“Come down” – Where exactly? To the ground? I’ve already been on the ground, so where else should I go below? That strange expression still catches me off guard!
I slowly began to understand that his contrasting perspective resonated within me due to my straightforward yet ambitious nature. It seems this is where the issue began: when those who wish you well turn against you and attempt to hinder your progress. These individuals might include family, friends, or coworkers.
In 2019, my plane arrived from Australia and ever since, I have been standing firmly on the ground without traveling anywhere. So where would you like me to go next, ‘Down’?
I gradually started realising other side of the coin getting reflected because of my own being that is who I am, simple, but Ambitious!
And I suppose this is when the trouble began, when those who wish you well turn against you and make an effort to undermine you. These people could be your family, friends, or colleagues.
When I mention pulling down, what does that imply? It refers to requesting you to engage in actions that expose your vulnerabilities, undermine your self-assurance, by designating you as an ‘Item’, ‘Bomb’, or a ‘Pataka’.
why is that? Doesn’t this either directly or indirectly pull you away from your true self? Just because I enjoy dressing nicely and appearing attractive, it doesn’t label me as a Model or an object! This shouldn’t apply to any other girl either! But maybe that’s exactly what ‘they’ desire!To humiliate you, to label you and bring you down!
Discrimination exists in both developed and developing countries. Just a few minutes ago, I listened to a TED talk by Juno Mac, and her presentation left me shocked, as the statistics she shared and the personal experiences she recounted were genuine. She works as a sex worker, and her objective in the speech was to address this discrimination by advocating for legal changes to counteract the criminalization associated with the profession of prostitution.
How and why has it started? and may be the answer is Pleasure and Money!
Data indicates that the prevalence of prostitution and trafficking has risen worldwide, affecting not only India but also countries such as Russia, Kenya, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
That being said, what stands out the most is that this ‘trap’ lacks any ‘Class’ or any professional substitutes, as these sex workers have no alternative income sources to sustain themselves or satisfy their needs. Or even if they have, they are now so addicted to this that they are unwilling to turn back. What about their safety? Do they have any form of ‘Red Umbrella’ to shield them from criminalization?
Another concern relates to individuals seeking to steer clear of this situation. Are there any safeguards in place for them? What if female relatives have become entangled in this situation and are now unwilling to break free? While that’s completely understandable, we urgently need to halt the discrimination by not dragging down those who prefer not to descend!
The elimination of ‘unlawful’ or ‘non-consensual’ sex must be treated with the utmost seriousness in both legal frameworks and enforcement, just like we have the POSH (Policy Of Sexual Harassment) in workplaces. The application of this law needs to be widespread to combat domestic violence and non-consensual sex. This initiative will undoubtedly help our country take a significant step towards becoming a ‘Developed and Safe’ nation, benefiting not only women in India but also foreigners and NRIs as well.
The stigmatization surrounding the sex work environment presents various methodological and ethical challenges for researchers, significantly impacting the reliability of the gathered data. Nonetheless, there is a scarcity of information regarding how the condemned and politicized nature of the Indian sex industry influences the research process, particularly in areas such as participant access through non-governmental organizations (NGOs), researcher safety, and the ethical considerations involving informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, and the treatment of sex workers. Researchers from all the areas have emphasized the importance of researchers exercising ethical brooding during the entire research process when interacting with groups that have historically been marginalized and stigmatized.
Women are shaped by adverse societal views about female sex workers through the powerful mechanism of daily socialization. From an early age, girls are instilled with a contrasting notion of good versus bad girls, fostering binary thinking. An Indian girl discovers that her reputation in her community is connected to her sexuality, implying that her actions affect her family’s honor. As a result, society enforces stringent regulation and scrutiny over women’s sexual behavior.
In society, there is a strict enforcement and awareness regarding women’s sexuality. The concept of honor applies universally to women in Indian culture, and those who challenge societal norms surrounding sexuality often become targets of so-called honor crimes and honor killings. Abu Odeh (Courtesy:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5865471/) describes these honor killings as the murder of a woman by a family member, typically her father or brother, due to her involvement in, or suspected involvement in, sexual activities before or outside of marriage. Honor crimes can also manifest in various forms of violence against a woman, such as assault, confinement, imprisonment, restrictions on marriage choices, and labeling a woman as a minor or mentally unstable.
Coming to the point of Consent, as emphasised: consent requires that individuals involved in research are made aware of the possible risks, benefits, and the procedures of involvement prior to the commencement. Research into the perspectives of sex workers on research ethics in India and the Philippines indicated that informed consent was influenced by multiple social and situational factors, such as perceived governmental coercion, feelings of exploitation, and participants’ skepticism about whether the research would actually result in any real benefits for their community (Reed, Khoshnood, Blankenship, & Fisher, 2014; Urada & Simmons, 2014).
If we truly aim to advance social and economic justice and uphold the rights of marginalized groups, it’s crucial for us to educate our students on the importance of mutuality and reciprocity. Additionally, we must emphasize the use of reflexivity as a means to sustain a critical awareness of how knowledge is created.