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Kerala police target sex workers' union

D Jose in Trivandrum

The sex workers who formed a union in Kerala are paying dearly for it.

The sex workers, who narrated tales of police atrocities against them at a recent convention that saw the union being established, are getting some tough treatment from the police or people allegedly induced by the police to attack them.

The police began attacking the sex workers soon after they returned to the streets following the two-day convention held in the state capital on February 19 and 20. Three cases of such "orchestrated" attacks have been reported so far.

The railway station area in Trivandrum was tense on Thursday night after the police hauled off 15 sex workers who fought with autorickshaw drivers. The sex workers alleged that the Thampanoor police instigated the drivers after a sex worker made a written complaint against a sub-inspector for beating her up after the convention.

The sex workers said the auto drivers deliberately picked up quarrels with them and then assaulted them. The police, who came to the scene immediately, rounded up 15 women and put them in the police lock-up for a night.

The sex workers said they were severely beaten by the police. One woman had her arm broken and another had her face and eyes swollen when they were produced before the court.

The sex workers in the area squatted before the railway station in protest, increasing the tension in the area. Over 200 auto drivers also gathered, complaining that the sex workers had been creating trouble in the railway station and bus stand areas for the past few days.

A sex worker, who did not want to be identified, said the incident occurred after a sex worker complained to the state Women's Commission and city police chief about assault on her by the Thampanoor sub-inspector. She had alleged in her complaint that the sub-inspector beat her up for having revealed how he had harassed her.

Social workers who had taken the initiative to organise the sex workers felt the attacks were organised acts of vengeance. They said the police had beaten up two sex workers at Cochin too. One woman had her arm broken in the assault.

The incidents have evoked sharp reaction from human rights activists and social workers. A joint statement issued by writer Paul Zacharia, Pazhavila Ramesan, Rosemary and R Parvathy Devi described the attacks as a vengeful act by a police upset that their brutality was openly discussed.

"We see the attack on these hapless women with utmost shock and hope that those Malayalis who still have not lost their compassion will come forward to protest the attacks," the statement said.

Another joint statement by social workers Eliyamma Vijayan, Mercy Alexander, Patricia, C S Chandrika and V M Deepa said it was cruel to unleash atrocities on these hapless women who were forced to live by selling themselves. The police were attacking these women because they had no real right to demand "protection of human rights".

The streetwalkers of Trivandrum took steps to form the union after a 35-year-old sex worker committed suicide in broad daylight.

The social workers associated with the effort have been facing flak from various women's organisations for what they call encouraging prostitution by giving legitimacy to an immoral activity. However, the activists said all they were doing was protecting the human rights of the sex workers.

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