Overview of the legality and practice of prostitution in Pakistan
Legal status of prostitution across Asia.
Decriminalization – No criminal penalties for prostitution
Legalization -prostitution legal and regulated
Abolitionism – prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated
Neo-abolitionism illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex
Prohibitionism – prostitution illegal
Legality varies with local laws
Prostitution in Pakistan is a taboo culture of sex-trade that exists as an open secret but illegal. Prostitution is largely based in organisational setups like brothels or furthered by individual call girls.[1][2]
The sex trade is illegal in the country due to the declaration of extramarital sex as an immoral activity. Pakistani prostitutes, thus, operate underground and in spite of the legal difficulties, prostitution in Pakistan is prevalent.[3][4] In some areas of the country prostitution is strictly illegal and traditionally punishable by death, especially in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan regions.[5][6]
Most analysts recognize poverty as a crucial factor in driving women towards an occupation such as prostitution.[7][8] Both female and male prostitution have grown in operational yield in Pakistan over the years. With this increase in professional sex-trade in the country, non-governmental organisations are beginning to worry about issues like discrimination and AIDS.[9] A 2017 UNAIDS report estimates that there are around 229,441 prostitutes in the country.[10] In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, the graduate unemployment rate is elevated, indicating an oversupply of graduates in the face of labor markets that struggle to accommodate new graduates.[11]
History
The clan system in South Asia, involving various clans and sects, has always been a ground for segregated skill development. In the region, occupational clans evolved over time providing specific skills to the society through hereditary exclusion from others. Being a blacksmith, goldsmith, shoemaker, or gardener etc. thus became hereditary professions of specific communities. Over time, a professional clan which favoured the society with services of prostitution also evolved. Men and women belonging to the community committed themselves to the sex trade, where men stayed as supportive influences and women were the main workers. The non-elite had a parallel system, that of brothels, which evolved much later when they no longer were controlled by the kings and nobility was loosened. It coincided with the growth of sea-trade where sailors became good clientele for the low-ranking prostitutes. During the British Raj, the earlier nobility was replaced by a new nobility composed of those who showed loyalty for the British. This new nobility was incapable of taking the role of patrons like earlier kings, and so the British provided much need patronage for the profession to grow and regulated the trade.[12]
Prostitution was formalised for the first time in the South Asia by the British government in the mid-18th century. The British colonialists enacted special laws, created "red light" areas and assigned the task of protecting women sex workers to law-enforcing agencies. Municipalities overlooking the sex districts were given the responsibility of collecting taxes and providing health and sanitation services to the brothels.[7]
After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Pakistan inherited the historical red-light districts in Lahore and Multan including the infamous Hira Mandi area. These were well-developed and attracted both wealthy clients and those looking for singers and actresses. The prostitutes and associates in the sex-trade were named Kanjars.[12] while their musician companions were known as the community of Mirasis.[13] The prostitutes would usually, and still do, dance to the music of harmonium and tabla played by the mirasis.[14] Where Lahore and Multan were the known contenders in the trade, other cities also had their own red-light districts which may include Ghulam abad and Aminpur bazar in FaisalabadNapier Road in Karachi and Qasai Gali in Rawalpindi. The prostitutes retained the hereditary character of their occupation and the social stigma.[13]
During the rule of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who tried to Islamise the nation, prostitution was viewed as an "evil" in society, and attempts were made to eradicate prostitution. Attempts were also made to curb music and dancing. The hours for performance of the dancing girls were reduced to two hours every evening. Police checkpoints were established in all entrances of red-light districts during the hours of rehearsing or practising music where the names of the visitors in red-light areas were recorded in police register, frightening the clients away.[15]
Female prostitution
Women involved in the practice of prostitution in Pakistan can be divided into three broad categories: women who have been trafficked or lured into the profession, women who have been born into the profession and women who willingly seek out a pimp to make extra money.[16] Trafficked women are mainly found in the brothels, while those who willingly join this profession work as call girls, usually accompanied by a dalal or bharva or pimp. Those born into the profession are 'schooled' at home and operate under the management of their mother or another older female relative.[17]
Prostitution, especially in brothels, often remains associated with human trafficking as trafficked women are sold into brothels. In 2003, approximately 20,000 minors were engaged in prostitution in Pakistan.[18]
A recent study indicated that major cities like Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan have large population of sex workers. A few cities have red-light districts, but due to illegal status of prostitution, many sex workers work in homes or hotels dispersed throughout urban areas and residential suburbs.[3][19]
Cities like Karachi and Lahore are major base of operation for call-girls. In Karachi, many girls take on the occupation of call-girls independently; however most girls enter into prostitution after coming into contact with a pimp. The girls share 40%–50% of their income with the pimps. Some call girls work with the pimps under a fixed monthly amount, and the pimps provide police protection, shelter and bear daily expenses. Many call girls learn dance-forms like mujra to earn more money.[7]
Affluent men in the nation may have a second or even a third wife, with whom they have had a semi-permanent sexual relationship in return for financial support, the husband acting as the wife's patron.They may not view the relationship in terms that of a client and a sex worker but as a loving relationship or as courtesan. The children born by these relationships are supported by their father.[3]
Male prostitution
Male and gay prostitution is increasing in Pakistan, though gay prostitution is not a recent phenomenon in the country. British explorer Richard Francis Burton, who visited the Sindh region long before the British conquest, documented a brothel of boy prostitutes in Karachi. Today many areas of large cities in the country have become virtual red-light districts for gay sex.[20] Male prostitutes operate their business in every city and major town in Pakistan.[21] Clients of male prostitutes come from every class, age group and profession.[20]Homosexual men belonging to the upper and middle classes frequently pick up male prostitutes from video game shops, restaurants and cold-drinks spots. Young male prostitutes generally find customers in places like dark alleys, crowded bus stops, shopping centres, cinemas, hotel lobbies, parks, railway stations, hospitals, school compounds, elevators of public buildings etc. Sabzi Mandi, Lea Market, Landhi, Malir, and Lyari in Karachi are places visited by homosexuals from lower income groups. Clients in these areas primarily consist of bus drivers and conductors, night watchmen, labourers from upcountry, policemen, low-income government officials, small-time businesspersons etc.[21]
Many male prostitutes offer services at hotel rooms booked for the purpose instead of the client's residence. This is because while accompanying a client to his residence prostitutes become vulnerable to assault or robbery. Some prostitutes have sex with clients in the back seat of the client's car.[21] There are many part-time prostitutes who are students, salespersons, workers in hotels and garages. They become involved in the profession to earn extra money, and often to get a job in the film industry.[22] Some involved in prostitution often manage to save enough money to go abroad in search of a job.[23] Many boys are frequently used by the police without getting paid. Plainclothes police officers are often involved in the extortion and blackmail of male prostitutes.[23][24]
Male prostitution has become common place in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has taken roots in the society as a norm and sign of financial muscle. Bacha bazi as it is known, where children especially young boys are dressed as women and forced to sing and dance in front of men, who later take them for sexual pleasure and pay the family.[25]
Foreign prostitutes in Pakistan
Many Filipino, Thai and Chinese women work in prostitution. They work in massage parlors. [26] Many Filipino are employed as sex workers at various dens operating in Lahore and Islamabad.[27] Afghan women are also trafficked to Pakistan for sexual exploitation.[28] Thousands of Afghan girls and boys are trafficked into neighboring countries mostly Pakistan and sold into slavery each year. [29]
Law
Prostitution has no legal recognition in Pakistan. Moreover, despite growth of male prostitution and gay prostitution, homosexuality is outlawed in the nation. Under Section 377 of the Pakistan Penal Code, whoever voluntarily has "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" shall be punished by 100 lashes and from 2 years to life imprisonment.[30][31][32] While arrests are not common for homosexuality, the law is used as a tool to blackmail. Police frequently take money or sex from people they know to be involved in commercial or non-commercial homosexual relationship.[32] Pakistani law is greatly influenced by the Penal Code drawn up by the British in 1892. This remains a major element of the current Pakistani law.[33]
Section 371A and section 371B of the Pakistan Penal Code states:
371A. Selling person for purposes of prostitution, etc.– Whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any person with intent that such person shall at any time be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, or knowing it to be likely that such person will at any time be employed or used for any such purpose, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to twenty-five years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanations.–(a) When a female is sold, let for hire, or otherwise disposed of to a prostitute or to any person who keeps or manages a brothel, the person so disposing of such female shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have disposed of her with the intent that she shall be used for the purpose of prostitution. (b) For the purposes of this section and section 371B, "illicit intercourse" means sexual intercourse between persons not united by marriage.
371B. Buying person for purposes of prostitution, etc.–-Whoever buys, hires or otherwise obtains possession of any person with intent that such person shall at any time be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, or knowing it to be likely that such person will at any time be employed or used for any such purpose, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to twenty-five years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation.–Any prostitute or any person keeping or managing a brothel, who buys, hires or otherwise obtains possession of a female shall, until the contrary is proved be presumed to have obtained possession of such female with the intent that she shall be used for the purpose of prostitution.[34]
Sexual relations between two consenting adults was not a crime in Pakistan before 1979. Only the involvement of minors in prostitution was prohibited by law.[33] Later the Zina Ordinance was enacted and extramarital sex became a criminal offence.[35]
In the 1950s, "dancing-girls" were legitimized as "artists" in a High Court order. Thus they were permitted to perform for three hours in the evening. This is the only legal cover they have obtained till date. Other carnal activities, red-light districts and brothels remain illegal business and operate as an open secret let be by offering huge sums in bribe to the police. Many areas in Pakistan like Heera Mandi in Lahore and 12 No Chungi in Sargodha are govt licensed areas and police protect them due to some political reasons.[36]
According to the United States Department of State, Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Children are bought, sold, rented, or kidnapped and placed in organized sex trafficking. NGOs report boys are subjected to sex trafficking around hotels, truck stops, bus stations, and shrines. Illegal labor agents charge high recruitment fees to parents in return for employing their children, some of whom are subjected to sex trafficking. Trafficking experts describe a structured system for exploiting women, girls, and LGBTI individuals in sex trafficking, including offering victims for sale in physical markets. Observers report police accept bribes to ignore prostitution in general, some of which may include sex trafficking. Women and girls are sold into forced marriages; in some cases, their new “husbands” force them into prostitution in Iran or Afghanistan.[37] False job offers and high recruitment fees charged by illegal labor agents or sub-agents of licensed Pakistani overseas employment promoters entrap Pakistanis into sex trafficking. Women and girls from Afghanistan, China, Russia, Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan are reportedly subjected to sex trafficking in Pakistan. Refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Burma, including Rohingya, as well as religious and ethnic minorities such as Christians and Hazaras, are particularly vulnerable to trafficking in Pakistan.[37]
↑ "Lahore hot spots". The News (Pakistan). 16 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2021. Prostitution in Pakistan is a taboo that exists like an open secret considered as immoral. Many prostitutes operate underground in the country.
Emmanuel F, Thompson LH, Athar U, Salim M, Sonia A, Akhtar N, Blanchard JF. The organisation, operational dynamics and structure of female sex work in Pakistan. Sex Transm Infect. 2013 Sep;89 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):ii29-33. doi:10.1136/sextrans-2013-051062. Epub 2013 Jun 14. PMID23771032; PMC3756447
Khan MS, Unemo M, Zaman S, Lundborg CS. HIV, STI prevalence and risk behaviours among women selling sex in Lahore, Pakistan. BMC Infect Dis. 2011 May 11;11:119. doi:10.1186/1471-2334-11-119. PMID21569319; PMC3114735
Mishra S, Thompson LH, Sonia A, Khalid N, Emmanuel F, Blanchard JF. Sexual behaviour, structural vulnerabilities and HIV prevalence among female sex workers in Pakistan. Sex Transm Infect. 2013 Sep;89 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):ii34-42. doi:10.1136/sextrans-2012-050776. Epub 2013 Feb 14. PMID23413402; PMC3756444
Moses, Stephen A.; Blanchard, James; Kang, Han; Emmanuel, Faran (2006), AIDS in South Asia, World Bank Publications, ISBN978-0-8213-6757-5
Murray, Stephen O.; Roscoe, Will; Allyn, Eric (1997), Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature, NYU Press, ISBN978-0-8147-7468-7
Noor MN, Holt M, Qureshi A, de Wit J, Bryant J. Sexual risk-taking among homeless young people in Pakistan. Health Soc Care Community. 2021 Sep;29(5):1550-1558. doi:10.1111/hsc.13220. Epub 2020 Nov 10. PMID33170554
Saeed, Fouzia (2001). Taboo!: The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area. Karachi: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-579412-0.
Saeed, Fouzia (2006). "Chapter 6: Good women, bad women: prostitution in Pakistan". In Gangoli, Geetanjali; Westmarland, Nicole (eds.). International Approaches to Prostitution: Law and policy in Europe and Asia. The Policy Press, University of Bristol. pp.141–164. ISBN978-1-86134-672-8.
Singh S, Ambrosio M, Semini I, Tawil O, Saleem M, Imran M, Beyrer C. Revitalizing the HIV response in Pakistan: a systematic review and policy implications. Int J Drug Policy. 2014 Jan;25(1):26-33. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2013.05.011. Epub 2013 Jun 28. PMID23810289
Ul Haq N, Riaz S, Nasim A, Tahir M. The transgender prostitution: Threat to the rise of AIDS in Pakistan. J Infect Public Health. 2018 May-Jun;11(3):448. doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2017.07.006. Epub 2017 Aug 7. PMID28797541
West, Donald James; Green, Richard (1997), Sociolegal Control of Homosexuality: A Multi-Nation Comparison, Springer, ISBN978-0-306-45532-2
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a minor, or person under the age of consent. CSEC involves a range of abuses, including but not limited to: the, child pornography, stripping, erotic massage, phone sex lines, internet-based exploitation, and early forced marriage.
In Great Britain, the act of engaging in sex as part of an exchange of various sexual services for money is legal, but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, pimping and pandering, are illegal. In Northern Ireland, which previously had similar laws, paying for sex became illegal from 1 June 2015.
Prostitution is legal in India, but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pimping and pandering are illegal. There are, however, many brothels illegally operating in Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, and Nagpur, among others. UNAIDS estimate there were 657,829 prostitutes in the country as of 2016. Other unofficial estimates have calculated India has roughly 400,000 prostitutes. India is widely regarded as having one of the world's largest commercial sex industry. It has emerged as a global hub of sex tourism, attracting sex tourists from wealthy countries. The sex industry in India is a multi-billion dollar one, and one of the fastest growing.
Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appear in international and humanitarian conventions, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but have been inconsistently applied. "Forced prostitution" refers to conditions of control over a person who is coerced by another to engage in sexual activity.
Prostitution in Denmark was partly decriminalised in 1999, based partly on the premise that it was easier to police a legal trade than an illegal one. Third-party activities, such as profiting from brothel administration and other forms of procuring, remain illegal activities in Denmark, as do pimping and prostitution of minors.
Prostitution in Peru is legal and regulated. UNAIDS estimate there to be 67,000 prostitutes in the country.
Prostitution in Singapore in itself is not illegal, but various prostitution-related activities are criminalized. This includes public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute and maintaining a brothel. In practice, police unofficially tolerate and monitor a limited number of brothels. Prostitutes in such establishments are required to undergo periodic health checks and must carry a health card.
Prostitution in Kolkata is present in different forms and Kolkata's sex industry is one of the largest in Asia. Prostitution may be brothel-based or non-brothel based as in the case of call girls. India is regarded as having one of the largest commercial sex trades globally. Kolkata has many red-light districts, out of which Sonagachi is the largest red-light district in Asia with more than 50,000 commercial sex workers.
Prostitution in Chile is legal, subject to regulation, but related activities such as keeping brothels and pimping are prohibited. Several hundred women were registered as prostitutes with the National Health Service.
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring infections. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in this field is called a prostitute, and sometimes a sex worker, but the words hooker and whore are also sometimes used to describe those who work as prostitutes.
Prostitution in Portugal is legal, but it is illegal for a third party to profit from, promote, encourage or facilitate the prostitution of another. Consequently, organized prostitution is prohibited.
Prostitution is legal and regulated in Bangladesh. Prostitutes must register and state an affidavit stating that they are entering prostitution of their own free choice and that they are unable to find any other work. Bangladeshi prostitutes often suffer poor social conditions and are frequently socially degraded.
Prostitution is illegal in Qatar and carries severe punishment of several years in prison. Prostitution normally takes place in bars, nightclubs and hotels. There are occasional clamp-downs and the prostitutes are arrested and deported.
Prostitution in Trinidad and Tobago is legal but related activities such as brothel keeping, soliciting and pimping are illegal.
Prostitution in Croatia is illegal but common. Forcible prostitution, any kind of brothels, or procuring are treated as a felony, while voluntary prostitution is considered to be infraction against public order. Like in many other Southeast European countries, the problem of human trafficking for the purposes of sex is big in Croatia.
Prostitution laws varies widely from country to country, and between jurisdictions within a country. At one extreme, prostitution or sex work is legal in some places and regarded as a profession, while at the other extreme, it is considered a severe crime punishable by death in some other places. A variety of different legal models exist around the world, including total bans, bans that only target the customer, and laws permitting prostitution but prohibiting organized groups, an example being brothels.
Prostitution in Namibia is legal and a highly prevalent common practice. Related activities such as solicitation, procuring and being involved in the running of a brothel are illegal. A World Bank study estimated there were about 11,000 prostitutes in Namibia.
Human trafficking in Nevada is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the state of Nevada, and it is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."
Sex trafficking in the United States is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation as it occurs in the United States. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions. It is commonly associated with organized crime.
Male prostitution in Bangladesh is not recognized in any official capacity within the country’s laws and penal code. Despite this, many Bangladeshi men engage in the practice of selling sex. In most instances, male prostitutes sell their bodies to female clients. But, there are also male prostitutes have sexual encounters with male clients. As Bangladesh is a majority Muslim and socially conservative country, homosexuality is typically discouraged and considered taboo. These negative attitudes towards homosexuality often force male sex workers to be extremely covert. Stigma surrounding male sex work and homosexuality also means that boys who are sex trafficked in Bangladesh are hard to identify and protect under Bangladeshi laws, male sex work is limited to less policed venues, and health outreach to the male sex worker population is extremely difficult.
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