Supreme court to change ‘sex worker’ in glossary of terms to in handbook on combating gender stereotypes | India News

NEW DELHI: Taking note of suggestions made in a representation to the Chief Justice of India by certain voluntary organisations working to combat human trafficking, the Supreme Court of India will soon change the term “sex worker”, in the glossary of terms in the handbook on combating gender stereotypes published in August, to “trafficked victim/survivor or woman engaged in commercial sexual activity or woman forced into commercial sexual exploitation”.
A written communication from an official of the Supreme Court via email was received on Friday by the representatives of NGOs who had urged action from the CJI in August. They have been assured that the change will be updated soon in the handbook. “Based on your suggestion, the nomenclature/word “sex worker” is being changed to the following: “Trafficked victim/survivor or woman engaged in commercial sexual activity or woman forced into commercial sexual exploitation,” the mail received by the NGOs who are part of the “Anti – Human Trafficking Forum’ said.
The Forum includes Prayas (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), Prerana and Vipla Foundation from Maharashtra; Anyay Rahit Zindagi (Goa); Nedan (Assam); Society for Participatory Integrated Development (Delhi) and KIDS (Karnataka).
While describing the handbook published by the SC as a “laudable effort to break gender stereotypes,” the group of NGOs in their representation sent to CJI DY Chandrachud in August had shared their concern that in a couple of places in the handbook, the alternative language for words like “hooker and prostitute” is mentioned as sex worker and this may end up promoting another set of gender stereotypes.
The NGOs had requested the CJI to reconsider the use of the term sex worker in the glossary of terms. “We acknowledge that there may be women who are engaged in commercial sexual activity out of their own free will and no one should have any objection to this. But by using a generic term like sex worker, one may be assuming that all women engaged in commercial sexual activity may be in this out of free and positive choice. It negates the reality that most women enter the trade through force or fraud and many remain in it out of negative choice due to lack of better alternatives,” the representation stated. In this backdrop they suggested alternative terms.