Born unto Brothels—Toward a Legal Ethnography of Sex Work in an Indian Red-Light Area

Abstract

The global sex panic around sex work and trafficking has fostered prostitution law reform worldwide. While the normative status of sex work remains deeply contested, abolitionists and sex work advocates alike display an unwavering faith in the power of criminal law; for abolitionists, strictly enforced criminal laws can eliminate sex markets, whereas for sex work advocates, decriminalization can empower sex workers. I problematize both narratives by delineating the political economy and legal ethnography of Sonagachi, one of India's largest red‐light areas. I show how within Sonagachi there exist highly internally differentiated groups of stakeholders, including sex workers, who, variously endowed by a plural rule network—consisting of formal legal rules, informal social norms, and market structures—routinely enter into bargains in the shadow of the criminal law whose outcomes cannot be determined a priori. I highlight the complex relationship between criminal law and sex markets by analyzing the distributional effects of criminalizing customers on Sonagachi's sex industry.

Surrogate labour: exceptional for whom?

“…Options certainly exist to improve clinical practices within such clinics. Women have successfully lobbied in some countries for regulation of sex work as labour, and secured rights not only to sufficient wages but also medical care, occupational health and safety, work security and rights to set limits on the demands made by clients (Kempadoo & Doezema, 1998; Kotiswaran, 2008; Moukalif, 2009). Aligning surrogacy as a commensurate form of labour could provide the leverage to sustain similar regularization of this form of embodied labour.…”

Social Construct of Sex Work in India: Implications for HIV Prevention

“…Conversely, the term ''sex work'' positions this form of employment as a viable economic activity and raises questions about criminalization and safety (Bindman, 1997;Kempadoo & Doezema, 1999). In concordance with this trend, Kotiswaran (2008) argues for the decriminalization of sex work because the ''costs of criminalization are disproportionately borne by sex workers, so that any increased criminalization of sex work will only punish women more'' (p. 580). Research supports Kotiswaran's assertions of differential costs of criminalization.…”

“…Many FSWs operate in non-brothel-based contexts; thus, the exact number of FSW is difficult to determine. Researchers estimate that approximately 1% of adult Indian women are engaged in sex work Kotiswaran, 2008;Orchard, 2007). Much of the literature reported here comes from economic development research and explains the political, economic, and sociocultural contexts, as well as discourses around sex work.…”

The Spatial‐cultural Configuration of Sex Work in Goa India

“…The term reflects the politics of “othering” of women, even in academic discourses, for example, not recognising the provision of sexual services as work. Part of the British colonial legal baggage which the Indian subcontinent is still saddled with is reflected in the broader socio‐legal discourses that criminalise sex work (D'cunha 1991; Kapur 2005; Sathyamala & Priya 2006; Kotiswaran 2008; Lawyers Collective 2009). In this paper, we use the terms sex workers and commercial sex workers synonymously and refrain from the term “prostitution”.…”

“…Much of the research on sex work in India has been conducted within the parameters of disease prevention, legal discourse and activist efforts (Kapur 2005; Kotiswaran 2008; Lawyers Collective 2009). Very few studies focus on sex work from a spatial and cultural perspective.…”