------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------- Sorting out Baina ------------------------- Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's initiative on trying to sort out the Baina tangle is welcome and necessary. But it's not sufficient. Over the years, one of Mormugao taluka's few beaches has come to be seen as Goa's festering wound. To the local middle-class sentiment, having to live with Goa's lone and publicly-acknowledged squalid red-light district rakes up disgust and disquiet. Less noticed, it also is a festering wound in view of the abuses and atrocities it causes to the prostituted women themselves, seldom recognised as the victims.
Parrikar's offer, as reported, is clear: move out of the profession, and take up the sops. During a visit which saw a whole section of the top-bureaucracy undertaking a long-overdue visit to Baina, the CM showed some sympathy by listening to the prostituted women. But these are pre-election times, and hence the stated intentions need not be taken as the actual ones.Some reports from the area interpreted the offer of the CM employment and shelter on condition that the prostituted women get out of their field of work as acceptable to the women. Parrikar is also reported as having promised 10 kg of food-grain per head. Whether it works ultimately is to be seen.
What is problematic with the initiative is the attempt to, once again, portray the NGOs (non-government organisations) as the villains of the piece, who were responsible for "misguiding" the prostituted women against rehabilitation. The CM is reported to pledged to "investigate" and take "strict action" against those "instigating the sex-workers".
For some time now, the otherwise untouchable quarter of Baina has seen initiatives by NGOs to highlight concerns from the area. This paper has itself carried at least three, well-reasoned perspectives giving a counter-point on why the official perspective on Baina is simply too inadequate. To call this "instigating" is to do violence against the perspectives coming from the grassroots. Just because the NGOs are manned by articulate, middle-class and in some cases well-trained social workers, should the government fight shy of allowing them contributing towards building a better- balanced debate on the issue?
It is strange that a solution is being attempted without those who have a better perspective on the issue; instead the government wants to talk with a pre-decided quota of 10 prostituted women, two brothel keepers and five bar-owners. It's anyone's guess how this ratio was opted for!
For a few years now, the State has attempted a crack-down against Baina. Fuelling middle-class ire against the squalid setup there, our governments now and in the past have swung from one extreme to another. From total inaction, they've like all believe that a problem like this can just be wished away overnight.
'Soft targets' like the prostituted women face the fire, while other crucial players and processes are overlooked. Organised trafficking, one of the root causes of the problem, is hardly being tackled. What about the role of brothel- and bar-owners; are they part of the solution? Politicians who built up this vote-bank over the years are forgotten. Very convenient indeed.
Baina itself is a complex mix, comprising at least four diverse segments: victims of prostitution (including women and children), the perpetrators (those who cause it and allow it to continue), persons vulnerable to prostitution and groups not directly connected with prostitution. It has been estimated that out of some 6000 population in and around the slum area, there are an estimated 1500-2000 in prostitution.
But holding the key to this problem are the traffickers. This small, well-organised, barely-known to the outside world network makes it possible for Baina's operations to continue and for men to prey on poverty stricken women some of whom come from a thousand or more kilometres away.
Traffickers do not just transport and bring in the 'girls'. By keeping these women in debt-bondage, they play a key role in ensuring continuity at Baina. Usurious rates of interest are a given in this locality. Traffickers are the agents who usually recruit under various promises and transport the girl. Strangely, instead of attacking the problem squarely on, the approach seems to be to smoke-out rather, starve-out the prostituted women out of Baina. Prostitution is part of a complex market.
Goa, for long, has lacked a clear stand on trafficking. Till recently, Goa lacked a state protective home for rescued women not just a bal-niketan that looks after children. We need to acknowledge that the women in this slum-red light area carry multiple burdens. Not only are the illiterate, but they are also migrant and low-caste.
The State cannot easily shrug off its responsibilities. The High Court directions have laid down the need for ameliorating the lives of the prostituted women. Specialists like Dr Maryam Shahmanesh, a highly-trained HIV/AIDS doctor from London, have already warned us that if sex work is hidden, clandestine and spread over a large area, it could lead to a larger AIDS disaster in Goa. She noted in these very columns: "The closure of Baina and the ongoing police harassment of the clients and sex workers that has followed the court ruling will not reduce the demand for commercial sex workers."
These voices need to be heard out. Any solution should not victimise the victims further. Since 1997, the authorities at Panjim have sought to get rid of Baina. It's not that they've suddenly become moralist, nor have they been unaware of the situation for long. We have still to get a convincing reply to the view that the uprooting of Baina has more to do with land acquisition for the four-lane highway, port-expansion plans and the interests of other realtors.
While everyone would like to see an end to the exploitation of poverty-stricken women, the bigger tragedy would be worsening their plight while solving no problem all in the name of seeking a speedy solution. ------------------------------------------------------ Editorial in HERALD 13/02/04 page 6 -----------------------------------------------------
======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
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