Bengaluru, 18 March

The sex workers from the City who were assaulted by the City police in 2019 have been granted a compensation of Rs 20,000 by the State Human Rights Commission for the violence inflicted by the police. Gowramma (name changed) and Suma (name changed), who underwent the police brutality, was given the compensation by the State government on Monday.

While speaking to Salar News, Gowramma, who continues to work for Sadhana Mahila Sangha as a counsellor to fellow sex workers, recalled the disturbing incident from 2019. She said, "I and my fellow sex workers were at a City hotel for coffee and snacks when police officers arrived and humiliated us in front of the public. When some of us tried to hide in the hotel bathroom, the police broke the door and caught me and Suma, while the rest managed to escape. Later, we were dragged to the station. In the evening, we were beaten for no reason."  

"Despite being handicapped, police still belted me," Suma said.

Gowramma said she even contemplated suicide after the humiliation but chose not to, as she didn't want to convey weakness to her community. Instead, she decided to file a complaint and fight for her rights.

Geetha, a founding member of the Sahdhana Mahila Sangha, said that there is a need for sensitising the police and other law enforcement agencies on the rights of sex workers. Geetha urged the police to treat sex workers with dignity, refraining from verbal or physical abuse, violence, or coercion into any sexual activity.

The sex workers expressed that while they received compensation of Rs 20,000, the trauma of their experience still haunts them, and no amount of compensation can fully heal their pain. They said that sex workers deserve to live with dignity and have their human rights respected, regardless of their profession.

Arvind Narayan, a lawyer from the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Karnataka, noted that since 2019, incidents of violence by police officers against sex workers have decreased. Through these cases, we aim to remind police officers that sex workers also have the right to live without being victims of violence. PUCL and Sahdhana Mahila Sangha filed the complaint against the police assault in 2019.  -Salar News