• Burmese
Friday, July 18, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

Protect Indian Sex Workers’ Right to Reject Rehab, Say Campaigners After Reports of Abuse

Thomson Reuters Foundation by Thomson Reuters Foundation
November 27, 2018
in Asia
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
A rehabilitated sex worker at an education program run by a non-governmental organization in the red light district of Kalighat in Kolkata, India, January 4, 2008. / Reuters

A rehabilitated sex worker at an education program run by a non-governmental organization in the red light district of Kalighat in Kolkata, India, January 4, 2008. / Reuters

4.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

MUMBAI — Reports of forced labor at a shelter for abused women run by a charity in India sparked fresh fears on Monday that the country’s long-awaited anti-trafficking bill could lead to consenting sex workers being locked up and treated like victims.

The Lower House of the Indian Parliament cleared the anti-trafficking bill in July this year and it is expected to be tabled in the Upper House in December.

India’s women’s minister has said it aims to unify existing anti-trafficking laws, prioritize survivors’ needs and prevent victims such as those found in brothel raids from being arrested and jailed like traffickers.

RelatedPosts

The San Francisco Pride Board of Directors contingent

‘Queer Joy Is Resistance’: San Francisco’s Pride Parade

July 1, 2025
225
UN Rapporteur Urges Rejection of Myanmar Election ‘Fraud’

UN Rapporteur Urges Rejection of Myanmar Election ‘Fraud’

June 26, 2025
866
China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

June 12, 2025
2.3k

But sex workers’ organizations say it does not distinguish between victims of trafficking and women doing sex work out of choice, and could lead to the latter being held in shelters against their will.

“There is a concern among sex workers’ rights movements about adult consenting sex workers being incarcerated in protection homes,” said Aarti Pai of the India-based National Network of Sex Workers.

The National Network of Sex Workers has made this point against shelters in its opposition to the bill.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper on Saturday quoted former inmates of a shelter in Hyderabad run by anti-trafficking charity Prajwala as saying it was worse than prison and that they were beaten and forced to work unpaid.

“You can’t force rehabilitation on survivors who reject it,” said Devi, a women’s rights activist who goes only by her first name.

“Why can’t a shelter home be an open house – if a person doesn’t want to learn, let her go. They (those in sex work out of choice) are sent as trafficking victims to these homes,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Most of the more than 23,000 trafficking victims rescued in 2016 were women and girls, according to government data. Rescued survivors are taken to hostels run by charities or the government.

“Shelters are required as a transit space for any human being who is grievously traumatized to gain the coping skills to reintegrate into the society,” Prajwala founder Sunitha Krishnan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Prajwala is a member of TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal program.

In a blog post Krishnan said the “care and protection provided in Prajwala is the best.”

She said the allegations made in the report were an attempt to discredit her rehabilitation model.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Human RightsWomen
Thomson Reuters Foundation

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Agency

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say
Burma

Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say

by Hein Htoo Zan
May 31, 2024
13.5k

The regime is selecting women from lists of eligible conscripts and building barracks for them in Ayeyarwady; in Bago, women...

Read moreDetails
Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine

by The Irrawaddy
August 24, 2023
10.2k

Over 200 civil society organizations demand that city-state block regime’s access to arms, dual-use goods, technology and funds.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta’s Yangon Economics Minister was Friends with Assassin Conspirator 
Burma

Myanmar Junta’s Yangon Economics Minister was Friends with Assassin Conspirator 

by The Irrawaddy
September 28, 2022
18.5k

Lieutenant Colonel Myo Myint Aung has been appointed to run Yangon’s economy, despite having a military background.

Read moreDetails
KIA Seizes Three Key Myanmar Junta Outposts
Ethnic Issues

KIA Seizes Three Key Myanmar Junta Outposts

by Hein Htoo Zan
August 8, 2023
5.9k

The Kachin Independence Army said it has overrun two regime strongholds and one held by its Shan Nationalities Army allies.

Read moreDetails
EU Imposes Sanctions on Six More Myanmar Junta Officials
Burma

EU Imposes Sanctions on Six More Myanmar Junta Officials

by The Irrawaddy
July 21, 2023
5.8k

Military’s mining enterprise also penalized for aiding regime’s escalation of violence and grave human rights violations since coup.

Read moreDetails
Ex-Spy Chief and Business Cronies Donate to Myanmar Junta Chief’s Buddha Statue
Burma

Ex-Spy Chief and Business Cronies Donate to Myanmar Junta Chief’s Buddha Statue

by The Irrawaddy
July 28, 2023
5.6k

The world’s largest seated Buddha statue is due to be unveiled on Tuesday as cronies gather to shower the project...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
--

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Greka workers are seen at a coalbed methane drilling site in Jincheng, Shanxi Province, China on November 14, 2018. / Reuters

Smog War Casualty: China Coal City Bears Brunt of Pollution Crackdown

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

3 days ago
1.4k
Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

1 day ago
1.2k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Karen Fighters Push for Myanmar Junta Outpost on Thai Border

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.