Prostitution in Bangladesh

Prostitution in Bangladesh is legal. Prostitution was legalized in 2000. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/677280.stm;] [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/sa/692.htm;]

Policy and Law

Though prostitution is legal in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh constitution provides that the "State Shall endeavor to prevent gambling and prostitution." Reading the various provisions of different laws, the prostitute is considered a victim, however, despite rigid provisions, the Penal Code provides in the following sections protection to women who are victims of the sexual offences of illicit intercourse, such as:

While laws relating to violence against women, including rape, apply equally to prostitutes, in practice they are discriminated against as they will be classified as 'habituated' to sexual intercourse and proof will be considered to be harder to give/accept. Prostitutes are often subjected to harassment and violence from the Police who are theoretically supposed to protect their rights.

Child Prostitution

An estimated 13,000 children in Bangladesh are prey to the commercial sex industry of the country. More than 20,000 children are born and live in the 18 registered red-light areas of Bangladesh. Children born here live everyday life watching their mothers being exploited and ultimately resigning themselves to the same exploitation. Small children help their mothers in household chores and bring refreshments for their mother's clients. Boys tend to become pimps once they grow up and girls continue in their mothers’ profession. Most girls enter the profession before the age of 12 [http://acr.hrschool.org/mainfile.php/0103/20/ Bangladesh's Child Sex Workers: No Place To Go] [http://gvnet.com/childprostitution/Bangladesh.htm ;] .

Male Prostitution

There is a widespread misconception about the issue of prostitution of boys; it is wrongly viewed as an issue related to homosexuality. As a result, prostitution of boys is largely unreported, under-reported or misreported. Prostitution of boys in general is not a new phenomenon and has been manifested in different forms. Parks, streets, markets, railway/bus terminals, hotels, restaurants, and religious establishments are some of the main contact points for sexual exploitation. ECPAT International is working on this issue [ http://www.ecpat.net/eng/publications/Boy_Prostitution/index.asp Situational Analysis Report on Prostitution of Boys in South Asia] . Most urban Bangladeshi men do not marry before their 30s, due to economic forces; this factore, combined with the non-availability of girls (pre-marital sex is frowned upon), supports a long-standing culture of young men in their twenties seeking sexual outlets with teenage boys - the practice is not regarded as prostitution locally. Male brothels are rare but not unknown - there are two in Dhaka - and commonly feature boys over the age of 17.

Causes

Human Trafficking

The Constitution states that each individual is entitled to choose her own profession/occupation or trade. Taking advantage of the vulnerability of the poverty-stricken or opportunity seeking people, unscrupulous persons (flesh traders) either coerce, entice, lure or sell minors and other gullible persons into prostitution. They make them execute affidavits in front of false magistrates/impersonators stating that they have gone into prostitution of their own volition and they are over 18 years old.

Police estimate more than 15,000 women and children are smuggled out of Bangladesh every year. Bangladesh and Nepal are the main sources of trafficked children in south Asia. A huge number of Bangladeshi Women and girls are forced into the brothels of India, Pakistan, Malaysia, UAE and other Asian countries [ [http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/banglad.htm Facts on Trafficking and Prostitution - Bangladesh] ] .

Methods and Techniques of Trafficking

Forms of trafficking include fake marriages, sale by parents to "uncles" offering jobs, auctions to brothel owners or farmers, abduction. Traffickers and procurers pose as prospective husbands to impoverished families. They take the girls away and sell them into prostitution. A large number of "brides" have been collected in this manner and brought as a group to Pakistan where they are handed over to local traffickers

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Bangladesh [ [http://www.catwinternational.org/ Coalition Against Trafficking in Women] ] , which is comprised of 40 organizations, is working as here on this issue [ [http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/mhvbang.htm Trafficking and Prostitution in Bangladesh - Contradictions in Law and Practice, Sigma Huda] ] .

AIDS

According to NGO's sex workers and their clients are most at risk form AIDS due to ignorance and lack of public information about unprotected sex. [ [http://www.youandaids.org/Asia%20Pacific%20at%20a%20Glance/Bangladesh/index.asp] ] [ [http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/aids/Countries/ane/bangladesh.html] ] [ [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSAREGTOPHEANUT/EXTSAREGTOPHIVAIDS/0,,contentMDK:20288513~menuPK:568871~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:496967,00.html] ] [ [http://www.whoban.org/hiv_aids.html] ]

ee also

*Prostitution in India
*Prostitution in Pakistan
*Prostitution in the United Arab Emirates

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/677280.stm Bangladesh says prostitution legal]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/393332.stm South Asia Bangladesh prostitutes up in arms]
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/inside-the-slave-trade-795307.html Inside the slave trade]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/09/gender.humantrafficking 'I'm just here for survival']
* [http://www.bridgew.edu/soas/jiws/nov05v2/ullahi.pdf Prostitution in Bangladesh: An Empirical Profile of Sex Workers]
* [http://www.insticeagestudies.com/library/commercial-sex-workers-in-urban-bangladesh.shtml Commercial Sex Workers In Urban Bangladesh]