A few days ago I was talking to a friend and
this idea randomly popped into my head out of nowhere-
 
I told him I was
gonna become a sex worker.
Initially, I just wanted to see his reaction, but then
I decided to make a social experiment out of it;
a little project for myself.
It involved 14 people in total, who
had no idea obviously.
I wanted to use more, but due to certain unforeseen
circumstances, I didn't.
The participants were pretty impulsively chosen
as I progressed
They were all close friends of mine who can be considered
'woke'.
I don't know whether I did this to prove a point, or
to test anyone, but anyway, let me
cut to the chase.
Out of the 14 people, only 3
supported me immediately, without asking
any questions whatsoever.
A few others did the same after some inquiry,
and the rest....
Well.
Most peoples' initial reaction was an appalled
"Why?" Like,
"WTF WHY??!!" They couldn't fathom it, or
believe it, so I spoke to them
further to understand where they were coming from, and
I took away the following things from that:-
Although a lot of people claim that they have respect
for sex workers, they act
quite differently when they actually interact with one.
There's a subconscious bias in many peoples' minds,
and even if they're not disrespectful, they're quite disgusted
by the work that they do. There's a
stigma attached to sex work that is so
deeply rooted. Most people were horrified
or shocked that
I wanted to take up such a job.
The next thing is, many don't understand that there are people who
voluntarily want to do this.
Regardless of the circumstances that made them take it up,
there are many who actually enjoy doing this work,
because not everyone is of the opinion that sex
is something sacred, and that's okay. At the end of the day,
it's your body, your wish.
Just like there are people who choose to be strippers
or item dancers,
there are those who choose to
use their body and their sexual prowess
to earn money.
They CANNOT be robbed of that right just because
of a stigma.
And they are NOT disrespecting people who are
forced into this because they have no choice.
Finally, many participants were more
concerned about what OTHERS would think of me,
rather than taking into consideration MY needs,
what I wanted. Like I've EVER cared about that.
I mean, no matter what you do, people are ALWAYS going to talk.
They have nothing better to do.
There were also those who were primarily concerned
about the dangers involved in such work,
especially in a country like India.
When asked "Why?", I justified it with
personal reasons of my own,
and reminded them that I'm a mature adult who knows her
body's limitations and can make her own decisions, and that
I was doing this more for the pleasure and experience
than for money. I reiterated that
they wouldn't react this much for any, ANY
other job, and they wouldn't judge me
for hooking up with people. So,
why only this??
Most people just didn't get it.
I can't completely blame them, because I guess
I kinda get where they're coming from. We live in a horrible
place where sex workers are dehumanized,
abused, violated, denied legal and civil rights,
ostracized by society, and face
all kinds of dangers every single day.
I mean, sure, there are many who have it easy,
but I'm talking about the average sex worker in India.
And you know where this all starts? From the regressive
ideologies that our society has about sex
and relationships.
From there stems hate, shame, stigma
Our existing laws basically attempt to
hide these activities from the public, while allowing
them to be practiced in private.
Because, "morals".
Due to this,
sex workers face many human rights violations such as
forcefully being 'rescued' and sent to so-called
'rehabilitation centers'
where they live in the worst possible conditions.
They are mistreated by policemen during raids, forcefully
incarcerated, discriminated against in
medical facilities, and are denied any kind of safety or
protection. Their clients are also targeted
and their privacy is often violated by the media.
All because sex work is a criminal activity in India.
This is what many sex workers, NGOs,
and many other people are trying to change.
They aren't asking for Legalization, which is
often a means of controlling or containing the
sex industry to "protect society", rather than being in the best
interests of the sex workers. They prefer
Decriminalization, which removes police
as the regulators of the industry, as well as laws specific
to sex work. But
other laws relating to violence and assault,
workplace safety regulations, age of consent, etc. remain in place
and are equally applicable to everyone.
This can only happen
if people first change their mindset and their attitude,
and understand that SEX. WORK. IS VALID. WORK.
and people who do it, deserve the same respect and rights
as every other person does. Society should
STOP dehumanizing people who choose to harness the
physical and emotional labor that they've been giving out to men all their lives
for free, and make a living out of it.
They must learn the difference between voluntary sex work and prostitution,
and work to curb the latter,
rather than viewing them all as
'filthy'.
This is a dangerous country
for women and men like them.
But, I can only hope
that one day they'll live in a society
where equal protection and respect
is granted to the ones who don't choose this,
as well as the ones who do,
regardless of their
background and circumstances.
