Maharashtra SIR: Sex workers’ groups seek relief for voters lacking family documents

“They have grown up without access to family records, parental documentation, or information about their biological relatives. Many have lost their parents, been abandoned, and raised in community settings. Requiring parental linkage or family tracing as a condition for inclusion in the electoral roll places these citizens at a significant disadvantage and risks excluding eligible voters through no fault of their own,” Seshu, who has fostered children of HIV-positive sex workers, told The Indian Express.

She suggested that special consideration be made for children of sex workers and orphans whose family connections cannot be established.

“The right to vote must not depend on the ability to produce family histories that are unavailable or impossible to trace,” Seshu added.

The Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanghatana, which is a part of the National Network of Sex Workers, has appealed to Maharashtra chief electoral officer S Chockalingam to set up a grievance redressal mechanism for such vulnerable voters and ensure sensitisation training for election officials and Booth Level Officers.

Renuka Kale, President, National Network of Sex Workers, explained that many women engaged in sex work may have lived away from their families for years, and so there was a need for alternative pathways for verification, including acceptance of existing government-issued identity documents, educational records, residence certificates, and certifications from recognised NGOs or community organizations.

Letter to Maharashtra CEO

In their recent letter to the Maharashtra chief electoral officer, the organisation stated, “They (marginalized people) face numerous barriers in obtaining and updating identity and residence documents. A large number of them are migrants, reside in informal settlements, frequently change their place of residence due to eviction or social stigma, or do not possess documents establishing their residence and family relationships because many have no contact or relationship with their families. Consequently, it becomes difficult for them to fulfil the documentation and verification requirements under the SIR process.”

The National Network of Sex Workers has flagged concern that there was a risk that eligible voters, particularly women engaged in sex work and their adult children, may be excluded from the electoral roll despite being Indian citizens.

The National Network of Sex Workers has also referred to a slew of landmark judgments issued by the Supreme Court in matters related to sex workers. It added that “excluding sex workers or their children from the voter verification process solely because they do not possess conventional documents establishing family relationships would be inconsistent with the constitutional principles of equality, dignity, and inclusion reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.”

As per the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), the state accounts for nearly one lakh sex workers, which is 9.6 per cent of India’s total women sex worker population.