What is India doing for its pornstars?

Around 2.1 million people in India live with HIV. (Image Source: A porn site)

Nothing.  India’s legislative is not doing anything for its porn stars. The legal system protects its sex workers but it is failing to do anything about the booming porn industry of India, the real losers being, the porn stars who have not yet even found a mention in the constitution.

Who are pornstars?

Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus in the documentary ‘Hot Girls Wanted’ documented the lives of girls who are lured by green bills in the industry only to realise that the industry is patriarchal, feeds to the patriarchal mindset and is demeaning.

The documentary explains that porn stars are people who want to earn to be able to sustain themselves, who want to assert themselves and some look at this industry as any other industry and want to earn a name.

Are Pornstars Prostitutes?

No. Pornstars want to be filmed expressing their desires; at least that is the expectation they come in this industry with. And prostitutes want to earn money in exchange for sex.

But the fine line between pornstars and prostitutes in a situation where the legal system does not protect the pornstars leaves them more vulnerable.

Why do pornstars need protection?

1. The lack of legal framework for any industry adversely affects the freedom and rights of people involved.

Just like in economics a new base year is chosen every now and then to include the value added by recently invented commodities, the legal system of India also need to keep evolving in order to remain relevant. And it does. But some industries where human rights are at stake, such an issue requires desperate attention.

2. India has the third highest HIV epidemic in the world. Around 2.1 million people in India live with HIV.

A Lok Sabha reply revealed that the two major reasons for rising of HIV patients and the emergence of three Northeastern States as ‘HIV Hotspots’ are- Injecting Drug Users and Unsafe Sexual Practices.

India has a 90-90-90 target under the UNAIDS programme which has its deadline in another 2 years. Its target says,

• “By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status.
• 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy.
• 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression”

But the ground reality is nowhere near to the target. Mizoram’s Aizwal district itself has the HIV prevalence of 24.68% as compared with 1.6% for other sites in the country.

Once the production of porn is recognised as an industry and once the workers are protected, India can regulate the industry and more effectively work to combat the spread of HIV.

3. Pornography is prevalent but is still a taboo in the society, many in the industry are exploited and find it impossible to get out of the web.

A Pornstar must be treated with the same dignity as an engineer. And why not? What is the rationale behind treating people differently for their profession? However, there is a long way for the Indian society to reach that point. But, a set of exclusive rights for them is the need of the hour.

A case for Ministry of Men and Social Development

A good thing about classrooms is that they are mostly full of thinking people. Here, one is constantly encouraged to challenge its own notions, acknowledge the problem and find a solution. But, unfortunately not many like to go to schools, even less like to attend classes and others unfortunately do not get a chance.

A recent survey ASER revealed that although 86% of students are enrolled in a formal education system and there is no gender gap between male and female enrolment until the age of 14. However, at the age of 18, 32% of females as against 28% males are not enrolled, the predominant reason for girls being ‘Family Constraint’.

Needless to say, ‘Family Constraint’ could mean being forced to take care of younger siblings, cooking while parents work, child marriage and even being sold into prostitution.

Not surprisingly enough, reason always boils down to being asked to do or to not to do something by the patriarchal household and since this situation is not limited to rural, poor or uneducated households, I would like to bring to table a systematic way of managing patriarchy, boosting economy and most importantly combating gender-based crime where, though men and women both fall victim, women are most likely to be adversely affected, given the historical reasons.

And with this, I establish men here are the reason for the low rate of development among women, their dependency, and their lack of employability.

India slips 21 spots in the WEF Gender Gap Index

Dropping the F-bomb: Feminism and why we need it

The Argument

Feminism means equality and if women are the victims of gender biases, so are men.

If men feel that it is okay for them to assault a woman to punish her, to scare her, to laugh at her, and to control what she does all her life, then it is mental problem and men are the victims. This stands true for men across the borders.

Questions about why boys are dropping out of schools, why are they becoming alcoholics, drug addicts, can they earn for themselves, can they take care of their children, are they capable of being single parents in India or abroad [Protecting children from ‘abduction’ ], why are they raping women, who is educating them, what are they taught, are we educating them right, why are they becoming criminals- are often left unanswered because the government is focussing only on one part of the society i.e the women.
General Inference

Most men, on failing to impress their patriarchal heads, build up anger. They hide their feelings and it disturbs them, which ultimately turns them into anti-social elements.

Think teenage boys who are bullied, or even raped, would they protect their pride or would they report the crime?

Think men who are assaulted by their wives.

Think men who are harassed in the name of anti Dowry laws.
The need for Ministry of Men and Development

Ajaz Ashraf, a Delhi based journalist who explored Nathuram Godse’s personal history and his idea of sexuality in his article Why did Nathuram Godse kill Mahatma Gandhi? Ashraf quotes Ashis Nandy who in his book At The Edge of Psychology, wrote, “Perhaps it was given in the situation that Nathuram would try to regain the lost clarity of his sexual role by becoming a model of masculinity.”

Centuries of feeding dirt of patriarchy into today’s men have not only worsened the situation for women but also for their own selves. If it is the men who are the reason and if it is they who are the victims, I believe there is no need for a ‘Ministry of Women’ to survey the situation of women when the situation can single-handedly be tackled by Ministry of Men and Social Development.

Why treat the symptoms and not the disease?

–Somya Khera