REGION: Decriminalise the sex sector

Just what is it about sex that brings out a society's deepest anxieties? Prudery and squeamishness, working in tandem with religious injunctions and restrictive laws, have managed to distort, constrict and control one of the most pleasurable expressions of human intimacy. Homosexuality and sex outside of marriage have always been particular targets of control and condemnation, but it is sex work, the so-called 'oldest profession', that has evoked the most ire down through the ages. 'Loose' and 'immoral' women, often referred to by derogatory terms such as whore and harlot, were seen to threaten the hallowed institution of marriage, and as carriers of venereal disease infecting 'good' citizens.

The discovery of penicillin's antibiotic properties in the mid-20th century did lead to a calming of some of this hysteria, particularly in relation to its public-health implications. Improved management of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies served to reduce the 'damage' purportedly caused by sex workers and 'protect' society at large. Today, most of the legislative and administrative frameworks in Southasia governing prostitution are an outcome of this protectionist mindset, which continued well into the 20th century. But just as more enlightened jurisprudence and notions of human rights were seeping into public consciousness and policy, along came a virus called HIV. 'Deviant' populations such as homosexuals and prostitutes were suddenly made to take the blame for the spread of the virus.