Prostitution in India#Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act

A tawaif was a courtesan who catered to the nobility of India, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance (mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradition,{{cite news| url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/08/11/stories/2004081101090100.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041127054112/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/08/11/stories/2004081101090100.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 November 2004 | location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu | title=Mapping cultures | date=11 August 2004}} and were considered an authority on etiquette. Tawaifs were largely a North Indian institution central to Mughal court culture from the 16th century onwards{{cite journal|last1=Schoffield|first1=Katherine Butler|title=The Courtesan Tale: Female Musicians and Dancers in Mughal Historical Chronicles, c.1556–1748|journal=Gender & History|date=April 2012|volume=24|issue=1|pages=150–171|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0424.2011.01673.x|s2cid=161453756 }} and became even more prominent with the weakening of Mughal rule in the mid-18th century.{{cite news |title= Fall of a culture|url= http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090920/spectrum/main2.htm|newspaper= Tribune India|access-date=22 January 2012}} They contributed significantly to the continuation of traditional dance and music forms{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsuhSiITjU8C&q=faiza+bai+singer&pg=PA31|title=Dance in Thumri|first=Projesh|last=Banerji|date=10 April 1986|publisher=Abhinav Publications|via=Google Books|isbn=9788170172123}} and then the emergence of modern Indian cinema.

Goa was a colony in Portuguese India set up in the early 16th century, and this Portuguese stronghold contained a community of Portuguese slaves. During the late 16th and 17th centuries the Portuguese trade in Japanese slaves resulted in traders from the Portuguese Empire and their captive lascar crew members from South Asia bringing Japanese slaves to Goa. These were usually young Japanese women and girls brought or captured from Japan as sexual slaves.{{citation|title=Interracial Intimacy in Japan|first=Gary P.|last=Leupp|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8264-6074-5|page=49 & 52}}

The culture of the performing art of nautch, an alluring style of popular dance, rose to prominence during the later period of Mughal Empire and the rule of the British East India Company.{{cite web|title=Nautch girls: Sahibs danced to their tune|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040725/spectrum/main1.htm|access-date=25 July 2004}} During the period of Company rule (and after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the direct administration of the British Crown), British colonial officials established and maintained brothels across the Indian subcontinent. The prostitutes who worked in such brothels were recruited from rural Indian families and paid directly by the British authorities. The red-light districts of cities such as Mumbai developed at this time.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-24530198|title=Horrors of India's brothels documented|date=23 November 2013|journal=BBC News|access-date=28 November 2015}} The governments of many Indian princely states had regulated prostitution in India prior to the 1860s. The British Raj enacted the Cantonment Act of 1864 to regulate prostitution in colonial India as a matter of accepting a necessary evil.{{cite journal|last=Tambe|first=Ashwini|title=The Elusive Ingenue:A transnational Feminist Analysis of European Prostitution in Colonial Bombay|journal=Gender & Society|doi=10.1177/0891243204272781|volume=19|issue=2|date=1 April 2005|pages=160–79|s2cid=144250345}} The Cantonment Acts regulated and structured prostitution in the British military bases which provided for about twelve to fifteen Indian women kept in brothels called chaklas for each British regiment stationed in India. They were licensed by military officials and were allowed to consort with soldiers only.{{cite journal|last=Bhandari|first=Sudhanshu|title=Prostitution in Colonial India|url=http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article2142.html|access-date=13 October 2012|journal=Mainstream Weekly|date=19 June 2010|volume=XLVIII|number=26}} In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women and girls from Eastern Europe and Japan were trafficked into British India, where they worked as prostitutes, servicing British colonists and soldiers, since sexual relations between white men and native women was increasingly opposed by colonial authorities.{{Cite book |title=Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia |date=2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780429774690 |editor-last=Fischer-Tiné |editor-first=Harald |publication-date=2021 |quote=the sexual service they provided was found useful in preventing British men from committing rape, miscegenation, or homosexuality. |editor-last2=Framke |editor-first2=Maria}}{{Cite book |last=Tambe |first=Ashwini |title=Codes of Misconduct: Regulating Prostitution in Late Colonial Bombay |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780816651375 |quote=}}{{Cite book |last=Hinchy |first=Jessica |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/governing-gender-and-sexuality-in-colonial-india/200A4682A894AB7136CF0463F12C2687 |title=Governing Gender and Sexuality in Colonial India |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2019 |isbn=9781108492553 |location=United Kingdom |pages= |quote=}}{{citation|title=Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives|first=Cynthia H.|last=Enloe|publisher=University of California Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-520-22071-3|page=58}}{{Cite book |last=Gilmour |first=David |title=The British in India |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |year=2018 |isbn=9780241004531 |publication-date=2018 |quote=}}

{{Quote

|text = "From time immemorial Indian poets have sung praises of the 'public woman', the professional entertainer. The epics give us a colourful description of her intimate connection with royal splendour. The Puranas highlight her auspicious presence as a symbol of good luck. Buddhist literature also testifies to the high esteem in which she was held in society. She appears through the ages in different incarnations from apsara in divine form to ganika, devdasi, nartika [ordinary dancer], kanchani, tawaif and the nautch girl."

|author = Pran Nevile[https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/books//articleshow/16041225.cms Nautch Girls of the Raj], Mumbai Mirror, 8 Aug 2010.

}}

Japanese prostitutes (the Karayuki-san) serviced British colonists in British India where they were viewed as clean.{{cite book |last1=Gilmour |first1=David |title=The British in India: A Social History of the Raj |date=2018 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0374713249 |page=331 |edition=illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejhIDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22he+particularly+liked+Japanese+women%2C+who+were+clean+and+seldom%22&pg=PA331}}{{cite book |last1=Gilmour |first1=David |title=The British in India: A Social History of the Raj |date=2018 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0374713249 |page=207|edition=illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7yFzDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22After+he+had+expelled+a+Japanese+pimp%2C+he+received+regular+payments+from+Japanese%22&pg=PA207}}{{cite journal |last1=Mihalopoulos |first1=Bill |title=The Making of Prostitutes in Japan: The Karayuki-San |journal=Social Justice |date=1994 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=161–84 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29766813 |publisher=Social Justice/Global Options|jstor=29766813 }}

Prostitution in India manifests in various forms. The most notable instances where sex workers offer their services may include situations where these services are accessible under different disguises:

• Brothels: Buildings in which prostitutes are available.
• Streetwalkers/Street prostitution:{{cite web |last1=Batra |first1=Architi |title=Living Conditions Of Sex Workers In India |url=https://ylcube.com/c/blogs/living-conditions-sex-workers-india/ |website=ylcube.com |publisher=YLCube |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=8 February 2020}} Prostitutes who stand or walk in the streets, roads, highways or public spaces to get customers.
• Call girls:{{cite web |last1=Ankita |first1=Kumari |title=The Case for and Against the Legalization of Prostitution |url=https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-14637-the-case-for-and-against-the-legalization-of-prostitution.html |website=legalserviceindia.com/ |publisher=Legal Service India.com |access-date=22 January 2024}} Prostitutes with whom an appointment can be made by telephone, usually to meet at the client's address.
• Escort agencies:{{cite web |last1=Ram Ganesan |first1=Sharmila |title=Behind the scenes of Escort Economy 2.0 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/behind-the-scenes-of-escort-economy-2-0/articleshow/52919422.cms?from=mdr |website=timesofindia.indiatimes.com |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=2 June 2023}} An agency where people, especially young women, may be hired to accompany someone for entertainment, etc.
• Private residences:{{cite web |last1=Patnaik |first1=Shriya |title=THE MISSING LIFE STORIES OF INDIA'S SEX WORKERS |url=https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/news/missing-life-stories-indias-sex-workers |website=graduateinstitute.ch |publisher=GENEVA GRADUATE INSTITUTE |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=26 November 2020}} The place, especially the house, in which a person lives or resides.
• Massage & spa parlors:{{cite web |last1=Mishra |first1=Sukriti |title=Delhi HC Directs Police Commissioner To Prevent Prostitution Under The Guise Of Massage Parlors |url=https://lawbeat.in/news-updates/delhi-hc-directs-police-commissioner-prevent-prostitution-under-guise-massage-parlors |website=lawbeat.in |publisher=LawBeat |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=28 November 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Khandekar |first1=Omkar |title=Sex dens or wellness centres? Indian spas struggle for legitimacy |url=https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/big-story/sex-dens-or-wellness-centres-indian-spas-struggle-for-legitimacy-111615194940894.html |website=lifestyle.livemint.com |publisher=Mintlounge |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=9 March 2021}} A place where people go and pay for a massage.
• Hotels:{{cite web |last1=Salelkar |first1=Amba |title=This law gave Mumbai police the right to search those hotel rooms |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-this-law-gave-mumbai-police-the-right-to-search-those-hotel-rooms-2112802 |website=dnaindia.com |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=10 August 2015}} A commercial establishment offering lodging facilities.
• Nightclubs and bars:{{cite web |title=Escorts Draw Customers To Delhi Bars |url=https://theblunttimes.in/escorts-draw-customers-to-delhi-bars/33939/ |website=theblunttimes.in |publisher=The BluntTimes |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=10 July 2023}} A place of entertainment open at night usually serving food and liquor and providing music and space for dancing and often having a floor show.
• Virtual sex, Cybersex and Phone sex services on online and on digital platforms:{{cite web |last1=Nigam |first1=Chayyanika |title=Sex industry takes digital route, teenagers at risk of cyber exploitation |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/sex-cyber-exploitation-sexual-exploitation-skype-980951-2017-06-05 |website=indiatoday.in |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=5 June 2017}}{{cite web |last1=Khandekar |first1=Omkar |title=How sex workers are using technology to service clients during the lockdown |url=https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/talking-point/how-sex-workers-are-using-technology-to-service-clients-during-the-lockdown-111637081067329.html |website=lifestyle.livemint.com |publisher=Mintlounge |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=22 May 2020}} Online/phone-based sex-oriented conversations and exchanges through audio, images, video or texts.
• Devadasi, temple dancers devoted to the practice of spiritual dancing but are forced into sex work.{{cite web |last1=Hyslop |first1=Leah |title=India's 'prostitutes of God' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/8008562/Indias-prostitutes-of-God.html |website=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=24 January 2024 |language=en |date=20 September 2010}}

Government organisations like MDACS (Maharashtra District AIDS Control Society) have played a very prominent role in generating awareness on HIV/AIDS, through the assistance in providing free literature and organising street campaigns. There are several NGOs that work to prevent the spread of STI/STDs in the community. NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation), a government agency leads these NGOs.[http://ibnlive.in.com/news/new-breed-of-elite-call-girls-cater-to-indias-rich/73960-19.html New breed of elite call girls cater to India's rich] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429163014/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/new-breed-of-elite-call-girls-cater-to-indias-rich/73960-19.html |date=29 April 2014 }} CNN-IBN, 20 September 2008. The Durbar Mahila Sumanwua Committee is a sex-workers' union based in Sonagachi, Kolkata, which has 65,000 members. They advocate for labour rights for sex workers, and they also fight against trafficking.{{Cite web|url=https://gaatw.org/members/asia/127-membership/asia/553-durbar-mahila-samanwaua-committee-dmsc|title=Durbar Mahil Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) - The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)|website=gaatw.org}}

There were an estimated two million female sex workers in the country in 1997.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8405154.stm | work=BBC News | title=India's Supreme Court has asked the government to consider whether it might legalise prostitution if it is unable to curb it effectively | date=10 December 2009 | access-date=22 May 2010 | first=Dominic | last=Casciani}} In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development reported the presence of over 3 million female sex workers in India, with 35.47 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18 years.[http://www.unodc.org/documents/southasia/News/conduct_final.pdf Around 3 mn prostitutes in India] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329012526/http://www.unodc.org/documents/southasia/News/conduct_final.pdf |date=29 March 2016 }} UNODC, 8 May 2007[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7376762.stm BBC report on number of female sex workers in India] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304234403/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7376762.stm |date=4 March 2016 }} BBC News. The number of prostitutes rose by 50% between 1997 and 2004.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/5140526.stm Prostitution 'increases' in India] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909005740/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/5140526.stm |date=9 September 2009 }} BBC News, 3 July 2006

{{Main|Child trafficking in India}}

Surveys show there are an estimated 1.2 million children involved in prostitution.{{cite news|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2009-05-11/world/india.prostitution.children_1_human-trafficking-india-prostitutes?_s=PM:WORLD |publisher=CNN |title=More than 1M child prostitutes in India |access-date=11 May 2009 |author=Dominic |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228012844/http://articles.cnn.com/2009-05-11/world/india.prostitution.children_1_human-trafficking-india-prostitutes?_s=PM%3AWORLD |archive-date=28 February 2011 }}

Much new knowledge on sex work in India came from the first major survey, in April 2011.{{cite report|url=http://jessiewalker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Pan-India-Survey-of-Sex-workers.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020343/http://jessiewalker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Pan-India-Survey-of-Sex-workers.pdf|url-status=dead|title=The First Pan-India Survey of Sex Workers|first1=Rohini|last1=Sahni|first2=V Kalyan|last2=Shankar|date=April 2011|publisher=The Center for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalisation|archive-date=29 November 2014}} This was performed by the Centre for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalisation (CASAM), which is part of SANGRAM,{{cite web|url=http://www.sangram.org/|title=SANGRAM|access-date=28 November 2015}} a major NGO that deals with sex workers.

File:Kamathipura lane.jpg, a red light district in Mumbai.]]

File:Internally renovated but externally unchanged,Heritage Brothel N0 25 in Kamatipura..JPG]]

File:Sonagachi jon gresham 1.jpg, Kolkata's red light district, 2005.]]

India's largest and best-known red-light districts are:

• Sonagachi, Kolkata: Asia's largest red-light district with around 10,000 to 16,000 female sex workers.{{cite web |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Rohit |title=Top 15 Largest Red Light Areas In India: Explore Near Your Location |url=https://www.scoopwhoop.com/sex/red-light-areas-india/ |website=scoopwhoop.com/ |date=22 December 2023 |publisher=ScoopWhoop Media Pvt. Ltd. |access-date=20 January 2024}}{{cite web | last=Ray | first=Shantanu Guha | title=In Kolkata’s Sonagachi, sex workers are grooming their children for a better life | website=Moneycontrol | date=2022-10-15 | url=https://www.moneycontrol.com/europe/?url=https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/features/in-kolkatas-sonagachi-sex-workers-are-grooming-their-children-for-a-better-life-9334031.html | access-date=2025-04-10}}{{cite web |last1=Das |first1=Rijula |title=Exploring the stories of Asia's largest red-light district |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2022/09/30/exploring-the-stories-of-asias-largest-red-light-district/ |website=irishtimes.com/ |access-date=20 January 2024}} According to a 2019 study by the Indian Journal of Public Health reported that West Bengal had the highest number of female sex workers (FSWs) in India, contributing nearly 25% of the country's total estimated 1.82 million FSWs. This suggests that around 455,000 FSWs were in West Bengal at that time.Arumugam, Elangovan1; Kangusamy, Boopathi2; Sahu, Damodar3; Adhikary, Rajatashuvra4; Kumar, Pradeep5; Aridoss, Santhakumar6,. Size Estimation of High-risk Groups for HIV Infection in India Based on Data from National Integrated Bio-Behavioral Surveillance and Targeted Interventions. Indian Journal of Public Health 64(5):p 39-45, April 2020. | {{DOI|10.4103/ijph.IJPH_46_20}}Arumugam E, Kangusamy B, Sahu D, Adhikary R, Kumar P, Aridoss S. Size Estimation of high-risk groups for hiv infection in india based on data from national integrated bio-behavioral surveillance and targeted interventions. Indian J Public Health. 2020 Apr;64(Supplement):S39-S45. {{doi|10.4103/ijph.IJPH_46_20}}. {{PMID|32295955}}.

• Kamathipura, Mumbai: Second largest red-light district in India with approximately 5,000 sex workers.{{cite web |last1=Bose |first1=Mrityunjay |title=Documentary depicts how over 7,000 sex workers in Mumbai.... |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/documentary-depicts-how-over-7000-sex-workers-in-mumbai-went-penniless-during-lockdown-1040178.html |website=deccanherald.com/ |access-date=20 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=Top 10 Red Light Areas In India |url=https://zeenews.india.com/photos/india/top-10-red-light-areas-in-india-2633128/1-kamathipura-mumbai-2633139 |website=zeenews.india.com/ |access-date=20 January 2024}}

• Budhwar Peth, Pune: India's third largest red-light district with home to around 5,000 sex workers and 700 brothels.{{cite web |last1=Haygunde |first1=Chandan |last2=Kulkarni |first2=Sushant |title=Know Your City: 1045 Budhwar Peth, Margi Galli – Home to Margubai, a dreaded sex racketeer from Pune's red light area |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/budhwar-peth-margi-galli-home-infamous-margubai-a-sex-racketeer-from-punes-red-light-area-8074369/ |website=indianexpress.com/ |date=6 August 2022 |publisher=The Indian Express [P] Ltd. |access-date=20 January 2024}}

• Chaturbhuj Sthan, Muzaffarpur: A red-light district in Bihar with around 3,500 sex workers.{{cite web |last1=Ravi |first1=Prashant |title=Rani Begum, ex-courtesan, now helps heal the lives of her sisters |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/rani-begum-ex-courtesan-now-helps-heal-the-lives-of-her-sisters/216529 |website=outlookindia.com/ |access-date=20 January 2024}}

• Shivdaspur, Uttar Pradesh: A town in Varanasi district with a red-light district housing approximately 2,000 sex workers.{{cite web |title=Red Light Areas in India where Sex Workers make a Living |url=https://www.desiblitz.com/content/red-light-areas-india-sex-workers-make-living |website=desiblitz.com/ |date=8 October 2017 |access-date=20 January 2024}}

• G. B. Road, New Delhi: A red-light district in the Indian capital with many brothels and over 1,000 sex workers.{{cite news |title=Delhi's G B road gets first.... |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhis-g-b-road-gets-its-first-clinic-for-sex-workers-and-their-families/articleshow/96663504.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |date=January 2023 |access-date=20 January 2024}}

• Ganga Jamuna, Nagpur: A red-light district with as many as 188 brothels{{cite web |last1=Shantha |first1=Sukanya |title=Nagpur Police Abruptly Shut Down City's Oldest Red Light Area, Damaging Livelihoods of Sex Workers |url=https://thewire.in/government/nagpur-ganga-jamuna-shut-down-livelihoods-sex-workers |website=thewire.in/ |access-date=20 January 2024}} and thousands of sex workers.

• Reshampura, Gwalior: A red-light district in Madhya Pradesh.{{cite news |title=Gwalior trafficking gang sold over.... |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/gwalior-trafficking-gang-sold-over-25-girls-to-brothels/articleshow/56429676.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |date=10 January 2017 |access-date=20 January 2024}}

• Kabari Bazar, Meerut: A red-light district with hundreds of sex workers operating from around 75 brothels.{{cite web |last1=Sirohi |first1=Dimple |title=मेरठ: देह व्यापार के लिए बदनाम कबाड़ी बाजार की बदलेगी सूरत, हाईकोर्ट ने बंद कराए थे 58 कोठे |url=https://www.amarujala.com/photo-gallery/uttar-pradesh/meerut/kabadi-bazar-meerut-news-infamous-red-light-area-for-prostitution-in-meerut-will-looked-changed-soon-high-court-had-closed-58-rooms?pageId=2 |website=amarujala.com/ |publisher=Amar Ujala Limited |access-date=21 January 2024}}{{cite journal |last1=Irani |first1=Raul |title=Prostitutes of Kabari Bazar, Meerut and the Bachchra Community in Neemuch |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2455632720915320 |journal=Antyajaa: Indian Journal of Women and Social Change |date=2020 |volume=5 |pages=78–85 |publisher=SAGE Publications |doi=10.1177/2455632720915320 |access-date=21 January 2024}}

• Meergunj, Prayagraj: A red-light district with a significant number of sex workers infamous for illicit trafficking and forced prostitution.{{cite news |title=Court convicts 41 persons.... |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/court-convicts-41-persons-in-meerganj-flesh-trade-case/articleshow/89006120.cms |newspaper=The Times of India|date=20 January 2022 }}

The operation of brothels is officially prohibited (de jure), yet in practice, these establishments are confined to specific areas within urban locales. Despite the lack of official sanction for brothels, minimal efforts are exerted to eradicate or impede its existence. The living conditions within these establishments are notably substandard, marked by dilapidated infrastructure, insufficient lighting, malodorous environments, uncleanliness, and an overall lack of sanitation. Notably, the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, is exceptionally high in these establishments and the services provided within these brothels are usually available at a notably cheap price. The environment in the brothels, particularly in the surrounding alleys, is deemed hazardous, especially during the night, with reports of various other forms of criminal activities.

The law is vague on prostitution itself.{{cite news|title=Prostitution in India: Make it legal|magazine=The Economist|date=1 November 2014|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21629472-proper-debate-needed-legalising-sex-work-make-it-legal|access-date=17 November 2016}} The primary law dealing with the status of sex workers is the 1956 law referred to as The Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act (ITSA). According to this law, prostitutes can practise their trade privately but cannot legally solicit customers in public. A BBC article, however, mentions that prostitution is illegal in India; the Indian law does not refer to the practice of selling one's own sexual service as "prostitution". Clients can be punished for sexual activity in proximity to a public place. Organised prostitution (brothels, prostitution rings, pimping, etc.) is illegal. As long as it is done individually and voluntarily, a woman (male prostitution is not recognised in any law in India) can use her body in exchange for material benefit. In particular, the law forbids a sex worker to carry on her profession within 200 yards of a public place. Unlike as is the case with other professions, sex workers are not protected under normal labour laws, but they possess the right to rescue and rehabilitation if they desire, and they possess all the rights of other citizens.{{Cn|date=January 2024}}

In practice ITSA is not commonly used. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) which predates the ITSA is 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. In 1986 the old law was amended as the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act or ITPA. Attempts to amend this to criminalise clients{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/LEADER-ARTICLE-Sex-Workers-Need-Legal-Cover/articleshow/2353579.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019020921/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-09-10/edit-page/27961159_1_human-trafficking-workers-clients|url-status=live|archive-date=19 October 2012|title=Leader Article: Sex Workers Need Legal Cover|author=Ratna Kapur|newspaper=The Times of India|date=10 September 2007}} have been opposed by the Health Ministry,{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sex-workers-clients-shouldnt-be-penalised/articleshow/2566234.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019020929/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-11-24/india/27964901_1_health-ministry-clients-gom|url-status=live|archive-date=19 October 2012|title='Sex workers' clients shouldn't be penalised'|author=Mahendra Kumar Singh|newspaper=The Times of India|date=24 November 2007}} and has encountered considerable opposition.{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/LEADER-ARTICLE-Sex-Work-Is-No-Crime/articleshow/2615557.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019020939/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-12-12/edit-page/27958107_1_amendments-prostitution-legal-framework|url-status=live|archive-date=19 October 2012|title=Leader Article: Sex Work Is No Crime|author1=Bishaka Datta|author2=Siddharth Dube|newspaper=The Times of India|date=12 December 2007}}

In a positive development in the improvement of the lives of female sex workers in Calcutta, a state-owned insurance company has provided life insurance to 250 individuals.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7376762.stm | work=BBC News | title=India sex workers get life cover | date=1 May 2008 | access-date=22 May 2010}}

Over the years, India saw 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.[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/delhi-times/a-mandate-to-legalise-prostitution/articleshow/145540.cms A mandate to legalise prostitution] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115055840/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/delhi-times/a-mandate-to-legalise-prostitution/articleshow/145540.cms |date=15 January 2016 }} The Times of India, 25 August 2003.[https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/sex-industry/indias-sex-trade-exposed-1036578.html India's sex trade exposed] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304204837/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/sex-industry/indias-sex-trade-exposed-1036578.html |date=4 March 2016 }} The Independent, 29 November 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.economylead.com/featured-news/legalise-prostitution-india-address-problems-sex-industry-13106|title=Legalise prostitution in India to address problems of sex industry|author=K Rajasekharan|date=18 June 2014|website=Economy Lead|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118064802/http://www.economylead.com/featured-news/legalise-prostitution-india-address-problems-sex-industry-13106|archive-date=18 November 2016|url-status=dead}}

Supreme Court of India; on May 19, 2022, upheld that everyone, including sex workers are guaranteed the right to dignity and life under Article 21 of Constitution of India.{{Cite news |author=((Legal Correspondent)) |date=2022-05-26 |title=Supreme Court wants full respect for sex workers: counsel |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-for-treating-sex-workers-with-full-respect-for-their-dignity/article65464684.ece |access-date=2022-08-23 |issn=0971-751X}}{{Cite web |title='Sex work legal', Supreme Court gives historic judgement on prostitution |url=https://zeenews.india.com/india/sex-work-legal-supreme-court-gives-historic-judgement-on-prostitution-2467824.html |access-date=2022-08-23 |website=Zee News |language=en}} Thus, sex workers can not be harassed and arrested legally. Brothel related practices still remain illegal.

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, or ITPA, also called the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), is a 1986 amendment of legislation passed in 1956 as a result of the signing by India of the United Nations' declaration in 1950 in New York on the suppression of human trafficking.{{cite web|url=http://socialwelfare.delhigovt.nic.in/immoraltraffact.htm |title=The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 |access-date=10 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006062502/http://socialwelfare.delhigovt.nic.in/immoraltraffact.htm |archive-date=6 October 2008 }} The act, then called the All India Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act (SITA), was amended to the current law. 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 six months with fine, point 8). Sex workers are also punished for prostitution near any public place or notified area (imprisonment of up to three months with fine, point 7).
• 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, point 7). The client may also be punished if the sex worker is below 18 years of age (from 7 to 10 years of imprisonment, no matter the age of the minor, point 7).
• Pimps: Pimps or live-in lovers who live off a prostitute's earnings are guilty of a crime. Any adult male living with a prostitute is assumed to be guilty unless he can prove otherwise (imprisonment of up to 2 years with fine, point 4).
• Brothels: Landlords and brothel-keepers can be prosecuted, maintaining a brothel is illegal (from 1 to 3 years' imprisonment with fine for first offence, point 3). Detaining someone at a brothel for the purpose of sexual exploitation can lead to prosecution (imprisonment of more than 7 years, point 6). Prostitution in a hotel is also a criminal offence.
• Procuring and trafficking: A person who procures or attempts to procure anybody is liable to be punished. A person who moves a person from one place to another (human trafficking) can be prosecuted similarly (7 years' imprisonment with fine for first conviction, and up to life imprisonment thereafter, point 5B).
• Rescued women: The government is legally obligated to provide rescue and rehabilitation in a "protective home" for any sex worker requesting assistance (point 21).

A "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.{{cite web|url=http://indianlawsguide.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/prostitution-in-india-legal-provisions1127.html |website=Indian Laws Guide |title=Prostitution in India Legal provisions |access-date=16 February 2013 |date=16 February 2013}}

In 2006 the Ministry of Women and Child Development put forward a bill aimed at reducing human trafficking.{{cite web|title=The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2006|url=http://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/640ls.pdf|publisher=Ministry Of Women & Child Development|access-date=17 November 2016}} The bill proposed criminalising the clients of trafficked prostitutes. However, it stalled during the legislative process, and legislation against human trafficking was subsequently effected by amendments to the Indian Penal Code.{{cite news|author=Hemchhaya De|title=Is Consensual Sex Work A Crime?|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131023/jsp/opinion/story_17483745.jsp#.WC2XHXecZt8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026080719/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131023/jsp/opinion/story_17483745.jsp#.WC2XHXecZt8|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 October 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=Calcutta|date=23 October 2013|access-date=17 November 2016}}

Clauses in the ITPA relating to living off the earnings of a sex-worker are being challenged in court, together with criminalisation of brothels, prostitution around a notified public place, soliciting and the power given to a magistrate to evict sex-workers from their home and forbidding their re-entry. Other groups are lobbying parliament for amendments to the law.{{cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/143511/sex-workers-rue-discrimination-against.html|title=Sex workers rue discrimination against their children|date=6 March 2011|website=Deccan Herald|access-date=28 November 2015}}{{cite report|url=http://jessiewalker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Report-Sex-workers-meet-Law-makers.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042048/http://jessiewalker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Report-Sex-workers-meet-Law-makers.pdf|url-status=dead|publisher=Lawyers Collective|title=Sex Workers Meet Law Makers|date=1 March 2011|location=Constitution Club, New Delhi|archive-date=4 March 2016}}

In 2009 the Supreme Court ruled that prostitution should be legalised and convened a panel to consider amending the law. In 2011 the Supreme Court held that "right to live with dignity" is a Constitutional right and issued an order relating to "creating conditions conducive for sex workers to work with dignity". The court directed the Central Government, States and Union Territories to carry out a survey to determine the number of sex workers in the country willing to be rehabilitated.

However, in 2012 the Central Government made a plea to the Supreme Court arguing that sex workers should not be allowed to pursue their trade under the constitutional "right to live with dignity". Government counsel contended that any such endorsement by the court would be ultra vires of ITPA, which totally bans prostitution. Opposing counsel submitted that the Act only prohibited brothel activities and punitive action against pimps. The Supreme Court agreed to examine the plea.{{cite news| url= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sex-workers-cannot-operate-in-any-manner-centre-tells-sc/973572/0| title= Sex workers cannot operate in any manner, Centre tells SC| date= 12 July 2012}}

File:American GI soliciting prostitution in Calcutta in 1945.jpg

Most of the research done by the development organisation Sanlaap indicates that the majority of sex workers in India work as prostitutes due to lacking resources to support themselves or their children. Most do not choose this profession but out of necessity, often after the breakup of a marriage or after being disowned and thrown out of their homes by their families. The children of sex workers are much more likely to get involved in this kind of work as well. A survey completed in 1988 by the All Bengal Women's Union interviewed a random sample of 160 sex workers in Calcutta: Of those, 23 claimed that they had come of their own accord, whereas the remaining 137 women claimed to have been introduced into the sex trade by agents. The breakdown was as follows:

• Neighbour in connivance with parents: 7
• Neighbours as pimps (guardians not knowing): 19
• Aged sex workers from same village or locality: 31
• Unknown person/accidental meeting with pimp: 32
• Mother/sister/near relative in the profession: 18
• Lover giving false hope of marriage or job and selling to brothel: 14
• Close acquaintance giving false hope of marriage or job: 11
• "Husband" (not legally married): 3
• Husband (legally married): 1
• Young college student selling to brothel and visiting free of cost: 1

The breakdown of the agents by sex were as follows: 76% of the agents were female and 24% were males. Over 80% of the agents bring young women into the profession were known people and not traffickers: neighbours, relatives, etc.

Also prevalent in parts of Bengal is the Chukri System, whereby a female is coerced into prostitution to pay off debts, as a form of bonded labour. In this system, the prostitute generally works without pay for one year or longer to repay a supposed debt to the brothel owner for food, clothes, make-up and living expenses. In India, the Government's "central sponsored scheme" provides financial or in-kind grants to released bonded labourers and their family members, the report noted, adding over 2,850,000 people have benefited to date. Almost 5,000 prosecutions have been recorded so far under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976.

Some women and girls are by tradition born into prostitution to support the family. The Bachara Tribe,{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/Gujarat-tribal-sells-daughter-to-prostitution-racketeers-in-MP-held/articleshow/30966930.cms|title=Gujarat tribal sells daughter to prostitution racketeers in MP, held|date=25 February 2014|newspaper=Times of India|author=Anuraag Singh}} for example, follow this tradition with eldest daughters often expected to be prostitutes.

Over 40% of 484 prostituted girls rescued during major raids of brothels in Mumbai in 1996 were from Nepal."S. Asia Urged to Unite Against Child Prostitution", Reuters, 19 June 1998. In India one estimate calculated that as many as 200,000 Nepalese girls, many under the age of 14, were sold into sexual slavery during the 1990s.{{cite web |url=http://www.thefullmonte.com/traffic.htm |title=Fair skin and young looks: Nepalese victims of human trafficking languish in Indian brothels |access-date=8 July 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221045620/http://www.thefullmonte.com/traffic.htm |archive-date=21 December 2007 |first=Mikael G. |last=Holter }}

{{Further|HIV/AIDS in India}}

Sex workers in India find it difficult to access health care and face discrimination, especially in government hospitals, based on their profession, such as being forced to take tests for sexually transmitted infection when they are ill, being refused to be admitted to hospitals without HIV tests, being refused to conduct physical examination before prescribing medication. Surveys have found that sex workers prefer private health care providers over the government ones where they have some kind of sensitisation training. Difficulty in accessing health care is due to factors such as hospitals sending women to their husband for approval to get abortion, financial hurdles such as high fees for abortion and difficulty procuring identification documents as many sex workers live unstable lives, having trouble providing a proof of address. A Supreme Court verdict in 2021 directed that sex workers be provided Aadhar and ration without asking for proof of address, which made the situation better for sex workers. In government hospitals, sometimes it is not even doctors who do abortions for sex workers, but ward boys will do. Sex workers also lack privacy in hospitals because people think they are okay with anybody looking at their private parts. Transgender sex workers face even more discrimination than women sex workers due to doctors' lack of knowledge of transgender bodies, hospitals not having separate queues for trans people and hospitals not assigning them doctors but rather rush them to testing centres.{{cite news |last1=Deeksha |first1=Johanna |title=Why Indian sex workers dread going to a hospital |url=https://scroll.in/article/1039611/why-indian-sex-workers-dread-going-to-a-hospital |access-date=2022-12-21 |work=Scroll.in |date=2022-12-21}}

Mumbai and Kolkata (Calcutta) have the country's largest brothel based sex industry, with over 100,000 sex workers in Mumbai.[https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/sa/8230.htm "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India"], US State Department, 2001. It is estimated that HIV among prostitutes have largely fallen, in last decade.{{cite web|url=http://health.india.com/news/hiv-prevention-programmes-for-female-prostitutes-in-india-highly-effective-ani/|title=HIV prevention programmes for female prostitutes in India highly effective|author=ANI |date=17 June 2013|website=india.com|access-date=28 November 2015}}

A positive outcome of a prevention programme among prostitutes can be found in Sonagachi, a red-light district in Kolkata. The education programme targeted about 5,000 female prostitutes. A team of two peer workers carried out outreach activities including education, condom promotion and follow-up of STI cases. When the project was launched in 1992, 27% of sex workers reported condom use. By 1995 this had risen to 82%, and in 2001 it was 86%.

Reaching women who are working in brothels has proven to be quite difficult due to the sheltered and secluded nature of the work, where pimps, Mashis, and brothel-keepers often control access to the women and prevent their access to education, resulting in a low to modest literacy rate for many sex workers.

Not only HIV but other infection diseases have been decreased, examined data from 868 prevention projects—serving about 500,000 female sex workers—implemented between 1995 and 2008. The research found that reaching sex workers through prevention programs decreased HIV and syphilis infection rates among young pregnant women tested routinely at government prenatal health clinics.[http://health.india.com/news/hiv-prevention-programmes-for-female-prostitutes-in-india-highly-effective-ani/ HIV prevention programmes for female prostitutes in India highly effective] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203010859/http://health.india.com/news/hiv-prevention-programmes-for-female-prostitutes-in-india-highly-effective-ani/ |date=3 December 2013 }} 17 June 2013

Women and girls from Azerbaijan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Philippines{{cite web |title=India |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2014/226740.htm |website=Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons |publisher=U.S. State Department}} Arab countries, Japan,{{cite journal|journal=Radical History Review|volume=1998|issue=70|pages=131–148|url=http://www.stockton.edu/~greggr/graphics/unrealcities.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235225/http://www.stockton.edu/~greggr/graphics/unrealcities.pdf|url-status=dead|first=Robert|last=Gregg|title=Unreal cities: Bombay, London, New York|archive-date=2 December 2013|doi=10.1215/01636545-1998-70-131|year=1998}} the former Soviet Republics and Bangladesh,{{cite web|url=http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/banglad.htm |title=Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation - Bangladesh |publisher=Uri.edu |access-date=19 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415124641/http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/banglad.htm |archive-date=15 April 2012 }} from other origins have been noted as working as prostitutes in India.

In 2015, ten Thai women were arrested in India on prostitution charges for allegedly running two brothels masquerading as massage parlours.{{cite news |author= |title=10 Thai women arrested for prostitution in India |url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/759088/10-thai-women-arrested-for-prostitution-in-india |newspaper=Bangkok Post |location=Jaipur, India |date=9 November 2015 |access-date=9 November 2015 }}

In 2013 there were reports of Afghan women being trafficked as prostitutes to India.{{cite magazine|url=http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?programId=1073755753&contentId=13404555&tabId=13 |title=Like cattle, from Kabul |author=Syed Nazakat |date=9 February 2013 |magazine=The Week|access-date=28 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518092744/http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?programId=1073755753&contentId=13404555&tabId=13 |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}

Uzbek women go to India to work as prostitutes.{{cite web|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/six-uzbekistan-women-held-for-prostitution/955902/|title=Six Uzbekistan women held for prostitution|date=31 May 2012|website=indianexpress.com|access-date=28 November 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Uzbek-woman-held-for-running-prostitution-racket/articleshow/20657235.cms|title=Uzbek woman held for running prostitution racket|date=19 June 2013|website=The Times of India|access-date=28 November 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/gurgaon/three-uzbek-women-among-eight-held-for-prostitution-racket/article1-1118612.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703062342/http://www.hindustantimes.com/gurgaon/three-uzbek-women-among-eight-held-for-prostitution-racket/article1-1118612.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 July 2015|title=Three Uzbek women among eight held for prostitution racket|date=7 September 2013|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=28 November 2015}}

{{see also|Human trafficking in India}}

India is a source, destination, and transit country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Most of India's trafficking problem is internal, and those from the most disadvantaged social strata—economically, members of tribal communities—are most vulnerable. Thousands of unregulated work placement agencies reportedly lure adults and children under false promises of employment into sex trafficking.

Experts estimate millions of women and children are victims of sex trafficking in India. Traffickers use false promises of employment or arrange sham marriages within India or Gulf states and subject women and girls to sex trafficking. In addition to traditional red light districts, women and children increasingly endure sex trafficking in small hotels, vehicles, huts, and private residences. Traffickers increasingly use websites, mobile applications, and online money transfers to facilitate commercial sex. Children continue to be subjected to sex trafficking in religious pilgrimage centers and by foreign travelers in tourist destinations. Many women and girls, predominately from Nepal and Bangladesh, and from Central Asia, Africa, and Asia, including Rohingya and other minority populations from Burma, are subjected to sex trafficking in India. Prime destinations for both Indian and foreign female trafficking victims include Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Hyderabad, and along the India-Nepal border; Nepali women and girls are increasingly subjected to sex trafficking in Assam, and other cities such as Nagpur and Pune. Some corrupt law enforcement officers protect suspected traffickers and brothel owners from law enforcement efforts, take bribes from sex trafficking establishments and sexual services from victims, and tip off sex traffickers to impede rescue efforts. Some Nepali, Bangladeshi, Afghan, and Pakistani women and girls are subjected to both labor and sex trafficking in major Indian cities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/iran/|title=Iran}} Following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, Nepali women who transit through India are increasingly subjected to trafficking in the Middle East and Africa.{{cite web |title=India 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report |url=https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282672.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729013032/https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282672.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 July 2018 |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=28 July 2018}}{{PD-notice}}

The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks India as a 'Tier 2' country.

Prostitution has been a theme in Indian literature and arts for centuries. Mrichakatika, a ten-act Sanskrit play, was written by Śhudraka in the 2nd century BC, and tells the story of a famous courtesan, Vasantsena. It was made into Utsav, a 1984 Hindi film. Amrapali (Ambapali), the legendary nagarvadhu, or royal courtesan of the Kingdom of Vaishali, famously became an enlightened Buddhist monk later in her life - a story retold in a Hindi film, Amrapali (1966).{{IMDb title|qid=Q3428854|id=tt0060104|title=Amprali}}.

The tawaif, or elite courtesan in the Mughal era, has been a theme of a number of films, including Pakeezah (1972), Umrao Jaan (1981), Tawaif (1985), Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) and Umrao Jaan (2006). Other movies depicting lives of prostitutes and dancing girls are Sharaabi (1984), Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), Amar Prem (1972), Mausam (1975) Mandi (1983), Devdas (2002), Chandni Bar (2001), Chameli (2003), Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Sadak (2007), Dev D (2009), B.A. Pass (2013), Thira (2013), Begum Jaan (2017) and Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022).

Various fictional films have featured the subject of prostitution in India, including Slumdog Millionaire (2008),{{Cite web|title='Slumdog Millionaire' actress hopes to empower women through her art|url=https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/slumdog-millionaire-actress-hopes-to-empower-women-through-her-art/93-518401396|last=Butler|first=Nicole|date=13 February 2018|website=WMAZ-TV|access-date=24 May 2020}} Chaarfutiya Chhokare (2014), Manoranjan (1974), Soothradharan (2001), Calcutta News (2008), Lakshmi (2014),{{Cite news|last=Kamath|first=Sudhish|date=14 December 2013|title=A fictional account of a true story|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/A-fictional-account-of-a-true-story/article11641545.ece|access-date=24 May 2020|issn=0971-751X}} Love Sonia (2018), Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) among others.

Born into Brothels, a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata, won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 2004.{{Citation |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/299929/Born-Into-Brothels/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228114417/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/299929/Born-Into-Brothels/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 December 2007 |title=NY Times: Born into Brothels |access-date=23 November 2008|department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2007 }}

Delhi-based woman film maker Shohini Ghosh made a documentary film "Tales of the Night Fairies" in 2002, interviewing five sex workers who are activists of the DMSC sex-worker union in Kolkata. DMSC fights against trafficking and advocates for labour rights for sex-workers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ystke5m8now/|title = Tales of the Night Fairies|website = YouTube| date=4 February 2013 }}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Born into Brothels
• Dance bar
• Prostitution in Bangladesh
• Prostitution by country
• Prostitution in Asia
• Prostitution in the Americas
• Prostitution in Europe
• Pornography in India
• Prostitution in Kolkata
• Prostitution in colonial India
• Prostitution in Thailand

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Banerji |first1=Sures Chandra |title=The Castaway of Indian Society: History of Prostitution in India Since Vedic Times, Based on Sanskrit, Pāli, Prākrit, and Bengali Sources |date=1989 |publisher=Punthi Pustak |location=Calcutta |isbn=978-81-85094-25-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UEbAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}
• {{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Sanderson |title=India & Southeast Asia to 1875 |date=2004 |publisher=World Peace Communications |isbn=978-0-9762210-0-5 |url= |language=en}}
• {{cite book|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Prostitution|author1=Cunningham, S. |author2=Shah, M.|isbn=978-0-199-91524-8|lccn=2016008321|series=Oxford handbooks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npvSDAAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
• {{cite book|title=The Legalization of Prostitution: A Sociological Inquiry Into the Laws Relating to Prostitution in India and the West|author=D'Cunha, J.|isbn=978-8-185-44701-8|lccn=lc91907832|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXkcAAAAIAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Wordmakers for the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society}}
• {{cite book |last1=Gathia |first1=Joseph Anthony |author2=Centre of Concern for Child Labour |title=Child Prostitution in India |date=1999 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-7022-771-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zir_NNylqQQC |language=en}}
• Gomare et al. 2002. Adopting strategic approach for reaching out to inaccessible population viz Abstract WePeF6707F abstract, The XIV International AIDS Conference.
• {{cite book |last1=Grjebine |first1=Loïs |title=Reporting on Prostitution: The Media, Women, and Prostitution in India, Malaysia, and the Philippines |date=1987 |publisher=UNESCO |url= |language=en}}
• {{cite journal|author = Kole, Subir K.|title = From "Veshyas" to "Entertainment Workers": Evolving Discourses of Bodies, Rights, and Prostitution in India|journal = Asian Politics & Policy|volume = 1|number = 2|pages = 255–281 |year = 2009| doi=10.1111/j.1943-0787.2009.01115.x |url = https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1943-0787.2009.01115.x }}
• {{cite book|title=Legalizing Sex: Sexual Minorities, AIDS, and Citizenship in India|author=Lakkimsetti, C.|isbn=978-1-479-85223-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UaODwAAQBAJ|year=2020|publisher=New York University Press }}
• {{cite book|title=Prostitution and the Ends of Empire: Scale, Governmentalities, and Interwar India|author=Legg, S.|isbn=978-0-822-37617-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rB3IBAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Duke University Press }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Lund-Thomsen |first1=Peter |last2=Riisgaard |first2=Lone |last3=Singh |first3=Sukhpal |last4=Ghori |first4=Shakil |last5=Coe |first5=Neil M. |title=Global Value Chains and Intermediaries in Multi-stakeholder Initiatives in Pakistan and India |journal=Development and Change |date=2021 |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=504–532 |doi=10.1111/dech.12647 |s2cid=234851831 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dech.12647 |language=en |issn=1467-7660}}
• {{cite book|title=Indian Sex Life: Sexuality and the Colonial Origins of Modern Social Thought|author=Mitra, D.|isbn=978-0-691-19634-3|lccn=2019016737|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t|year=2020|publisher=Princeton University Press }}
• {{cite book |last1=Mukherji |first1=Santosh Kumar |title=Prostitution in India |date=1986 |publisher=Inter-India Publications |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-210-0054-3 |url= |language=en}}
• {{cite book|title=The Business of Sex|author1=Murthy, L. |author2= Seshu, M.S.|isbn=978-9-383-07459-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K0qnDAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Zubaan}}
• {{cite book|title=Sex Workers of India: Diversity in Practice of Prostitution and Ways of Life|author=Nag, M.|isbn=978-8-184-24018-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVEsJAAACAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Allied Publishers Private}}
• {{cite book |last1=Nair |first1=P. M. |author1-link=Sankar Sen (police officer)|last2=Sen |first2=Sankar |title=Trafficking in Women and Children in India |date=2005 |publisher=Orient Blackswan |isbn=978-81-250-2845-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xFnEyqFupUC |language=en}}
• {{cite book|title=Discourse on Rights in India: Debates and Dilemmas|author1=Nanda, B. |author2= Ray, N.|isbn=978-0-429-82714-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwtpDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Taylor & Francis}}
• {{cite book|title=Laws and Regulations Vis-A-VIS Prostitution in India|author1=Rehman, M.U. |author2= Singh, D.|isbn=978-1-952-75153-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GBG|year=2020|publisher=Eliva Press}}
• {{cite book |last1=Rozario |first1=M. Rita |title=Broken Lives: Dalit Women and Girls in Prostitution in India |date=2000 |publisher=Ambedkar Resource Centre, Rural Education for Development Society |location=Tumkur, Karnataka, India |isbn=978-81-87367-02-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQ_aAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
• {{cite book|title=Prostitution and Beyond: An Analysis of Sex Workers in India|author1=Sahni, R. |author2= Shankar, V.K. |author3= Apte, H.|isbn=978-0-761-93638-1|lccn=2008023613|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQgiIxbifjkC|year=2008| publisher=SAGE Publications }}
• {{cite book|title=Immoral Traffic - Prostitution in India|author=Sithannan, V.|isbn=978-1-618-13023-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTfBAgAAQBAJ|year=2014| publisher=eBooks2go }}
• {{cite book|title=Brothel Prostitution in India|author=Singh, P.K.|isbn=978-8-181-98026-7|lccn=2004312822|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56U3AQAACAAJ| year=2004|publisher=University Book House}}
• {{cite book |last1=Sinha |first1=S. N. |last2=Basu |first2=Nripendra Kumer |title=History of Prostitution in India |date=1933 |publisher=Bengal Social Hygiene Association |url= |language=en}}
• {{cite book|last=Soofi|first=Mayank Austen|author-link=Mayank Austen Soofi|title=Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi's Red Light District|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6S-NAEACAAJ|year=2013|publisher=Penguin Group|isbn=978-0-670-08414-2|ref=none}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=Svati P. |title=Brothels and Big Screen Rescues |journal=Interventions |date=1 December 2013 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=549–566 |doi=10.1080/1369801X.2013.849425 |s2cid=142882920 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369801X.2013.849425 |issn=1369-801X}}
• {{cite book|title=Defining Girlhood in India: A Transnational History of Sexual Maturity Laws|author=Tambe, A.|isbn=978-0-252-05158-6|lccn=2019025066|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xXOuDwAAQBAJ|year=2019|publisher=University of Illinois Press}}
• {{cite book|title=At Risk: Indian Sexual Politics and the Global AIDS Crisis|author=Vijayakumar, G.|isbn=978-1-503-62806-9|lccn=2020050234|series=Globalization in Everyday Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWM4EAAAQBAJ|year=2021|publisher=Stanford University Press }}
• {{cite book |last=Wright |first=Andrea |editor-last1=Ferdoush |editor-first1=Md Azmeary |editor-last2=Jones |editor-first2=Reece |title=Borders and Mobility in South Asia and Beyond |date=2018 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-485-3522-4 |url= |language=en|chapter='The Immoral Traffic in Women': Regulating Indian Emigration to the Persian Gulf|doi=10.2307/j.ctv513ckq.10|pages=145–166|s2cid=244538097 }}
• {{cite book|title=Global Perspectives on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking: Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania|isbn=978-0-739-13277-7|lccn=2010043820|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0uRsGnTMnwC|year=2011|publisher=Lexington Books }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691058.2020.1740793|pmid=32452748|title=Examining hopes, aspirations, and future plans of women in non-brothel-based sex work in Kolkata, India |year=2021 |last1=Sinha |first1=Sunny |last2=Prasad |first2=Indulata |journal=Culture, Health & Sexuality |volume=23 |issue=7 |pages=913–926 |s2cid=218892328 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10508-018-1384-3|pmid=30617663|title=Sex Work, Marginalization, and Activism in India |year=2019 |last1=Vijayakumar |first1=Gowri |last2=Panchanadeswaran |first2=Subadra |last3=Chacko |first3=Shubha |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=48 |issue=7 |pages=1969–1972 |s2cid=58569951 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691058.2014.960002|pmid=25301669|pmc=4425944|title=Mobile phones and sex work in South India: The emerging role of mobile phones in condom use by female sex workers in two Indian states |year=2015 |last1=Navani-Vazirani |first1=Sonia |last2=Solomon |first2=Davidson |last3=Gopalakrishnan |last4=Heylen |first4=Elsa |last5=Srikrishnan |first5=Aylur Kailasom |last6=Vasudevan |first6=Canjeevaram K. |last7=Ekstrand |first7=Maria L. |journal=Culture, Health & Sexuality |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=252–265 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1093/infdis/jir540|pmid=22043037|pmc=3247788|title=Sex Trafficking and Initiation-Related Violence, Alcohol Use, and HIV Risk Among HIV-Infected Female Sex Workers in Mumbai, India |year=2011 |last1=Silverman |first1=J. G. |last2=Raj |first2=A. |last3=Cheng |first3=D. M. |last4=Decker |first4=M. R. |last5=Coleman |first5=S. |last6=Bridden |first6=C. |last7=Pardeshi |first7=M. |last8=Saggurti |first8=N. |last9=Samet |first9=J. H. |journal=Journal of Infectious Diseases |volume=204 |issue=Suppl 5 |pages=S1229–S1234 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3156.2009.02278.x|pmid=19392742|title=The female sex work typology in India in the context of HIV/AIDS |year=2009 |last1=Buzdugan |first1=Raluca |last2=Halli |first2=Shiva S. |last3=Cowan |first3=Frances M. |journal=Tropical Medicine & International Health |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=673–687 |s2cid=29286294 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10508-014-0404-1|pmid=25583373|pmc=4382371|title="Whatever I Have, I Have Made by Coming into this Profession": The Intersection of Resources, Agency, and Achievements in Pathways to Sex Work in Kolkata, India |year=2015 |last1=Swendeman |first1=Dallas |last2=Fehrenbacher |first2=Anne E. |last3=Ali |first3=Samira |last4=George |first4=Sheba |last5=Mindry |first5=Deborah |last6=Collins |first6=Mallory |last7=Ghose |first7=Toorjo |last8=Dey |first8=Bharati |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=1011–1023 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002680|pmid=30532209|pmc=6289426|title=Associations between sex work laws and sex workers' health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies |year=2018 |last1=Platt |first1=Lucy |last2=Grenfell |first2=Pippa |last3=Meiksin |first3=Rebecca |last4=Elmes |first4=Jocelyn |last5=Sherman |first5=Susan G. |last6=Sanders |first6=Teela |last7=Mwangi |first7=Peninah |last8=Crago |first8=Anna-Louise |journal=PLOS Medicine |volume=15 |issue=12 |pages=e1002680 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691058.2013.845692|pmid=24236895|title=Circumstances, experiences and processes surrounding women's entry into sex work in India |year=2014 |last1=McClarty |first1=Leigh M. |last2=Bhattacharjee |first2=Parinita |last3=Blanchard |first3=James F. |last4=Lorway |first4=Robert R. |last5=Ramanaik |first5=Satyanarayana |last6=Mishra |first6=Sharmistha |last7=Isac |first7=Shajy |last8=Ramesh |first8=B.M. |last9=Washington |first9=Reynold |last10=Moses |first10=Stephen |last11=Becker |first11=Marissa L. |journal=Culture, Health & Sexuality |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=149–163 |s2cid=45216575 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10461-015-1171-2|pmid=26286343|pmc=4799261|title=Community Collectivization and Consistent Condom Use Among Female Sex Workers in Southern India: Evidence from Two Rounds of Behavioral Tracking Surveys |year=2016 |last1=Vejella |first1=Shanti |last2=Patel |first2=Sangram Kishor |last3=Saggurti |first3=Niranjan |last4=Prabhakar |first4=Parimi |journal=AIDS and Behavior |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=776–787 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001546|pmid=31798984|pmc=6861099|title=Effectiveness of a multilevel intervention to reduce violence and increase condom use in intimate partnerships among female sex workers: Cluster randomised controlled trial in Karnataka, India |year=2019 |last1=Javalkar |first1=Prakash |last2=Platt |first2=Lucy |last3=Prakash |first3=Ravi |last4=Beattie |first4=Tara S. |last5=Collumbien |first5=Martine |last6=Gafos |first6=Mitzy |last7=Ramanaik |first7=Satyanarayana |last8=Davey |first8=Calum |last9=Jewkes |first9=Rachel |last10=Watts |first10=Charlotte |last11=Bhattacharjee |first11=Parinita |last12=Thalinja |first12=Raghavendra |last13=Dl |first13=Kavitha |last14=Isac |first14=Shajy |last15=Heise |first15=Lori |journal=BMJ Global Health |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=e001546 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0073470|pmid=24023877|pmc=3759393|doi-access=free |title=Diversity among Clients of Female Sex Workers in India: Comparing Risk Profiles and Intervention Impact by Site of Solicitation. Implications for the Vulnerability of Less Visible Female Sex Workers |year=2013 |last1=Suryawanshi |first1=Dipak |last2=Bhatnagar |first2=Tarun |last3=Deshpande |first3=Sucheta |last4=Zhou |first4=Weiwei |last5=Singh |first5=Pankaj |last6=Collumbien |first6=Martine |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=e73470 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...873470S }}.
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0088858|pmid=24586416|pmc=3930672|doi-access=free |title=Heterosexual Anal Sex among Female Sex Workers in High HIV Prevalence States of India: Need for Comprehensive Intervention |year=2014 |last1=Alexander |first1=Mallika |last2=Mainkar |first2=Mandar |last3=Deshpande |first3=Sucheta |last4=Chidrawar |first4=Shweta |last5=Sane |first5=Suvarna |last6=Mehendale |first6=Sanjay |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=e88858 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...988858A }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1186/1475-9276-7-22|pmid=18817576|pmc=2569945|title=Sexual slavery without borders: Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation in India |year=2008 |last1=Joffres |first1=Christine |last2=Mills |first2=Edward |last3=Joffres |first3=Michel |last4=Khanna |first4=Tinku |last5=Walia |first5=Harleen |last6=Grund |first6=Darrin |journal=International Journal for Equity in Health |volume=7 |page=22 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1086/662698|title=Rescue and Rehabilitation: A Critical Analysis of Sex Workers' Antitrafficking Response in India |year=2012 |last1=Magar |first1=Veronica |journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=619–644 |s2cid=146640028 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0235094|pmid=32609731|pmc=7329078|doi-access=free |title=Sustaining consistent condom use among female sex workers by addressing their vulnerabilities and strengthening community-led organizations in India |year=2020 |last1=Mahapatra |first1=Bidhubhusan |last2=Walia |first2=Monika |last3=Patel |first3=Sangram Kishor |last4=Battala |first4=Madhusudana |last5=Mukherjee |first5=Saradiya |last6=Patel |first6=Prachi |last7=Subramanium |first7=Balakrishnan |last8=Atmavilas |first8=Yamini |last9=Saggurti |first9=Niranjan |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=15 |issue=7 |pages=e0235094 |bibcode=2020PLoSO..1535094M }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691058.2020.1774656|pmid=32672518|title=Beyond remedicalisation: A community-led PrEP demonstration project among sex workers in India |year=2021 |last1=Lazarus |first1=Lisa |last2=Reza-Paul |first2=Sushena |last3=Rahman |first3=Syed Hafeez Ur |last4=Ramaiah |first4=Manjula |last5=Venugopal |first5=M.S. |last6=Venukumar |first6=K.T. |last7=Moses |first7=Stephen |last8=Becker |first8=Marissa |last9=Lorway |first9=Robert |journal=Culture, Health & Sexuality |volume=23 |issue=9 |pages=1255–1269 |s2cid=220586230 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|jstor=25677306|title=Governing prostitution in colonial Delhi: From cantonment regulations to international hygiene (1864–1939) |last1=Legg |first1=Stephen |journal=Social History |year=2009 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=447–467 |doi=10.1080/03071020903257018 |s2cid=145288117 |url=https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/file/705720/1/GOVERNING%20PROSTITUTION%20DISSEM.pdf }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1177/1049732310395328|pmid=21266706|title=The Role of Brothels in Reducing HIV Risk in Sonagachi, India |year=2011 |last1=Ghose |first1=Toorjo |last2=Swendeman |first2=Dallas T. |last3=George |first3=Sheba M. |journal=Qualitative Health Research |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=587–600 |s2cid=13898677 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0204055|pmid=30252879|pmc=6155505|doi-access=free |title=Measuring vulnerability among female sex workers in India using a multidimensional framework |year=2018 |last1=Mahapatra |first1=Bidhubhusan |last2=Bhattacharya |first2=Ruchira |last3=Atmavilas |first3=Yamini |last4=Saggurti |first4=Niranjan |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=e0204055 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1304055M }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10461-018-2219-x|pmid=30006793|pmc=6330243|title=Consistent Condom Use by Married and Cohabiting Female Sex Workers in India: Investigating Relational Norms with Commercial Versus Intimate Partners |year=2018 |last1=Fehrenbacher |first1=Anne E. |last2=Chowdhury |first2=Debasish |last3=Jana |first3=Smarajit |last4=Ray |first4=Protim |last5=Dey |first5=Bharati |last6=Ghose |first6=Toorjo |last7=Swendeman |first7=Dallas |journal=AIDS and Behavior |volume=22 |issue=12 |pages=4034–4047 }}
• {{cite journal|jstor=24756411|title=Brokers and the Earnings of Female Sex Workers in India |last1=Brady |first1=David |last2=Biradavolu |first2=Monica |last3=Blankenship |first3=Kim M. |journal=American Sociological Review |year=2015 |volume=80 |issue=6 |pages=1123–1149 |doi=10.1177/0003122415609051 |hdl=10419/190199 |s2cid=146576721 |url=https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2pg4g8jf |hdl-access=free }}
• {{cite journal|author1-link=Prabha Kotiswaran |last1=Kotiswaran |first1=Prabha|title=Born Unto Brothels: Toward a Legal Ethnography of Sex Work in an Indian Red-Light Area |journal=Law & Social Inquiry |year=2008 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=579–629 |doi=10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00116.x |jstor=20108776|s2cid=62832706 }}
• {{cite book|title=International approaches to prostitution|chapter=Prostitution in India|last1=Gangoli|first1=Geetanjali|year=2006 |edition=1st|publisher=Bristol University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctt9qgxs0.10|isbn=9781847421586|jstor=j.ctt9qgxs0.10|pages=115–140}}
• {{cite journal|jstor=4617154|title=Venereal Disease, Prostitution, and the Politics of Empire: The Case of British India |last1=Levine |first1=Philippa |journal=Journal of the History of Sexuality |year=1994 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=579–602 |pmid=11639269 }}
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• {{cite journal|jstor=4400383|title=The 'Beshya' and the 'Babu': Prostitute and Her Clientele in 19th Century Bengal |last1=Banerjee |first1=Sumanta |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |year=1993 |volume=28 |issue=45 |pages=2461–2472 }}
• {{cite journal|jstor=25664387|title=Sex Trafficking and Sex Work: Definitions, Debates and Dynamics — A Review of Literature |last1=George |first1=Annie |last2=Vindhya |first2=U. |last3=Ray |first3=Sawmya |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |year=2010 |volume=45 |issue=17 |pages=64–73 }}
• {{cite journal|jstor=44158453|title=Chronicles of Love, Betrayal and Prostitution in Late Colonial Bengal |last1=Bandyopadhyay |first1=Aparna |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |year=2014 |volume=75 |pages=723–728 }}
• {{cite journal|jstor=4411265|title=Anthropological Perspectives on Prostitution and AIDS in India |last1=Nag |first1=Moni |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |year=2001 |volume=36 |issue=42 |pages=4025–4030 }}
• {{cite journal|jstor=40003399|title=Sex, Structural Violence, and AIDS: Case Studies of Indian Prostitutes |last1=Sinha |first1=Murli M. |journal=Women's Studies Quarterly |year=1999 |volume=27 |issue=1/2 |pages=65–72 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.2307/4065224|jstor=4065224 |title=Protecting the Rights of Sex Workers: The Indian Experience |last1=Misra |first1=Geetanjali |last2=Mahal |first2=Ajay |last3=Shah |first3=Rima |journal=Health and Human Rights |year=2000 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=88–115 |pmid=11154525 }}
• {{cite journal|jstor=41683035|title=Stimulation, Segregation and Scandal: Geographies of Prostitution Regulation in British India, between Registration (1888) and Suppression (1923) |last1=Legg |first1=Stephen |journal=Modern Asian Studies |year=2012 |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=1459–1505 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X11000503 |s2cid=145166694 |url=http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1878/ }}

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110414012321/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154480.htm US State Department Annual Human Rights Reports about India]
• [https://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/India.htm Rape For Profit — Human Rights Watch Report]
• [http://www.navjeevan.org/ Navjeevan Mumbai] Sex work outreach
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150714184514/http://www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/India_Acts_1986.pdf The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20161118064802/http://www.economylead.com/featured-news/legalise-prostitution-india-address-problems-sex-industry-13106 Legalise prostitution in India to address problems of sex industry] Article by K Rajasekharan

{{Prostitution in India}}

{{Asia in topic|Prostitution in}}

{{Social issues in India}}

{{Sex}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Portal bar|India|human sexuality|Prostitution|Sex work|Feminism}}

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Category:Society of India

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