A petition has been filed by civil rights lawyer & social activist Radhakanta Tripathy to the NHRC stating that the plight of sex workers since the outbreak of the pandemic.
A petition has been filed by civil rights lawyer & social activist Radhakanta Tripathy to the NHRC stating that the plight of sex workers since the outbreak of the pandemic.
To which the National Human Rights Commission has sought an Action Taken Report from Chief Secretaries of all States & Union Territories over the plight of sex workers in India. The NHRC has also asked for the detailed report within four weeks regarding the issue.
Tripathy stated that these victims of state negligence have been worst affected during the period. Sex workers are also citizens of India. They have equal rights for safety, protection, and also should get attention from the government. As for students exams are being canceled for their safety as for normal people home deliveries are being provided for groceries and essential daily needs. For the protection of salaried people living work from home has begun. No such step has been taken by the government for the protection of sex workers’ life and living and safety.
The social Activist stated that the sex workers are also humans and citizens of this country. They exist & perish in a state-less situation sans bare necessities of life including right to food, shelter, health, livelihood, etc. But in the last five months, they are been neglected by the state. He also claimed that the Government has failed to ensure the basic human rights of sex workers & had provided them with no relief or aid packages.
The issues faced by the sex workers are listed by the Tripathy. India has a sex workers population over 5 million and most of them are migrants. Due to the lockdown situation, thousands of sex workers were trapped in cities across India with nowhere to go.
He contended that “Even after the lifting of lockdown if they started accepting customers there is no way of knowing who’s carrying the corona virus. Unlike HIV/Aids, a condom can’t protect them. How does one negotiate safety for corona ?“
Further, he stated that Sex workers lived on the brink of invisibility, while the lockdown meant a complete loss of income & a struggle for daily survival. In urban cities red-light areas, multiple women stay together in squalor, tiny dilapidated rooms across narrow streets, where social-distancing & COVID -19 guidelines are impossible to comply with.
