Ever since the first posse of homo-sapiens shakily trod the earth millions of years ago, heralding evolution’s embryonic beginnings, human beings’ innate inclination to engage himself in a plethora of vocations, be it random or routine, with a corollary-natural and desperate urge to avail himself the rudimentary needs of his day-to-day life, has been somewhat characteristic of an ubiquitous human syndrome over myriad of centuries. Consequently, human beings’ tryst with his mundane-machinations to ‘secure his succulent succour’, has, in one way or the other, bracketed him into a state of ‘exclusive exclusivity’. It’s his profuse propensity for these atavistic leanings to crave for his daily bread and butter that exposes the dichotomy, between prodigies of homo-sapiens and his lesser known protégés.

Pirouetting between homo sapiens’ these very atavistic leanings, one could safely hark back to the nascent genesis of ‘prostitution’, possibly presumed to be the world’s oldest profession to date. Before delving deeper, ignoring pompous orotundities, into the nuanced facets of prostitution, let us first subtly poke at its etymology as well as its variegated nomenclatures. Etymologically, one could clearly trace a prolific smattering of Latin origins, vis-à-vis the English word ‘prostitute’. The original Latin term prostituo had a root meaning, implying ‘to expose for public sale’. This apart, the word ‘prostitute’ also seems to have been derived from a composition of doppelganger Latin words: (preposition) pro and (verb) statuere, implying ‘to set up or erect’. A literal translation therefore would imply: ‘to expose’, ‘to place up front’. The English word ‘prostitute’, thus, in common literary parlance, is generally attributed to such a person, ‘who allows her body to be used for coarse (sexual) purposes in return for payment’. Prostitution is the sale of ‘sexual services’, such as oral sex or sexual intercourse, (with multiple partners, i.e. clients) for money, (despite personal dislike or dishonour).

Along with its etymological history, a plethora of nomenclatures, as if freshly plucked out from a dappled lexicon of speckled jargons, also seem to hobnob, in one way or the other, along with the very word ‘prostitute’ itself. A variety of assorted amalgams of terms are generally used to ascribe to prostitutes. The most common alternatives for prostitute include ‘whore’ or ‘escort’, although not all professional escorts are prostitutes. Other notable nomenclatures (some of which distinguish between different kinds, or even explicitly typical styles of prostitution), for this elusive genre of femme fatale include ‘harlot’, ‘strumpet’, ‘trollop’, ‘hooker’, ‘bimbo’, ‘bimbette’, ‘coquette’, ‘call-girls’, ‘street prostitutes’, ‘commercial sex-workers’, ‘fricatrice prostitutes’, ‘gimmick prostitutes’, ‘beat prostitutes’, ‘bar dancers’ (although not all bar dancers are prostitutes), ‘highway prostitutes’ (roadside brothel prostitutes), ‘comfort women’ (military-brothel prostitutes, especially during Second World War), ‘religious prostitutes’ or ‘sacred prostitutes’ (like the Devdasis in India) and ‘child prostitutes’. Along with these, some of the more softer synonyms, (though indirect) for prostitutes include ‘mistress’, ‘madam’, ‘concubine’, ‘harem’, etc. Apart from these that primarily denote only female prostitutes, mention may be made of such jargons like ‘gigolo’, ‘man-whores’, ‘man-sluts’, ‘working-boys’, ‘rent-boys’, ‘call-boys’ and ‘hustler’ that represent male prostitutes. Then there are certain names that are common to both female as well as male prostitutes such as ‘escorts’, ‘sluts’ and ‘hooker’. Organizers of prostitution (or prostitutes) are typically known as ‘pimps’ (male) or dalals in India and ‘madams’ (female) or baijis in India; brothels or whorehouses are known as a kotha or even mandi in India.

While harping on etymology and nomenclatures, an epigrammatic reference into the hallowed history of prostitution, right from the ancient times, becomes all the more obligatory. It’s an irony that so little is known about the ‘world’s oldest trade’, but prostitution has always been rampant and thriving. From the Aztecs time where Cihuacalli (house of women) became a legalized place for prostitutes to provide sexual services for men; to the Babylonians’ time, where each woman had to reach, once in their lives, the sanctuary of Militta (Aphrodite) and have sex with a foreigner as a sign of hospitality for a symbolic price; and right down to ancient Rome and Greece where slavery and sex ran alongside one another, prostitution has never ceased to thrive. This apart, prostitution was also a part of daily life in ancient Greece. In the more important cities of Greece, and more particularly the ports, it had employed a large chunk of the population into prostitution, which in turn, formed the core of its economic activity. Chronologically, the very first illustrations about the ‘institution of prostitution’, that one could trace back in history, was the 18th century BC ‘Code of Hammurabi’, enacted by the sixth Babylonian King, Hammurabi (1796-1750 BC). The Code of Hammurabi includes provisions to protect the inheritance rights of prostitutes, the only category of women (except for widows) who had no male providers.

In ancient India prostitutes have been referred to as devdasis. Originally, devadasis were celibate dancing girls used in temple ceremonies to entertain members of the ruling class. But sometime around the 6th century, the practice of ‘dedicating’ girls to Hindu gods became prevalent in a practice that developed into ‘ritualized prostitution’. Devadasi literally means god’s (deva’s) female servant (dasi), where, according to the ancient Indian practice, young pre-pubertal girls are ‘married off’, ‘given away’ in matrimony to god or local religious deity of the temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty and requires the girl to become a prostitute for upper-caste community members. Such girls are known as joginis, who are forbidden to enter into a real marriage.

Prostitution prospered from ancient to medieval India and has now taken a gargantuan shape in modern India. During the British era, prostitution flourished in Kamathipura, now a famous red light area in Mumbai, which initially catered for the ‘refreshment’ of British troops and was later taken over by Indian sex workers. Apart from Kamathipura, other notorious red light bastions of India include GB Road in Delhi, Sonagachi in Kolkata, Budhwar Peth in Pune and Reshampura in Gwalior. There are around 2.8 million (sex-workers) prostitutes in India and their numbers are increasing, as per the recent statistics tabled in the Lok Sabha. Juvenile credulous girls are mostly lured from neighbouring Nepal, Bangladesh and Northeast India and trafficked into brothels in the metropolises of Mumbai and Kolkata at an average age of twelve. They are trapped in this vicious cycle of prostitution, debt and sexual-slavery and by the time they are in their mid or late twenties, they are already veterans in this trade.

The state of affairs in the northeastern swathes of India, especially Assam, vis-à-vis prostitution portrays a terribly grim scenario. A random survey of Guwahati and its adjoining areas, especially the outskirts, which have recently sprung up, has brought to light, some very startling facts. Young adolescent girls from various parts of Assam are being forced to resort to prostitution, surprisingly, without being lured by any pimp, middlemen or even organized syndicates, but compelled mostly by their own impoverished state. Most of the sex workers flock to Guwahati from neighbouring villages, more so, from the riverine, riparian and char areas where poverty is acute. Often referred to as the ‘Gateway to the Northeast’, Guwahati has also turned into a transit point for the region’s trafficking network. Although Guwahati has no specific red-light area, prostitution thrives in discreet brothels, beauty parlours, hotels and even homes, especially rented apartments. Moreover, the police have also identified Kalapahar, Nabin Nagar, Rajgarh, Paltan Bazar, Pandu, Dispur, Beltola, Ganeshguri and Hatigaon areas of Guwahati as potential hubs of prostitution. These places apart, one could see street-prostitutes brazenly soliciting and cavorting with potential customers, comprising mostly truck drivers, masons, petty shopkeepers, shockingly, even teenage students, right from the Ganeshguri stretch near the Gopal Boro Government Higher Secondary School up to the Ganesh Mandir point on the Dr RP Road.

But paradoxically, in a close one-to-one with these street sex-workers a totally contrasting, yet heartbreaking, tale comes out. Rehana, a 29-year-old sex-worker had a very pathetic tale to narrate: “I was initially working as a daily wage-labourer while I was still a teenager. But gradually, with growing competition as well as dwindling work, I was repeatedly asked for sexual favours in return for guaranteed employment at new construction sites. I not only had aged parents but also two little children to feed back at home. Moreover, my husband had deserted me for another woman after my second child was born. My daily wage earnings were not enough to feed my parents and children. So I had to reluctantly resort to selling my body, openly on the streets of Ganeshguri, sleeping with four to six clients per day, even young college students, at a rendezvous fixed by them, fetching me a sum of Rs 500-800 per day. On festival days like Durga Puja, Diwali and Viswakarma Puja, we earn around Rs 1,500-2,000 per day, as our rates are high that day. On Eid, we only celebrate it in the evenings, after returning with the day’s income.” Zarina, another 27-year-old sex-worker from the same group at Ganeshguri, opens her heart out in a frank tête-à-tête, where she reveals her lugubrious tale: “I was repeatedly raped as a teenager by my middle-aged stepfather, who then got me married off to a habitual drunkard in his fifties, while I was still in my early teens. My husband used to violently thrash me every night in an inebriated state and then force himself upon me. Shockingly, there were nights when his drunkard friends along with him, used to take turns in raping me, which left me completely shattered. I got pregnant due to this repeated gang-rape by my husband and his scoundrel friends. One fine day, he suddenly deserted me along with my two-year-old child. I was literally forced to beg on the streets, but that was not enough to feed both of us. I had no other option, but to resort to this dhanda (colloquial for trade of prostitution). Since the last ten years, I have been sleeping with men of all ages, right from 60 to even a 15-year-old school boy, a few years older than my own son. I would want to lead a normal life with dignity if the government comes forward to help me.” Although these prostitutes have reluctantly resorted to prostitution, more so by compulsion rather than choice, what’s disturbing is the fact that they are always seen loitering, just adjacent to the boundary walls of the Gopal Boro Government HS School, which certainly is bound to have a retarding effect on the nascent minds of the young students.

Prostitution, thus, in its innate connotation, is a sort of a customized vocation to sell one’s body, (for sex), often by compulsion and rarely by choice, with a corollary ‘pleasure’ quotient appended to the latter pick. Its facets are nuanced, its hues, myriad, which succinctly vindicates its ubiquitous complexity. Prostitution presents a moral, social and economic problem that cannot be solved juridically. Merely legalizing prostitution would only be a rudimentary prognosis of sorts; the real diagnosis would depend on its gradual treatment with clinical precision, thus implying, more concerted initiatives by NGOs as well as government to undertake genuine rehabilitation, especially catering to the immediate health and educational concerns of their children, mostly illegitimate ones. The government on its part has hitherto done precious little in this regard, and what’s even more lamentable is its reluctance to admit mea culpa.

All said and done, the main reason why prostitution remains relevant till today is because sex has always been regarded as a highest form of pleasure for humans and thus explains people’s crave for it. Like any other type of transaction for pleasure purposes, sex will remain an entity that is to be purchased if people continue to view it as something that can be ‘bought’ and not ‘sacred’. It is sobering to know that sex is increasingly becoming something of a transaction as vindicated by the escalating trends of this trade; an act of brutish nature that defile the sanctity of the ultimate physical intimacy between fellow human beings. Indeed, such is the scale and depth of its operations that complete eradication hitherto remains a social utopia of sorts.

Saikh Md Sabah Al-Ahmed