The Bill on criminalizing trafficking is facing opposition from several activists and might be tabled in the next Parliament session. According to the draft bill proposed by the Union Women and Child Development Ministry treats a trafficked person who gets into prostitution from a victim-centric approach.
The activists, sex workers and even a large section of the transgender community has appealed to the Ministry to not penalize and criminalize any sexual act conducting within ‘two consenting adults.’ They have also appealed to send the draft bill to a Standing committee for further clarification.
“Speaking from a public health background, the bill goes against the basic tenets of public health sciences and HIV intervention programmes. So far we have achieved some success with existing laws in terms of HIV intervention which are in keeping with international norms of not criminalising victims of epidemics, HIV included. But by including HIV as part of criminal law, we further increase the alienation of those suffering from it,” said Dr. Samarjit Jana, who was part of a Supreme Court-appointed panel to provide recommendations.
The bill was drafted aiming to increase ‘prevention, rescue, and rehabilitation’. It does so by ensuring that all trafficked victims are sent to ‘rehabilitation homes to be run by the government and other voluntary agencies’.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had spoken out against the bill, saying it could have ’devastating effects on several stakeholders’. these will adversely affect the marginalised groups such as children, the trans community, and consenting sex-workers.
The bill also states that ‘Aggravated Offences’ can lead to prosecution under the law, giving a ‘victim-centric’ approach to the cause. It has been hailed as a step toward better rehabilitation of victims of trafficking. However, the counter-criticism comes when a lot of these people who earn their livelihood through this trade will be rendered unemployed and their means of livelihood ‘criminalized’
Though the bill never explicitly mentions ‘sex workers’, it has been asserted by several that the bill did not differentiate sex work from trafficking.