Persons, non-persons

In the midst of monsoon fury, bulldozers demolished hundreds of hutments on Baina beach in Goa. The restoration of 8216;8216;pristine146...

In the midst of monsoon fury, bulldozers demolished hundreds of hutments on Baina beach in Goa. The restoration of 8216;8216;pristine8217;8217; Goa by cleansing it of the 8216;8216;sin8217;8217; of prostitution is the ostensible rationale. Wielding the righteous sword of moral indignation, the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court had directed the identification and demolition of 250 huts.

These huts are the homes of women who have been living there for the past forty years. They possess ration cards, voter identity cards, electricity bills and tax receipts as proof of being bonafide residents of Baina. Many children attend schools in the area. In fact, children born in Baina are vote-casting adults today. However, attempts are being made to paint them as 8216;8216;outsiders8217;8217; from Andhra and Karnataka vis-8230;-vis the 8216;8216;Goan8217;8217; people.

Stigmatised as 8216;8216;loose8217;8217;, 8216;8216;immoral8217;8217; and 8216;8216;sinful8217;8217;, women in prostitution are at the bottom of any social ladder. In fact, attempts to win the higher status of 8216;8216;worker8217;8217; are reflected in the promotion of the term 8216;8216;sex worker8217;8217; instead of prostitute.

The application of law to this community is totally distorted by the extreme moral condemnation. The right to a roof over one8217;s head, the basic right to shelter and a life of self-respect and dignity is undeniably a part of the right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. Yet, in a settlement of hundreds of hutments it is the dwelling-houses of women in prostitution which are directed to be demolished by the high court.

The present Goa Governement is only exploiting the societal prejudices. It has gone ahead and demolished a much larger number of structures including bars, shops, residences of contract workers and even lower level municipal staff workers. These were occupying prime land which may now possibly be used for private commercial activities like hotels and restaurants. However, the sanction and premise of 8216;8216;Operation Monsoon Demolition8217;8217; remains the assumption that 8216;8216;prostitutes8217;8217; have no right to shelter and it is okay to demolish their homes.

These social attitudes are mirrored in other areas of law as well. The law with regard to assault, grievous hurt, rape and kidnapping makes no distinctions. It is uniformly applicable, regardless of the identity of the victim. However, in reality, 8216;8216;non-persons8217;8217; like sex-workers are fair game to beat, rape and sodomise and no consequences follow for the perpetrator. Incidents involving violence on sex-workers/prostitutes generally do not even merit public attention.

The entire edifice of the criminal justice delivery system becomes dysfunctional when it comes to crimes against sex workers, hijras and other marginalised communities.

The writer is an advocate in the Supreme Court