SEX CRIMES

Man is a brutal animal and when he thinks of sex, he completely forgets the manners of civilized society. Sex is the need of human beings, which is a natural process and exists in society from the primitive times. In spite of that there is a need to put a stop to these hard realities of human sufferings. These onslaughts are rape, kidnapping, assault, and many more anxious moments of distress for women. To streamline the system the civilized society has provided some legislation in the form of civil and criminal laws, for making life easy. The most important crimes which are against procreation are sodomy, homosexuality, oral sex, anal sex have attracted the attention of our Parliamentarians. India inherited some of these laws, from the British Raj. There is a great change in the attitude of society, and now consensual sex between two adults of any gender in private is permitted. But such mutual dealings are against the order of nature.

In India, prostitution, which is sex for money, is not illegal, but the proximate activities that concern the functioning of brothels, pimping, and soliciting sex are illegal. Prostitution is currently a touchy issue in India. There are 2.8 million sex workers in India, with 36 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18 years. The number of prostitutes has been increasing at an alarming rate. Is it not appalling and distressing if it is due to poverty? Are not we gearing up to face this cultural curry? If we may study the problem in and out, we shall blame our Government not to be up in arms to save the young children of our country. The other reason is a sea change in the attitude of younger generation, who have started believing in pre-marital sex. In the recent verdict of Supreme Court in the case of an actress Khushboo, all the cases against her have been withdrawn, citing plea that her way of speaking was her personal view.

Indian anti-trafficking laws have been designed to resist only commercialized depravity. A sex worker can be punished for soliciting or seducing in public while clients can be punished for sexual activity close to a public place. In capital cities of Maharashtra, West Bengal and many other Indian states, there is a big sex industry and most of the sex workers are HIV +ve. Their children are abused by middlemen and there is a growing HIV/AIDS menace in India. Normally, female prostitutes are categorized as common prostitutes, like singers, dancers, call girls, devdasi�s and caged brothel prostitutes. Brothels are illegal by law, but in practice they are restricted, and although the profession does not have official support, little effort is made to outlaw it. Are not we heading in dark?

individually and voluntarily, a woman can use her body's attributes in exchange for material benefit. Male prostitution is not recognized in the Indian constitution, but they also practice in some belts. Countries world vide face this problem. Even in USA some states have repealed the sodomy laws, leaving the armed forces where public sexual behavior are not taken care of, except the factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline in the army. Sodomy was historically known in England and Wales as buggery, and is usually interpreted as referring to anal intercourse between two males or a male and a female. Buggery was considered a felony, during the reign of Henry VIII. The punishment for those convicted was death penalty. Later attempts were made by gay rights organizations to equalize the age of consent for homosexuals, which was 18. The compromise amendment which lowered the age of consent to 18 was accepted, and later reduced to 16. The Chinese Supreme Court ruled in 1957 that voluntary sodomy was not a criminal.

Private Sex in any form between two consenting adults does not violate laws. However if some minor is involved the adult partners will be prosecuted. In India male homosexual acts are now legal but male prostitution is invisible, and not much is currently known about the status of male sex workers. Due to social stigma attached to homosexuality in India and the lack of legal protection, males are prone to face perilous situation than females. 50% of the sex workers come of their own accord, whereas the remaining women claimed to have been introduced into the sex trade by agents of various sorts. There could be neighbour in connivance with parents, pimps, and aged sex workers from same village, accidental meeting with unknown person or a pimp, mother/sister/near relative existing in the profession. Sometimes a lover giving false hope of marriage, the husband not legally married or young college girls enticed by wrong persons fall into this profession unwillingly.

Gigolo service in India is growing. But there are cases of harassment of client women by gigolos. In Delhi there are as many as twenty "agencies" offering service in the classifieds of national papers. They offer both in and out services, although the facilities are scant. Foreign and rich clients usually visit their hotels. Local middle class Indians are also now using these services. Fees are discussed over the phone. Our movies are depicting lives of prostitutes and dancing girls. What is obvious is that Indian laws see the exploitation of young girls as illegal, but that of young boys leave them totally unbothered. The reason is that boys freedom in India is such that no one believes any of them could get into an affair if he himself is not particular about it. There can be rape, but as far as sexual relationship is without complaint from the boy or parents, the police authorities remain unmoved. Some people believe that the change of attitude in society is for the better, because there will not be any spurt in population and the poisonous effects of sex crimes will not spread in the whole society.