Supreme Court sex work judgment adopts sex workers’ arguments but fails to credit them

The Story in Brief

The Supreme Court's May 29 judgment on sex work, spanning nearly 300 pages, marks a significant departure from conventional anti-trafficking discourse. It affirms that constitutional rights do not vanish because society disapproves of sex work, holds that consenting adult sex workers cannot be forcibly rescued, and uses Article 142 to give these directions legal force. However, the judgment paradoxically adopts arguments developed over decades by organisations like the National Network of Sex Workers without acknowledging their contribution.

Legal experts note the judgment assumes that clearer legal standards will change institutional behaviour. But sex workers from marginalised Dalit and Adivasi communities recount how they still face police harassment and indefinite shelter detention. One woman described spending seven years reporting monthly to a police station while her statement was never recorded. The court did not examine how anti-trafficking NGOs, sustained by government funding, often perpetuate the very carceral practices it seeks to reform.