Dr.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Prostitution: A Lag in Between Law and Morality and its

Legality?

Semester IX

Seminar paper on

Law and Morality

Submitted to-
ASST. PROF. MR. BHATI SINGH
Submitted by-
LOKESH NIGAM
2014-19, B.A LL.B (Hons.) Roll NO. 74
Enrollment No. 140101074

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my Assistant

Professor Mr. Bhati Singh for his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement

to give shape to this project. The blessing, help and guidance given by him time to time shall

carry me a long way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.

I also take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to my respected seniors who

share their cordial support, valuable information and guidance, which helped me in completing

this task through various stages.

Lastly, I thank the almighty, my parents, brother, sisters and friends for their constant

encouragement without which this assignment would not have been possible.”

-Lokesh Nigam

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 Table of Contents
The Chapterization in the project will most likely be as the following:
1. .INTRODUCTION
2. WHY PROSTITUTION HAS BEEN TREATED AS MORAL OR IMMORAL?
3. CASE STORIES
4. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM FOR RAG THE PROFESSION OF PROSTITUTION IN BETWEEN LAW
AND MORALITY
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, prostitution is “the act or practice of engaging in

promiscuous sexual relations especially for money”. Indirectly according to the above definition
prostitution is a promiscuous act and it is done especially for money. There is a reason why this
definition of prostitution is not correct and the reason will be provided at the end of the paper.
Prostitution is considered to be the world oldest profession. From time immemorial many
countries have tried to ban the profession of prostitution but still anyhow it is still running in
spite of government’s order. This paper deals with the prime issue that why prostitution lag in
between the law and morality.

Before discussing why prostitution is in between law and morality, first of all it has to clear that
what is the meaning of prostitution? Does prostitution only counts female? What is the difference
between law and morality? Do we exactly know the difference between the two? These are the
questions which seriously need an answer.

Prostitution is a profession carries by prostitutes. Prostitutes are ‘person’ who indulge in the
sexual activity in return of some monetary amount. ‘No’ prostitutes are not only female but it
includes male also. The difference between law and morality is that the ‘Law’ concerned with
external acts of man and not motives. It is the concern of the state, violation of law is punishable
by the state while on the other hand ‘Morality’ is concerned with both the external acts and
internal motives. It is the concern of conscience. Its violation is not punishable by state 1.
Morality is just a moral duty to follow or not so its violation is of no crime.

In a country like India where there is so much gender differences, where sex is treated as taboo,
it is very difficult to deduce the ‘prostitution’ in respect of Law and Morality. It is so because
most of the time while understanding prostitution people starts mingle law and morality
into one and then it is impossible to determine the differences between the two.

Prostitution, in its common sense, is the offering of one’s body for sexual purposes in return for
money or other favours. It usually refers to the practice of women offering themselves to men for
sexual intercourse against money, though it’s not confined to that practice. There is male

1
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/law/difference-between-law-and-morality/24304/ Last Accessed: 20 october
2018, 19:40 IST

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prostitution as well, where a man offers himself to satisfy the physical desires of a homosexual
for a fee. Though prostitution may be either male or female, the word prostitute generally
connotes a female prostitute and by and large the definitions refer only to women. Most of the
studies on prostitution, too, deal only with female prostitutes. In any case, in the Indian context,
prostitution and prostitutes have always been connotative of women2.

 Why prostitution has been treated as moral or immoral?

1. Social Stigma of prostitution: All the negative connotations like dirty, shameful,
disgusting, promiscuous etc refers to the prostitutes. Where does this stigma come from?
The possible reason from where this origin came are-
 Men, who have historically had power over women, have created this stigma for
the fear that their women may be taken by wealthier or more powerful men.
 It is possible that this stigma evolved in order to prevent sexual disease and to
promote monogamous relationships between men and women, in order to hold
the family unit together.
 Prostitution would have historically been associated with slavery which has been
practiced since the Middle- Ages. Prostitutes have therefore inherited a low status
in society3.
2. Social Stigma of Women: In India and in other South East Asian countries, women are
still under the curse of taboos. They are not able to share their mental and physical
anguish with anyone, or even if they do, they are either being neglected or reprimanded.
Various changes have been seen throughout the world in relation to the empowerment of
women but still whenever there is an issue related to women, the patriarchal worlds
obstructs and make the issue more complex. So whenever there arises any issues related
to women concern, it majorly falls in between law and morality and most recent example
for this is Law of surrogacy, which again widely debated that whether surrogacy is
ethical practice or not. So the social stigma of women is the major reason for categorizing
law and morality.

2
Felix M. Podimattam, “The Call Girl: Psychological, Sociological, Moral, Legal, Pastoral Dimensions, Media
House Delhi, 2005.
3
http://www.debate.org/opinions/prostitution-is-prostitution-morally-acceptable Last Accessed 17 october 2018,
19:42 IST

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3. One of the another major reason behind treating prostitution in between law and morality
is the ‘thinking of society’, mainly because it indulge females. History says everything. In
the Early Vedic Period the prostitutes were employed for spying purposes. They were
masters in 65 type of arts and hence at that time were very much praised for their works
and not treated as disrespectful in the society unlike present times. The situation changed
from the Later Vedic Period when the condition and status of women both declined
gradually. From that time only the patriarchal world tried to suppress women and
womanhood. Every time manhood realized that they are more powerful than women and
the most infuriating changes that has been observed was, the women were not allowed to
take part in the decision making policies whether particular policies or programmes are
related to women or not. This gradually led to the decline of women in the society and
soon they came in the oppressive class. It was the man who decided whether particular
type of work is suitable for women or not. Similar is the story with prostitution, as I
reiterating again and again Prostitution is the oldest profession of the world. It is the
notable truth that after Later Vedic Period, the women were treated as sex objects, they
were sold as sex slave, treated as the instrumentality of object that can be transferred
from buyer to seller. The human rights of women were nil during that time and that
custom still prevailing in present time also though because of few social scientist and few
feminist workers the position of women as a sex slave has been decreased in the last 50
years but no doubt it were the men who deteriorate the condition of women and forced
them to indulge in the profession of prostitutes and they only makes the provision for
banning of prostitution.
4. Prostitution is not so much a question of law and moral but of taste. Some people might
prefer sex in the context of marriage or love, but this does not give them the right to
condemn people who can make do with going to a prostitute, in the same way as we no
longer blame people for having sex before marriage. It is pretty clear that the fact that
one person might prefer sex with somebody he love does not give him reason enough
to judge somebody else who leads a more promiscuous life, in the same way that a

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 person’s heterosexual preferences does not give him the right to pass moral judgements
on people who have other preferences4.
Seeing the moral or immoral in a situation is, to a large extent, namely seeing the
situation, as in different situations the condition can be different. So totally deciding
prostitution as moral or immoral is not a right approach.

(III)
 Below are the four fictitious case stories of women, who are indulged in the
profession of prostitution. Case stories help in the understanding of the concept of
the topic in more practical approach.

Case Story 1: My parents were poor farmers. They don’t have enough money to carry expenses
of my livelihood so they married me at an early stage of 15 years. My husband and my in laws
always beat me, harasses me and I was totally a victim of domestic violence. One day I flee from
my home and decided to do anything but live in a peace. I am an illiterate woman and have no
support from anyone. I thought to indulge in the profession of prostitution so that I can earn and
run my house hold without depending on anyone and also to live a peaceful life.

Case Story 2: At the age of 15, few boys tried to rape me. At somehow I narrated the entire
incident to my parents but because of fear of shame in the society they have not taken any action
due to which I was broken apart into pieces. Somehow my story spread in the whole society but
unlike what I thought everybody blamed me. They saw me as a woman of questionable character
and no one raised any finger towards those boys who tried to rape me. Results of all this was, my
parents decided to stop my further studies and decided to celebrate my marriage, but as by
society I was a woman of questionable character no one married me. I tried to do some job so
that I can contribute my earning to my family but no bodies give a job to a girl of questionable
character. After certain time I became a burden on my family and they tries to humiliate and
scold me in every matter. One day I decided to become really a girl of questionable character and
joined the business of prostitution. Now I earn sufficient to stand on my foot without depending
on anyone and most importantly I am a happy and an independent woman now.

4
Camilla Kronqvist, “Is Prostitution Morally Wrong ?”, Sexual Relationships for Bryn Browne, Department of
Philosophy, University of Wales Lampeter 1998.

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Case Story 3: My family was from extremely poor background and I have been forced by my
family to the prostitution. My family sold me as sex slave in the rings of prostitution. I often not
allowed any money that clients pay to me. Clients as well as agents are exploiting me from my
body to my money.

Case Story 4: I was a college student when first time I got paid for sex. I often wanted to be
rich, flashy about my clothes, mobiles etc. I cannot ask my parents to fulfil all my flashy dreams.
So I thought if I can get what I want with just the snap of my finger then what the problem to this
is. Today I have everything to enjoy my life happily without working hard and spending 12
hours in offices.

Above case studies show that the main reason in most of the cases for women to opt for
prostitution is ‘Economic’ reason. Though the economic compulsions constitute the major
factor in the causation of prostitution, it is by no means the only and exclusive causes of the
phenomenon. It is not the cause that every prostitute accepts money for her services. There
are many prostitutes who hail from well families as we have seen case story 4. In India, of
course, there are many prostitutes who are compelled to adopt prostitution to feed themselves
and their dependents like Case story 1,2 and 3. It has to be understand that poverty is not the
only the economic factor but there are many other factors which are economic. The other
economic factors are comprised of including poverty, under age employment, Unhealthy
working conditions and immoral traffic in women and children5.

All the 4 stories are different but at last they all have opted for the same profession. The
above stories are not of only 4 women but the story is of 4 types of women that exist in
this society. The issue is what will be the consequences if either prostitution is banned or
legalized? The solution of this would be in support of above 4 case stories.

In the case story 1, suppose if state has totally banned the prostitution then what will happen
to the women like in the said story 1? Those illiterate women, who in their whole life
harassed, assaulted and victims of domestic violence, who don’t know about their basic
human rights guaranteed by the state, have no other alternate options other than to indulge in

5
Haveripeth Prakash, “Prostitution and Its Impact on Society – A Criminological Perspective”, International
Research Journal of Social Science, Volume 2(3), 31-39, March (2013).

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the profession of prostitution. It is so because they are already harassed so much from their
life that they can perform any work for their living and in the end what they want is only a
peaceful living and no harassment from anyone. The important thing for any government of
any state is that the citizen live peacefully and not under any stress, and it doesn’t matter
whether profession of prostitution is moral or immoral and really for these type of women
choosing prostitution is beyond moral or immoral. But if state totally bans the prostitution
then these women do not have any other alternate left and they shall be either- the victim of
domestic violence in their home or they shall commit suicide, because they have nothing left
to do in their life to make a peaceful living.

In the case story 2 and in all other similar situation where a woman who has been victim of
rape, molestatation it is very difficult for them to again live with that proud in the society.
The reason being not only that they became weak (though they got mentally shocked) but it’s
the society attitudes that makes it impossible and miserable for these women to live with that
way as they live before. As I said before, every such girl has been seen as girl of questionable
character by her friends, family and relatives. They were forced to stop their education, they
were stopped to communicate with any person and are totally confine in their home and thus
makes girl life more pathetic and worse. Because of no education and no support from
anyone they don’t have any way to earn wages. Due to the questionable character of a
woman, in most cases they are not accepted by the bride and thus make situations more
drastic for them. If from all these situations, a woman who opted for profession of
prostitution and living her life happily without the burden of anyone, then why this society on
the name of morality wants to shut down the profession of prostitution. May be for some
people prostitution is morally wrong, but if by this profession if she is able to live her life
happily then I think there is no place for balancing prostitution into law and morality. The
main purpose of the state is to ‘welfare of each and every citizen and it is the utmost
important thing. Moreover, if a major (18 years) girl by her own wish wants to indulge in the
profession of prostitution then what is the problem of others? There are still various other
work like drinking alcohol which is considered as morally wrong in many religious books but
still people do, the issues arises here only that why in such type of situations people don’t
debate and make the issue hype?

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 In the case story 3 and other similar stories, the reason for ban of prostitution comes mainly
due to this type of cases only. In the famous Nobel of Victor Hugo, Les Miserable where he
rightly said and I quote “We say that slavery has vanished from European civilization, but
this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women and its name is
prostitution”. Everyday female children are sold to brothels by their father. Everyday young
women are sold to brothels by their boyfriend, husband, neighbour, acquaintance. Everyday
poor girls and women become victims of sex traffickers6. Just like every coin has two faces
head and tail, similarly everything in this world has its two faces one is what we called Right
and the second face we called as wrong and this right and wrong are determine by law and
morality... Prostitution if done by force it turns into exploitation and it really needs to be
stop and there only role of law comes into play. Just like every human being is free to
profess any trade or occupation similarly every human being is also free to reject any trade or
profession. No one can force or compel anyone to do any particular profession especially if
the profession is related to the body of female. Also it’s the women who can take better
decision when the concern is for related to her body. Sex slave, forced sex, exploitation are
the dark part of prostitution that is continuously running from past centuries and that is the
problem that needs to be stop immediately. But various government of state instead of
banning the dark part of prostitution has banned the entire profession of prostitution which
really a heart breaking for those women who are totally dependent on the profession of
prostitution.

In the Case story 4, this type of cases are widely debated and called as immoral just because
a girl who wilfully without someone’s pressure indulge in the profession of prostitution. This
type of girls doesn’t sit in the brothel or pimps but they generally provide escort services.
They are usually from good family background. It’s just either they want very flashy things
or they have an addiction of sex. In a survey of prostitution, the majority of prostitutes were
asked as to what drives them to become a prostitute, the majority of prostitutes say their own
sexuality, sexual curiosity and money are the main reasons they chose their line of work. So
there’s no doubt that money is the primary reason for the women becoming prostitutes but

6
http://freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/2012/04/11/prostitution/ Extract taken from the artcile Do Women Really
choose to be prostitute? From free thought blog by Bangladeshi social activisit Taslima Nasreen. Last Accessed 17
october 2018, 19:43 IST

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 according to the survey it came to know that 68 percent consider their line of work as part of
their sexuality7. Also in Constitution of India it is provided that one may practice any
trade or profession with certain reasonable restrictions and in the interest of general
public8 so with support of this I think case story 4 is also valid and law and morality is not a
very great role to play in this when consent is wilfully given. They can a play their role only
to stop any exploitation, harassment etc of women who indulge in this profession.

Above case studies can be very well expressed in the words of Kate Millet as, “I like to
believe I have some kind of free choice. Some choice in my life. That I chose a lesser evil. I
wanted to do that and somehow I want that to be respected. I wanted to do that. Somehow...
pity deprives me of my freedom of choice9.”

 What is the problem for rag the profession of prostitution in between law and
morality?
People have such emotionally charged and divergent views about the sex. When there is a
subject of sex immediately there are vastly different views as to whether it is a ‘Good Thing’ or a
‘Bad Thing’ and same is the scene with prostitution. For some, prostitutes are heroic things while
for some it represents ‘fallen women’. The truth is that they are none of these things. In the main
they are a non-homogeneous group of people doing a job. To me, prostitution is morally neutral
as is sex itself. The act of paying for sex for me confers no moral value on it one way or another.
It is neither good nor bad, it is simply an act. If one uses prostitution, or sex itself, to try to harm
another human being it is morally bad. If ones use either to help or give pleasure to another
human being it is morally good. It is simple as that. It’s only the stereotypical minded people
who made the situation so complex.
Morality changes with the people. For one person if task A is immoral same task for another
person can be moral. The same situation is with prostitution. For some people it is immoral and
for some it is moral and this is the indifferences among the people in the society. If the same
morality principle applies to me then according to me my boundaries are that I would never

7
http://sciencenordic.com/what-drives-prostitute Extract taken from Article by Rasmus Karkov on What drives a
prostitute, where content taken is related as to what is the reason that women choose to drive a prostitution. Last
Accessed, 17 october 2018, 19:46 IST.
8
Article 19(1)(g) under Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech etc says that, “All citizens shall
have the right to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business”.
9
Karen Peterson- Iyer, “Prostitution- A Feminist Ethical Analysis”, Indiana University Press, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1998.

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commit sexual act with a child or another adult against their will. The reason being that I do not
believe they can give informed consent, and for the latter because clearly they have not given
their consent. I would also not do anything that harmed another person or me permanently,
physically or psychologically10. So according to me for everyone who has their own personal
morality should keep their morality to themselves only so that because of their moral values
someone other’s right are infringing and also we must be tolerant to other people’s interest.

Religious preachers rarely allows for sex outside marriage, homosexuality or prostitution and
their justification is universal only because they said so or their religious books. For all those
religious extremists of the patriarchal religions who consider that sex is only valid within
marriage or at the very least within a committed relationship, the question is what the say is
when because of their circumstances or personalities they are not able to have such a
relationship? Or what if those who yearn for the human contact of sex but do not wish to exploit
or hurt anyone in seeking this by taking anyone by force or by false promises. To me rather than
fulfil one’s need it is far more moral to do an honest deal with another person who is willing to
do an honest deal with another person who is willing to offer companionship and sex for money
but the most immoral things to do in the area of human sexuality is to feign love for another
person in order to get sex.

What of the married man who goes to a prostitute? What of the morality of that? Answer would
be firstly, anyone’s personal morality is precisely their only and he is only responsible for it and
they alone are responsible for it. Prostitutes do not rape or seduce their clients if they could be
said to ‘tempt’ them. At the level of escort girls, this temptation is not even initially visible;
clients merely assume that behind the discreet ad or introduction, sex is one of the possible
services available.

Women are just as entitled to sexual fulfilment as men are, and if the way they get this is through
payment this should be just as easily accessible to them as it to men. Whether one’s view this
situation as evidence of women’s continuing liberation, or of the decline of moral standards in
general depends entirely on person to person. Prostitutes live real lives, feel real feelings and
make their own moral judgement about where they do or do not draw the line. Their morals may

10
Sara Mackenzie, “The Morality of Prostitution”, British Association of Libertarian Feminists .

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be different from yours but they are not absent. Prostitution is not an abstract act between two
objects, but a way of relating between people with all its attendant joys, woes and exuberance11.

Religion as a ground has been taken to characterize prostitution as a moral and immoral but there
is no denying that culturally sanctioned practices such as the devadasi system where mainly
women belonging to the scheduled castes are encouraged to undergo the initiation ceremony and
accept the devadasi way of life. Such women are expected to take up the prostitution. About
2,50,000 girls are dedicated as devadasis to Yellamma, Hanuman and Khandoba temple on the
Maharashtra- Karnataka border12.

Utopian society is not practically possible but an approach can be drawn to make a Utopian
society. The approach is only possible if laws made by legislators are in such a way that it
properly balance the rights of individual and of society also there is very important role of
judiciary in balancing the law and morality. Law is an essential element of a growing
society. Society without law is like man without basic amenities. The purpose of any law is
to regulate the society smoothy without any hinderance and infringement of any body’s
right.

There are many attempts when judiciary has in the realm of law has taken strict action regarding
the unfair practices of prostitution which in real terms are exploited by agents, brothel owners,
customers etc. Article 23 of the constitution of India says, “Traffic in human beings,
beggary and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of
this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with the law. The Supreme Court
and the High Courts have power of appeal, review and even original jurisdiction. Under Article
32 and 226 of the constitution of India, the Supreme Courts and High Courts can entertain writ
petitions and Public Interest Litigations (PILs). In the case of Vishal Jeet v Union of India13,the
Supreme Court held that-

“It is highly deplorable and heartrending to note that many poverty stricken children and girls in
the prime of youth are taken to the flesh market and are forcibly pushed into the flesh trade

11
Ibid
12
Sankar Sen, P.M. Nair, “Trafficking in Women and Children in India”, Orient Longman, Third Edition 2007, Pg
No. 160
13
(1990) 3 SCC 318

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which is being carried on in utter violation of all canons of the morality, decency and dignity of
humankind. There cannot be two opinions- indeed there is none- that this obnoxious and
abominable crime committed with all kinds of unthinkable vulgarity should be eradicated at all
levels by drastic steps”.

In this case court called for severe and speedy legal action against exploiters such as pimps,
brokers and brothel owners. Separate zonal advisory committee providing rehabilitative
homes to deal with devadasi system, jogins etc.

In the case of State of Maharashtra v Indian Hotels & Restaurants Assn.14, in this case
due to the discontinuance of bar dancing in establishments below the rank of three star
establishments, has led to the closure of a large number of establishments, which has resulted
in loss of employment for about 75,000 women employed in the dance bars in various
capacities and many of these unfortunate people were forced into prostitution merely to
survive , as they had no other means of survival. The court said that ‘The compulsion of
physical needs has to be taken care of while making any laws on the subject. Even a bar
dancer has to satisfy her hunger, provide expenses in travelling from her residence to her
place. Women worldwide are becoming more and more assertive of their rights and want to
be free to make their own choices, which is not an entirely uncommon or unreasonable
approach. But it is necessary to work towards a change in mindset of people in general not
only by way of laws and other forms of regulations, but also by way of providing suitable
amenities’. Also court said that ‘instead of generating unemployment, it may be wiser for the
state to look into ways and means in which reasonable restrictions may be imposed without
completely prohibiting or stopping the same. It is all very well to enact laws without making
them effective. The state has to provide alternative means of support and shelter to persons
engaged in such trades or professions, some of whom are trafficked from different parts of
the country and have nowhere to go or earn a living after coming out of their unfortunate
circumstances. A strong and effective support system may provide a solution to the problem.’

14
AIR 2013 SCC 2582

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 Conclusion

Both law and morality influence each other. Law prescribes remedies and punishments for the
violation of the standards it sets while morality expects an ideal set of behaviour of individuals
concerned. Sometimes law becomes instrumental to bring about social change for e.g. Sati
system, slavery etc. but sometimes law becomes meaningless due to its persistent denial by the
society like dowry system in India. So moral values are no doubt are sometimes the instrumental
in guiding the law making.

Law can contradict the moral of individuals and groups; however when the gap is becoming to
big, less people will accept is as a rule. The same kind of situation is to the profession of
prostitution. India is known for its rich, old culture, tradition and religion. Here a woman has
always been seen as on the dependant on man. It is very well written in the Manusmriti that-

‘’A woman would be dependent on her father at childhood, with her husband in youth and on her
son in old age’’.

Manusmriti is considered to be the most important sources of law and if from the basic sources
it is inferred that women should be dependant in every age then really women by herself are
considered to be always in the back of men. May be at the time when it was written the situation
was such that women needed to be supported by someone and may be that could be the reason
why women have been not allowed to take any decision whether the point is related to her
interest or not.

The society has been changed now. Most of the international organizations and responsible
government have made the provision for the equal protection of laws with man and woman. To
need a change in society it is not only law that can alone change, but it’s the society attitude that
has to change and this is most important because, if society will not accept the law made by the
government then there shall be no purpose to passing that law. It has to keep in mind that the law
passed by legislators are for citizen present in their nation, it is for their benefit only.

Legislators while framing an act has to keep in mind strictly that purpose of any law is to
smoothly run the state and no body’s basic rights has been infringed. Legislators may apply the
Utilitarian principle of Bentham which speaks of maximum benefit to the maximum number of

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people. Yes it is true that you can’t fulfil everyone’s wish so there needs to take approaches
satisfies maximum number of people in the society and for other it should be in such a way that
it should not infringe anyone basic human rights and basic human dignities. Likewise in the case
of State of Maharashtra v India Hotels and Restaurant Association15 it was said that the state
instead of shutting down whole business, they should come with such policy framework that new
policy is reasonable and also it provide alternate means of support.

As it has been said above the society has been changed now. So the thoughts which people have
carried out in their mind from time being had to change. The patriarchal mind set of the people
has also to change that women are not dependent on man, they should be allowed to take
decisions especially when the issues is related to herself alone.

Also under Article 19(1) (g) to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or
business. If a woman (above 18) who is by her own wish wants to indulge in the profession of
prostitution then there should not be any problem in related to this because it is the matter of her
own body and more important she is above 18 and is mature enough to take decisions by herself.
So what her choosing of profession is ‘sex’. The mindset of people has to change regarding the
sex, and society need not make hype and this ‘sex taboo’ should be finish as soon as possible.
Also it is rightly explained above that for one person may be any act can be moral and for some
other it is immoral and only due to this indifference among the people it is not good to ban the
prostitution.

Morality is a crucial element of prostitution but to only at that extent that it does not affects
someone else right. For example, if for some people eating non vegetarian food is immoral and it
should be ban then this would be unjust for the person who is selling those non vegetarian foods
due to resulting of his unemployment. The laws should be made in such a way that it is balanced
from legal as well as moral perspective.

Law is also another very important element in our society. As we cannot think a society without
law as it would be too brutal society then if it happens. So law is crucial to control, and punish
the criminals and crime rates in our society. But the law should be in such a way that it should
not strict the action of any particular class, caste or society. For example, the new law on

15
AIR 2013 SC 2582

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surrogacy which has been passed by the Union Cabinet. In the newly passed bill, though the bill
comes to stop the exploitation of women but it has almost completely banned and censored
surrogacy. The legislature must have know that the purpose of any law is not only to protect the
victims but also to smoothly run and regulate the state without any hurdles which this time
legislatures have forgotten to do that. Surrogacy laws should be set out in such a way that there
should be full consent of women in question and in order to eliminate the whole surrogacy, the
government should come up with policies that curb illegal surrogacy and not to kick down on the
womb of poor women who are dependent on the bonafide business of surrogacy.

The definition of prostitution according to Merriam Webster is not correct because prostitution
first of all if by wilful consent is not promiscuous just because it is the matter of ‘sex’ in it. So
definition needs to be amended properly for better understanding of the people.

Profession of prostitution should not be lag in between the law and morality because in doing so
various people who are truly in a bonafide business of it may be affected. The role of law here is
definitely to control the trafficking, sex slave and forced prostitution and not to the people who
are wilfully indulge in it. It is so because morality varies from person to person and thus it cannot
be sole criteria. Morality role is only till the reasonable restriction and not to completely ban the
profession of prostitution.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

 Felix M. Podimattam, “The Call Girl: Psychological, Sociological, Moral, Legal, Pastoral
Dimensions, Media House Delhi, 2005.
 Sankar Sen, P.M. Nair, “Trafficking in Women and Children in India”, Orient Longman,
Third Edition 2007, Pg No. 160
 Dr. G.B Reddy, “Women and the law”, Gogia Law Agency, 2007 Edition.
 Mamta Rao, “Law relating to women and children” Eastern Book Company.

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JOURNALS

 Sara Mackenzie, “The Morality of Prostitution”, British Association of Libertarian

Feminists.
 Haveripeth Prakash, “Prostitution and Its Impact on Society – A Criminological
Perspective”, International Research Journal of Social Science, Volume 2(3), 31-39,
March (2013).
 Camilla Kronqvist, “Is Prostitution Morally Wrong?”, Sexual Relationships for Bryn
Browne, Department of Philosophy, University of Wales Lampeter 1998.
 Karen Peterson- Iyer, “Prostitution- A Feminist Ethical Analysis”, Indiana University
Press, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1998.

Online journal & Law access

 www.Jstor. Org
 www.manupatra.in

Websites

 http://sciencenordic.com/what-drives-prostitute
 http://freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/2012/04/11/prostitution/
 http://www.debate.org/opinions/prostitution-is-prostitution-morally-acceptable
 http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/law/difference-between-law-and-morality/24304/
 http://parenethical.com/phil140sp11/2011/05/08/moral-judgements-on-prostitution/
 https://aphilosopher.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/the-ethics-of-prostitution/

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