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Is call girl or prostitution illegal in india and what is the punishment if one is involved in it?


13-Jul-2024 (In Labour & Service Law)
what happens if you get caught with a prostitute in India?, paying for sex service is legal in india? what will be the case booked and what would be the extent of the punishment?
Answers (2)

Answer #1
278 votes

The primary law dealing with the status of sex workers was the 1956 law referred to as The Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act (SITA).

In practice SITA is not commonly used. The previous Indian Penal Code (IPC) which predatesd the SITA was often used to charge sex workers with vague crimes such as "public indecency" or being a "public nuisance" without explicitly defining what these consist of. The old law has been amended as The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act or PITA. Attempts to amend this to criminalise clients have been opposed by the Health Ministry, and has encountered considerable opposition.

Over the years, India has seen a growing mandate to legalise prostitution, to avoid exploitation of sex workers and their children by middlemen and in the wake of a growing HIV/AIDS menace.

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act or PITA is a 1986 amendment of legislation passed in 1956. The laws were intended as a means of limiting and eventually abolishing prostitution in India by gradually criminalising various aspects of sex work. The main points of the PITA are as follows:

Sex Workers: A prostitute who seduces or solicits shall be prosecuted. Similarly, call girls can not publish phone numbers to the public. (imprisonment up to 6 months with fine)

Sex worker also punished for prostitution near any public place or notified area. (Imprisonment of up to 3 months with fine)

Clients: A client is guilty of consorting with prostitutes and can be charged if he engages in sex acts with a sex worker within 200 yards of a public place or "notified area". (Imprisonment of up to 3 months) The client may also be punished if the sex worker is below 18 years of age. (From 7 to 10 years of imprisonment, whether with a child or a minor)

Brothel: Landlords and brothel-keepers can be prosecuted, maintaining a brothel is illegal. (From 1 to 3 years imprisonment with fine for first offence) Detaining someone at a brothel for the purpose of sexual exploitation can lead to prosecution. (Imprisonment of more than 7 years)

Procuring and trafficking: A person procures or attempts to procure anybody is liable to be punished. Also a person who moves a person from one place to another, (human trafficking), can be prosecuted similarly. (From 3 to 7 years imprisonment with fine)

Rescued Women: The government is legally obligated to provide rescue and rehabilitation in a "protective home" for any sex worker requesting assistance.

Public place in context of this law includes places of public religious worship, educational institutions, hostels, hospitals etc. A "notified area" is a place which is declared to be "prostitution-free" by the state government under the PITA. Brothel in context of this law, is a place which has two or more sex workers (2a). Prostitution itself is not an offence under this law, but soliciting, brothels, madams and pimps are illegal.

In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India has recognized sex work as a profession and affirmed the right to dignity and equal protection under the law for sex workers. This groundbreaking judgment was delivered invoking the Court's special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.

Now, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has replaced the Indian Penal Code, under which human trafficking for prostitution (Section 111 BNS ), and buying (Section 99 BNS) and selling (Section 98 BNS) of minor for prostituion is illegal.

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Answer #2
813 votes
Prostitution is not legal in India further if you have been caught having sex and the girl is below 18 years you will be taken to task and if the girl is above 18 years and there is consensual sex nothing will happen
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