Poverty forces sex workers to sell their bodies, the Supreme Court said on Monday and directed the Centre and states to impart vocational training to them so that they could earn a livelihood. "A woman is compelled to indulge in prostitution not for pleasure but because of abject poverty. If such a woman is granted opportunity to avail some technical or vocational training, she would be able to earn her livelihood...
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Sex workers entitled to a life of dignity: Supreme Court by J Venkatesan
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre and the States to prepare schemes for rehabilitation of physically and sexually abused women all over the country. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra, in its order, said: “We are of the view that prostitutes also have a right to live with dignity under Article 21 [right to life] of the Constitution since they are also human beings and...
More »The tenacity of hope by Dipankar Gupta
Since Cairo took to the streets, there is one question that comes up repeatedly in India. How have we been saved from such anarchy, in spite of our faltering democracy? True, Egypt's growth, between 5% and 7%, has been less spectacular than ours. But its per capita income swelled from $587 in 1981 to $1461 in 2001. Even its deficit as a percentage of GDP has fallen from 10.2% in...
More »Panel hears Tirupur workers' woes
FOLLOWING a Frontline Cover Story (“Driven to despair”, October 8) that highlighted the factors contributing to the high incidence of suicide among migrant workers and their family members in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, the Central government set up a team to look into the issue. The team's visit to the knitwear capital of India on November 30 has raised the hopes of workers, trade union functionaries and labour rights activists.Headed...
More »Driven to despair by S Dorairaj
Trade unions and labour rights activists blame the high suicide rate in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, on the practices of the garment industry. TIRUPUR has carved out a niche for itself in the world of garments. Its phenomenal growth in the highly competitive global scenario, particularly in the past two decades, has been made possible by the entrepreneurial spirit of its manufacturers and exporters and the sweat and labour of thousands of...
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