New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that
government cannot compel rescued sex workers to stay in
corrective homes for vocational training and said effective
schemes should be prepared by the Centre and states even for
those voluntarily giving up the profession.
A bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha
Mishra expressed anguish that the Centre and most of the
states, including Delhi, had failed to come up with suitable
schemes for sex workers despite the apex court's direction.
"From a perusal of UJWALA scheme, it appears that the
central government has a scheme only for rescued trafficked
women but no scheme for those sex workers who voluntarily want
to leave sex trade. In our opinion, a proper effective scheme
should be prepared also for such women who voluntarily give up
the profession.
"In this connection, we would like to say that the
central government scheme has placed a condition that the
rescued sex workers must stay in a corrective home in order to
get technical training.
"In our opinion, no such condition should be imposed as
many sex workers are reluctant to stay in these corrective
homes which they consider as virtual prison," the bench said
in an order.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 20:43