What do the words Prostitute, Prostitution, and Brothel Mean? Is Prostitution Legal In India?
Prostitution is an Act in which an individual indulges in the act of sexual intercourse with another individual in return for money.
Similarly, brothels are such establishments, dedicated to activities regarding prostitution. Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world.
In civilizations and societies of ancient history, you’ll easily get evidence of prostitution. And similarly, the first evidence wasn’t found in a primitive or progressive society, but in a temple. Sumeria, Babylonia, and Phoenicia, in 2400 BCE an act was carried out called Sacred Prostitution.
It was called sacred prostitution because this wasn’t done because of any monetary benefit but because of religious or spiritual terms. the locals of these places believed that if sex is done in a sacred place, like a temple then God will become happy with them and they’ll progress in their life. Sumerians made a list of all the professions in their society. In this list of occupations, the sacred prostitution that I’d talked about earlier, the religious temple sex, under this, the name of female prostitution was written as ‘ Kar.Kid’. and this was considered a temple service. Rather than an actual occupation for Sumerians. Because this type of prostitution was believed as temple work and sacred work from the start, this was also easily accepted by society.
This went on almost for a century, and everything was happening in good faith and no one questioned it. But slowly, there were rules and regulations even in this profession. After a little time, it had been proved that prostitution, which had started in a promising way, is going to be very doomed in the future. And the same happens. Prostitution was criminalized by the Spanish king. But there was one loophole in this law, which was selling or buying women was not criminalized. Hence it was allowed, for people could sell a woman and use her for sexual intercourse.
After this prohibition, many laws surrounding prostitution were made in different parts of the world, which in the end, always conveyed only one thing which is that ‘ Prostitution is an umpire and illegal activity. The same thing started as something ‘ sacred’ and was criminalized after some centuries, which eventually lead to the downfall of the whole profession. Let’s see when did prostitution start in India.
In India, prostitution has been going on for centuries literally. and it has been mentioned as an organized institution to have society function in harmony. In the Mauryan period too, prostitution was considered a profession. This means that prostitution was recognized in one of our oldest civilizations. Activities like pimping and owning a brothel are considered wrong under the Immoral Traffic Act of 1956. However, if a woman is privately providing prostitution services then it is not considered offensive under the law.
Conclusion –
So this was the story of how prostitution came into being in the world and eventually in India. And think about it – Is Prostitution Legal In India?
