Supreme Court To Replace ‘Sex Worker’ With ‘Trafficked Survivor’ In Its Handbook On Gender Stereotypes

The Big, Inclusive Step

The Supreme Court of India has taken the step of making its handbook on gender stereotypes more inclusive by substituting the term ‘sex worker’ with trafficked survivor.’ Following complaints from a number of anti-trafficking NGOs that the phrase ‘sex worker’ perpetuates gender stereotypes, the modification was made.

A group of anti-trafficking NGOs wrote to the Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud, pointing out that using the word ‘sex worker’ for terms like ‘hooker and prostitute’ may end up promoting another set of gender stereotypes. The Supreme Court decided to make this amendment to refer to a woman engaged in ‘commercial sexual activity’ or woman ‘forced into commercial sexual exploitation.’

The NGOs Involved

Under the auspices of the Anti-Human Trafficking Forum, a group of Non-Governmental Organisations comprising ARZ (Anyay Rahit Zindagi) from Goa, Prayas from Mumbai, Prerana from Maharashtra, KIDS from Karnataka, Nedan from Assam, VIPLA from Maharashtra, SPID from Delhi, and New Life Foundation from Manipur, among others, had petitioned the CJI to reevaluate the use of the term ‘sex worker’ in the glossary of terms referenced in the court’s August 2023 publication ‘Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes.’

The NGO’s Letter That Brought The Change

According to ARZ, women are free to participate in commercial sexual activity under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA), 1956, but anyone who coerces or entices them into doing so would face legal consequences, including those who are dependent on their income. The ITPA, 1956 Section 2(f) defines ‘prostitution’ as the sexual exploitation or abuse of individuals for profit, and this definition should guide how the term ‘prostitute’ is used.

The NGOs mentioned in their letter that most women are either forced, kidnapped, lured, and trafficked into situations of commercial sexual exploitation. By referring women involved in commercial sexual activity as sex workers, it could be assumed that they are doing so voluntarily and freely. It disproves the fact that the majority of women join the industry via coercion or fraud and that many continue because they have no other viable options.