanises, and thus prevents prostitution from making the grade as a profession.

Involved Decision

The second point is a question- are the people who recommend legalization doing so from a detached standpoint, like they are in an insulated sterile environment from where they observe and decide upon the fate of the prostitutes and their visitors ?

Do those who advocate legalization include wives, who are not averse to having their husbands avail of the services of a ‘legalized’ prostitute when she is not able to perform due to pregnancy or illness or old age ?
Do the husbands among them approve if their wives enjoy the services of a legalized gigolo on occasions when he is too tired to perform ?
Are these people comfortable with one or both of their parents visiting ‘legal’ prostitutes ?
Will they allow their sons and daughters to avail of such ‘legalized’ services once in a while to satiate libido? What if their sons-in-law and daughters-in-law want to avail of such services ? What about their grandchildren ?
What if some of their close relation want to enter into the ‘legalized profession’ for lucrative reasons, will they be happy with it ? Is that the kind of society that they would like to live in ?

Theoretically some may answer affirmative to the above. But when reality strikes, it is likely to be quite unpalatable, even revolting, for most.

Humanity

The third point is about equating the prevalence of unlawful prostitution with bootlegging and gold smuggling that occured when liquor was prohibited and import of gold restricted in the past and the subsequent expoitation of the situation by organized gangs.

This equating is flawed because unlike liquor and gold, it is human beings that are involved in prostitution. Point being that, while liquor is distilled from materials and gold is dug from the ground, prostitutes are sourced from a broken family or by breaking a family.
While a prostitute may financially support some of her parents and siblings, she will be denied a family of her own because very few people are willing to have their spouses working as prostitutes.
Moreover, if the case is that a woman has to prostitute herself to support her family, it shows a failure on part of the society and the government for not providing avenue for employment. Legalizing prostitution does not provide escape route for society and government from that responsibility.

Self-Esteem

The fourth point is that the prostitute often has to perform acts that she is not comfortable with, for the sake of continued employment. So s/he conditions herself into acting in ways that violate her sense of self and erodes self-esteem on a regular basis. Approving prostitution means that a portion of society is condemned to live with deficient self-esteem perennially. This is not comparable to job-dissatisfaction experienced in other fields, it touches the core of the person.

Employment in certain jobs such as toilet cleaning, cannot be compared with prostitution because there are enough tools available that removes the need of personal contact.
Besides, the premise of the comparison itself is flawed because, in personal life every person cleans him/herself on daily basis to ensure hygiene, but does not clean another person unless that person is an invalid or a child. In which case again there are ways in which direct personal contact is avoided where necessary. Moreover, such acts are invariably reciprocated to the doer in times of need.

Equivalent to prostitution would be the daily cleaning by one person, of many others, who are quite capable of taking care of themselves, through direct personal contact often going beyond mere cleaning, without any reciprocation by those others.

The comparison is further flawed because sewage removal is an invaluable service that benefits the entire society whereas prostitution caters to indulge the personal whims of a selfish-minded few invariably at a cost to their own families and that of the prostitute.

Child-Prostitution

The fifth point is that, despite organized prostitution being illegal currently, brothels run, trafficking goes on, exploitation occurs and child-prostitution thrives.
Legalizing of prostitution will form more avenues for bringing in under-age teens into prostitution by way of forging age-proof certificates.

Setting Precedent

The sixth point is that inability to curb harmful behaviour is not acceptable justification to propose for legalization of the behaviour. When government or law enforcement agencies give such excuse, they declare their incompetence, which has potential to set detrimental precedent. It also reveals irresponsibility towards duty. Further, such attempt to legalize the illegal portent willingness to prostitute legal conscience.

On a similar note, the deterioration of human values, apart from the obvious adverse effect on health, associated with liquor consumption and use of tobacco is well known. Sustained use of both affects the human being, his family, the society as well as future generations.
However, because its effect is more subtle and over a longer period than drug addiction, the government that approves its sale escapes accountabilty. The ostensible reason for the approval given is the apparent inability of law enforcement agencies to curb sale of spurious liquor which leads to deaths of consumers. However actual reasons may also include the profit margins that liquor barons enjoy, which they may willingly share with interested helpful persons in power, apart from the accrual to treasury through taxes. These liquor barons may also arrange for certain deaths through spurious liquor to provide timely helpful reasons to initiate removal of prohibition.

Societal Responsibility

The excuse of incompetence in law enforcement throws up questions regarding other ills in society such as child labour, which is prevalent despite being illegal. According to statistics released by the government, available for the year 2001, there were some 1.26 crore child labourers in India in the age group 5-14 years. That number alone is more than the total strength of the entire armed forces troops of China, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka combined, including the reserve. It is more than the entire population of Israel and Switzerland combined. Other agencies puts the figure much higher. This figure however does not include the large number of children who are employed as domestic help in households, restaurants and tea shops- employments that were notified as child labour only in 2006, and those employed in begging in the streets.

A parallel exists between the difference between a child actor working on movies/advertisements with a child employed as domestic help in a household/ restauraunt/begging in streets, and the difference in employment of a call girl with that of a street prostitute.
While employment of children in movies and advertisements seems to have been silently approved by the society, much like in the case of high end escort services, legalizing of prostitution, like employment of children as domestic help in households, restaurants or begging in streets, is untenable.

Society has an obligation to provide children with education opportunities and avenues for developing their personality. Similarly, society has an obligation to provide prostitutes with employment opportunities that develop self-esteem, dignity and provide a family life.

Alternatives

There are a few other ways in which society and government can approach the issue of prostitution.

1. Generation of alternate employment opportunities for prostitutes. Society and government, both are responsible for this. Many NGOs are already working towards this goal.

2. Improving of working conditions of the daily wagers, labourers, who work much like automations throughout the day on uninspiring jobs, that drives them to seek temporary release in the evening in the sexual act or in liquor-generated stupor. This is also a major responsibility of both government and society. It can be partly met by distributing employment opportunities across the country equitably which will remove the necessity for migration to city and separation from families. This will entail the shifting of driving motivation of governments from capitalistic expansionism to long term benefit of society. Focussing on promoting agriculture and cottage industry, instead of being fixated on the lucrative IT/ manufacturing industry related SEZs, is another way that may help reduce farmer suicides as well as provide employment to labourers.

3. Inculcating values in society, in the younger generations, to see themselves not as evolving animals, but correctly as spiritual beings. Let them understand that their anscestors were the sages who created the vedas, who realized themselves as brahma, who considered vasudaiva kutumbakam and sought shanti in all the worlds; not monkeys.
Let them understand that their heritage is not of animal behaviour, but of spiritual realization. That may help a different perspective towards living.

Conclusion

Each individual and the society that s/he forms part of is a composite whole. Both affects the other. If some people are considered as objects for sexual satiation of some others, it fundamentally affects the character of the society and shapes subsequent generations. Societal approval for such behaviour have serious repercussions.

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Post Script

Netherlands legalized commercial organisation of voluntary adult prostitution on 01 October 2000, with the aim of freeing prostitution from criminal elements, tackle exploitation, trafficking and other undesirable forms of prostitution.

Recent developments after 8 years of the legalization: –

“Half of Amsterdam’s prostitute windows must be closed to save Europe’s most tolerant city from criminal gangs and an excess of sleaze, the mayor has told The Times.”
– http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5400641.ece

“Eindhoven’s designated sex work zone is due to close by 2011. Amsterdam and other Dutch cities are slowly shutting down their red light districts, but Eindhoven is unusual in pioneering material incentives to tempt women into thinking about an economic alternative to prostitution.”
– http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/whore-miles-plan-for-dutch-prostitutes-who-behave-952479.html

In Iceland this year(2009)-

“A new law makes purchase of sex illegal in Iceland.
Before this change in legislation, selling and buying sexual services was legal in Iceland.
Iceland is the third country to outlaw the purchase of prostitution. Sweden was the first country to ban the buying of sex in 1999 and Norway followed suit earlier this year. In Finland, a ban on purchasing sexual services from victims of human trafficking was introduced in 2007.
Opinion polls have shown that up to 70% of the population supports banning the purchase of sexual services.”
– http://www.jafnretti.is/jafnretti/?D10cID=ReadNews&ID=523

Update: Smt Sunitha Krishnan, anti-trafficking crusader, gives a talk on TED. She has also blogged on the issue of legalising prostitution http://sunithakrishnan.blogspot.com/2009/12/should-prostitution-be-legalised-should.html

Purpose of Life

Purpose of life

Is it to see bhArata desH being recognized THE best of the world ?
Is it to see bharatiya samskriti being accepted by everybody in the world ?
Is it to see vasudaiva kutumbakam actualised ?

Two points still remain-

1. Is that a worthwhile aim ? Does that make a life worthwhile ? What is the worth of a life ?

2. What is the underpinning of bharatiya samskriti that makes it refined ? What is underpinning the thought of vasudaiva kutumbakam ? Is it superficial understanding of ‘universal brotherhood’ ?

These two points are most pertinent.

Different Purposes

Some parents want to see their children well settled in life. Some want to marry off their daughters. Some want to see their grandchildren before they die.
Some others want to earn a billion dollars. Some want to see their country gain name and fame, even if in the sports arena.

Some want their name to endure after them.
Some want to do enough to ensure proximity to a ‘God almighty’ in after-life.

Some want to engage in their favorite activity which could be mountain climbing or river rafting or acting in movies or playing a musical instrument or a game of sports.
Some want to finish their current project or research engagement.

Some want to see what they identify with- their community, their culture, their family, their organisation, their country, their philosophy, attain universal acclaim. This is motivated by one of the two reasons- an expectation to attain universality themselves on piggyback or the belief that subsuming of their individuality to larger group interest is a worthwhile aim for life.

Such motivations derive from identification with limited sense of self.

Some others engage in activity of service, material enrichment, societal administration or knowledge dissemination, sublimating limited sense of self.
bharatiya darshanas call such activity manifestation of varna- sudra, vyshya, kshatriya, brahmana, respectively. It is such activity, sublimating self-identity, that underpins vasudaiva kutumbakam. Its primary motivator is the understanding aham brahmasmi (yajur veda), prajñānam brahma (rig veda), ayamātmā brahma (atharva veda), tat tvam asi (sama veda).

Different people. Different inclinations. Different karma.

Which is the best ?

Which is the best of all the purposes that a person can choose ?

That which helps actualise his/her karma. That which is congruent with his/her sva-dharma.
This answers the questions raised by the first point- What is the worth of a life ? Worth of a life is in actualisation of karma.

What is karma – inner motivation, that is exteriorised in varna.

The question posed by the second point- What underpins bharatiya samskriti ?
dharma.

It is dharma that defines bharatiya samskriti. It is from dharma that bharatiya samskriti derives. It is dharma that forms vasudaiva kutumbakam. dharma sustains bharatiya samskriti. As consciousness of dharma rises in society, bharatiya samskriti rejuvenates.

How does consciousness of dharma arise in mind ?
From the understanding of self.

This, understanding of self, derives dharmic life and rejuvenates bharatiya samskriti.

Understanding, comes from selfless enquiry.

Leader for India

 

What are the qualifications desirable for a ‘leader’ in India today ?

1. Ambition.
2. Connections.
3. Ability to control and manipulate people.

That about sums it up.

What were the qualities desirable for a leader in India in the past ?

1. Sound understanding of dharma and commitment to uphold it.
2. Righteous action.
3. Dedication to welfare of society.

Kings who exemplified this behaviour are Sri Rama, Raja Harishchandra among many others. Both of them gave up their kingdom and family to uphold dharma.
Raja Harishchandra gave up his freedom when occasion demanded it and proposed to give away to people all benefits due to his virtues.
King Shibi gave his body to save the life of a bird that sought his protection.

Such were the qualities indians saw in their leaders during the past.

A leader embodies the people. The leader’s characteristics transforms to pick up the aspirations and characteristics of the people.
If that does not happen the person is separated from leader position.

As the aspirations of the people change, the character of a leader also mirrors it. Else he/she is made to give way for another who does it better.

The values of indian leaders today reflect the values of indian people today.

The sycophancy, the subservience to other than dharma, the greed, the aggrandizing drive, lack of ethics and values, cunning behaviour, all seen in indian leaders today merely reflects that of the indian people today.

The moral slide of indian people that created the present situation has been gradual, over millennia.

To reverse it or to correct it is not going to be easy or fast.
It requires changing of the momentum of millenia. A task for the strong of heart and wise of mind. It is a task for the kshetriya, under the guidance of brahmana. A task for the moral and spiritual descendents of Raja Harischandra and Sri Rama.
But it is the irresistible call of the hour, of the earth and it resonates with every awake indian.

The personality projected in public sphere, of a person, is shaped on results purported to have been achieved by that person or the organisation that person leads.
Such results are the derivatives of actions and events associated with by that person or that organisation.
Such actions and events are in turn caused by inner motivations.
Inner motivations, are shaped by two factors-
1. Self-initiative or self-generated thoughts
and
2. Ideas imbibed during upbringing, from exposure to wider world, due to influence from other personalities, through various mediums such as books, movies etc., and conclusions drawn from past experience.

Correct understanding of the nature of the above forces that mould the motivations of the current leader-personalities- achieved by examining the motivations that precipitated the particular actions which produced the results that shaped their public face -reveal the motivations and values prevalent among the general public.

Such understanding enable initiation of steps to create positive influence on the public, that will generate motivations to sustain dharma and contribute to preserving life on earth.

The public under such positive influence will themselves be their leaders to uphold dharma and act selflessly for society.

Today in India one person decides who will be the Prime Minister of India, the President of India, Chief Election Commissioner, various Chief Ministers, Governors, Senior Bureacrats. She even influences who will be the Chief Justice and Chairpersons of various commissions.

As a result, virtually every person holding any influential post in India defers to this person.

What are her qualifications that justifies such sweeping powers ?

Being the widow of a former prime minister who came to hold that post because he was the only remaining son of a former prime minister.

Is that a qualification enough ?
What about the need for past experience in administering a large organisation or a region or state ? What about sound understanding of dharma, of spirituality that characterize bhAratiya samskriti ? Of vision for the future of India and the world ?

Are such qualities not essential in an indian leader ?

Approaching it from a different angle,- why is it necessary for the most powerful person of india to have administrative experience, when s/he has well trained and experienced administrators and civil servants under her to run the country. S/he need only facilitate such administration without indulging in corruption or nepotism that is detrimental to the country. So far the present incumbent seems to be doing alright in that regard, or so it appears.

The question is, is that enough ?

Is that all that indians need to expect of their leader ? to desist from corruption ? to allow civil servants to do their duty, that is laid down, without undue interference ?
Is that all indians need expect from a leader ?

There may be something more.

That something is- to instill dharmic values in society, to awaken the still sleeping people to dharma, to consolidate a future which will enable sustenance of life on earth- which is possible only by nurturing dharma, to help give direction to india and the world at large, not towards selfish aggrandisement, but towards long term sustenance, reinstate the principles of india such as lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu and vasudaiva kutumbakam in their real sense.

This is what is required of an indian leader, and of indians themselves.

The present indian leader could learn to do that. But chances are, then s/he may not remain the leader for long unless the people’s aspirations justify such change.
So, a long lasting solution is that such change happen from the people.

When the people start to live the indian culture, the leaders will change to adopt indian values or new leaders will arise embodying such values.

Instilling sense of dharma among the people is possible by evaluating the influences that shape their current attitudes and removing the harmful influences.

Influencing people to mould their attitudes have been an age old practice of organised religions and their commercial progeny- capitalism and communism. These structures developed well reasearched techniques to influence the minds of people to further their vested interests. Such influences shape the motivations of people and thereby, their actions, their achievements and their personalities. It is a self perpetuating system that has been gaining momentum through millennia. Unfortunately such influences have had a negative effect on Nature and on human psyche. While Nature and all its living beings are being exploited relentlessly to satisfy the aggrandizing needs of such humans, the people themselves have been losing moral values, humane feelings and their sense of spirituality. This deleterious sequence has wrecked havoc on environment, climate, resulted in extinction of many species of plants, animals and birds and is fast making the planet uninhabitable.

Change of the prevailing negative influences is essential for long term sustenance of life on earth.

Positive change of motivations of the people can be achieved through the two factors that influence them- self-generated thoughts and imbibed ideas.
Shaping of the latter is achieved through control of mediums such as newspapers, magazines, television, books, academe, movies, social discourse, public spaces and organisations such as political parties, governmental institutions, NGOs and religious organisations.

Almost every such avenue is presently under the total control of vested interests seeking self-aggrandisement, including even many religious organisations.

The other factor that shapes motivations of people- self-initiative or self-generated thoughts, is also subtly influenced by thoughts from others. This influence is, however, intangible to source because of the interconnectedness of all thoughts in human consciousness. The thoughts of the people of the past, who may be physically long gone, are alive and along with that of the people living now influences the thoughts that currently take shape, in an intuitionary manner. Each thought by every person is thus a continuation of similar thoughts of many others before him as well as of his contemporaries and in turn contributes to the continual shaping of human consciousness.

The effect of such influence permeates physical space and objects. This is the concept of kshEtra.

bhArata kshEtra is permeated by the spiritual thoughts of the millions of spiritually realised persons who travelled this land in the past and the many who do so now. This khsEtra therefore inspires spirituality in the consciousness of people.

The deterioration of dharmic consciousness visible among the people of India today is the result of centuries of violation of sanctity of bhArata kshEtra by marauding invaders- a result of the decline of kshetriya consciousness among indian people brought about by considerations of commercial nature over dharmic sustenance, that has had a self-perpetuating effect.

Exerting positive influence through the mediums of communication, through social organisations and other institutions to bring about positive change in societal motivations can be augmented by contributing to universal consciousness through thoughts and protecting the sanctity of kshEtra.

When indians begin to hear the vedas within them, like their anscestors did, then each person will lead the society and the world towards dharma, towards sustenance of rta.

That is when bhArata kshEtra will have leaders commensurate with its nourishing values.

It is such leaders that India and the world needs for long term sustenance of life on earth.