The truth, revealed: Simon Marks, “Somaly Mam: The Holy Saint (And Sinner) of Sex Trafficking,” Newsweek, May 21, 2014, http://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/30/somaly-mam-holy-saint-and-sinner-sex-trafficking-251642.html. Thomas Fuller, “Cambodian Activist’s Fall Exposes Broad Deception,” New York Times, June 14, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/world/asia/cambodian-activists-fall-exposes-broad-deception.html.
He got off: Melissa Gira Grant, “The Price of a Sex-Slave Rescue Fantasy,” New York Times, May 29, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/opinion/the-price-of-a-sex-slave-rescue-fantasy.html; Katha Pollitt, “Sex Trafficking, Lies & Money: Lessons From the Somaly Mam Scandal,” The Nation, June 4, 2014, https://www.thenation.com/article/sex-trafficking-lies-money-lessons-somaly-mam-scandal/; Pat Joseph, “ ‘Victims Can Lie as Much as Other People’: What the Somaly Mam Scandal Says About the Media’s Treatment of Humanitarian Heroes,” The Atlantic, June 5, 2014 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/somaly-mam-scandal-victims-can-lie/372188/; Jessica Prois, “Nicholas Kristof on Somaly Mam, Anti–Sex Slavery Activist: I Wish I ‘Had Never Written About Her,’ ” Huffington Post, June 10, 2014, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/10/nicholas-kristof-somaly-mam_n_5479576.html; Amanda Hess, “The White Knight: Nicholas Kristof Wants to Save the World with His New York Times Columns. Why Are So Many of Them Wrong?,” Slate, June 18, 2014, www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/06/nicholas_kristof_wants_to_save_the_world_with_his_new_york_times_columns.html.
“many women genuinely choose”: Nicholas Kristof, “Legalizing Prostitution—A Solution?,” New York Times, April 24, 2007, https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/legalizing-prostitution-a-solution/.
“The brothels of India”: Nicholas Kristof, “The 21st-Century Slave Trade,” New York Times, April 22, 2007, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/opinion/22kristof.html.
“Meena’s owners also wanted”: Ibid; Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (New York: Vintage, 2010).
“India probably has more”: Nicholas Kristof, “Raiding a Brothel in India,” New York Times, May 25, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/opinion/26kristof.html.
For thoughtful critiques of Kristof’s writing on developing-country matters, see Germaine Greer, “Half the Sky: How the Other Half Suffer,” The Guardian, July 30, 2010, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/31/half-the-sky-germaine-greer; Teju Cole, “The White-Savior Industrial Complex,” The Atlantic, March 2012, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/; Sayantani DasGupta, “ ‘Your Women Are Oppressed, but Ours Are Awesome’: How Nicholas Kristof and Half the Sky Use Women Against Each Other,” October 8, 2012, https://www.conspireforchange.org/?p=964.
Western feminist prohibitionists allied: Emily Bazelon, “Should Prostitution Be a Crime?,” The New York Times Magazine, May 8, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/should-prostitution-be-a-crime.html.
In contrast, developing-country antitrafficking feminists: Ratna Kapur, “The Tragedy of Victimization Rhetoric: Resurrecting the Native Subject in International/Postcolonial Feminist Legal Politics,” Harvard Human Rights Law Journal 15 (2002): 1. A notable early exception was the Indian scholar Jean D’Cunha, who opposed decriminalization of sex work. See Jean D’Cunha, The Legalization of prostitution: A sociological inquiry into the laws relating to prostitution in India and the West (Bangalore: Wordmakers for the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, 1991); Jean D’Cunha, “Prostitution Laws: Ideological Dimensions and Enforcement Practices,” Economic and Political Weekly, April 25, 1992, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4397796.
the so-called Nordic model: Bazelon, “Should Prostitution Be a Crime?,” details the actual motivations and impact of this model.
Steinem bizarrely claimed: “The 5.8.16 Issue,” New York Times, May 20, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/magazine/the-5-816-issue.html.
on a visit to India: Gloria Steinem, “Body Invasion Is De-humanizing,” The Hindu, April 6, 2012, www.thehindu.com/news/national/body-invasion-is-dehumanising/article3287212.ece. For responses by Indian feminists, see: Shohini Ghosh, “Moralistic Assumptions,” The Hindu, April 6, 2012, www.thehindu.com/news/national/moralistic-assumptions/article3287109.ece, in which the Indian feminist responds to Steinem; Svati Shah, “Gloria Steinem vs. Prostitution in India,” Huffington Post, November 28, 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/american-anthropological-association/gloria-steinem-vs-prostit_b_6198614.html.
“The stigma traditionally attached”: Martha Nussbaum, “Taking Money for Bodily Services,” in Sex and Social Justice, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
“The idea that we ought”: Martha Nussbaum, “Trading on America’s Puritanical Streak,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 15, 2008, http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2008/03/martha-nussbaum.html.
“the average age”: Ruchira Gupta, “The Failure of Anti-Trafficking Efforts,” Wall Street Journal, October 9, 2009, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125506412380375453.
Mam, in a similar vein: Simon Marks, “Somaly Mam: The Holy Saint (And Sinner) of Sex Trafficking,” Newsweek, May 21, 2014, http://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/30/somaly-mam-holy-saint-and-sinner-sex-trafficking-251642.html.
“between twelve and thirteen”: Chris Hall, “Is One of the Most-Cited Statistics About Sex Work Wrong?” The Atlantic, September 5, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/is-one-of-the-most-cited-statistics-about-sex-work-wrong/379662/.
Among the other dubious claims: Harper Simon, TheLipTV, “The Selling of Innocents,” interview with Ruchira Gupta, November 21, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqy24pmUhDI, accessed 07.24.2018. In contrast to Gupta’s claims, Feingold, “Think Again: Human Trafficking,” notes, “the Netherlands, Australia, and Germany—all of whom have legalized prostitution—received top marks from the Bush administration in the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report.”
none of the claims: Markon, “Human Trafficking Evokes Outrage, Little Evidence.” Markon notes, “The administration has identified 1,362 victims of human trafficking brought into the United States since 2000, nowhere near the 50,000 a year the government had estimated.” Astonishingly, the higher figure proved to be the fanciful handiwork of a CIA analyst who had extrapolated to the U.S. from newspaper clippings about trafficking cases overseas. The article quotes Ronald Weitzer of George Washington University, saying, “The discrepancy between the alleged number of victims per year and the number of cases they’ve been able to make is so huge that it’s got to raise major questions . . . It suggests that this problem is being blown way out of proportion.” On the prohibitionists’ use of dubious “sex slavery” data worldwide, Weitzer writes in “The Social Construction of Sex Trafficking,” “In short, the core claims of this moral crusade are exaggerated, unverifiable, or demonstrably false—depending on the claim in question. Common to all of these claims are sweeping declarations that ignore counterevidence and give prominence to anecdotal stories describing worst cases.” Jayne Huckerby, “United States of America,” Collateral Damage: The Impact of Anti-Trafficking Measures on Human Rights around the World, notes, “The figure of 50,000 was the figure estimated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1999 and also cited in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) . . . These estimates have been criticised by the US Government Accountability Office as ‘questionable’ and the data collection efforts on which they are based ‘fragmented’ (see United States Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2006, 10).” Regarding Asia, a comprehensive World Health Organization report notes, “All statistics on sex work need to be treated with caution. Statistics can mislead because they appear to impose order on an infinitely complex industry. Figures produced by anti-prostitution NGOs are inaccurate in that they probably overestimate the number of trafficking victims. Statistics produced by governments, by contrast, probably underestimat
e the number of sex workers because they are based on a very restricted view of sex work and fail to adequately enumerate indirect and part time sex workers.” Sex Work in Asia, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, July 2001, http://www.wpro.who.int/hiv/documents/docs/Sex_Work_in_Asia_July2001.pdf.
“some 100,000 minors”: Nicholas Kristof, “Making Life Harder for Pimps,” New York Times, August 6, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/06/opinion/nicholas-kristof-making-life-harder-for-pimps.html.
“Apne Aap had nearly”: Niharika S. Jain and Tara Suri, “A Lack of Transparency,” The Harvard Crimson, November 2, 2010, http://dev.thecrimson.com/article/2010/11/2/apne-aap-women-organization/ and also at http://www.traffickingproject.org/2010/11/.
Though Gupta’s lawyer threatened: Letter from Paul Kleven, representing Aapne Aap Worldwide and Ruchira Gupta, to Robert A. Bertsche, representing Harvard Crimson, “Re A Lack of Transparency,” The Harvard Crimson, November 2, 2010, dated January 5, 2011.
a group of former American and European interns: “Intern Report Apne Aap Women Worldwide: Dear Supporter of Apne Aap Women Worldwide.” (No further publication details.)
Verma told me he was dismayed: Interview, February 16, 2018.
had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars: “Intern Report Apne Aap Women Worldwide: Dear Supporter of Apne Aap Women Worldwide.” (No further publication details.)
Apne Aap barred access: http://apneaap.org/about-us/financials-and-annual-report/Accessed 07. 24.2018, 04.18.2018, 04.12.2018 and 08.23.2017.
Kristof urged: Nicholas Kristof, “Legalizing Prostitution—A Solution?,” New York Times, April 24, 2007, https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/legalizing-prostitution-a-solution/.
leading human rights experts: Rashida Manjoo, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, United Nations Human Rights Council, twenty-sixth session, A/HRC/26/38/Add.1 (New York: United Nations, 2014), www.womenenabled.org/pdfs/Report%20of%20the%20Special%20Rapporteur%20on%20violence%20against%20women%20its%20causes%20and%20consequences-5-18-2014.pdf.
be sentenced to up to five years of rigorous imprisonment: “India: Reform anti-trafficking laws to better protect sex trafficking victims. Text of Petition, Tuesday May 7, 2013,” Apne Aap and Equality Now!, http://apneaap.org/get-involved/campaigns-petitions/, accessed September 21, 2017.
CHAPTER 23: WORDS LIKE FREEDOM
the Delhi High Court began: All the material cited and used here is available at http://orinam.net/377/background-of-sec-377/delhi-high-court-judgement-2009/.
In direct opposition to the Home Affairs Ministry: “Govt’s AIDS cell pushes to legalise homosexuality,” Times of India, July 20, 2006, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Govts-AIDS-cell-pushes-to-legalise-homosexuality/articleshow/1779097.cms?. The text of the affidavit is available at www.lawyerscollective.org/files/NACO’s%20Affidavit.pdf.
CHAPTER 25: AN INDEFINITE SENTENCE
Cavafy, my beloved poet: C.P. Cavafy, “Ithaka,” Selected Poems by C.P. Cavafy, translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard (Princeton: Princeton University, 2015).
India’s Supreme Court began hearing: All the sources cited here are available at http://orinam.net/377/supreme-court-verdict-2013/.
the brutal victimization: “Gross Misconduct by Aligarh Muslim University; The Cynical Use of Homophobia to Protect University Maladministration Is Condemnable,” Economic & Political Weekly, February 27, 2010, www.epw.in/editorials/gross-misconduct-aligarh-muslim-university.html; Andrew Buncombe, “Was a Gay Indian Academic Driven to Take His Own Life?,” The Independent, May 28, 2010, http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/04/08/was-a-gay-indian-academic-driven-to-take-his-own-life/.
“well-researched, well-documented”: “Sec 377 misused Delhi HC verdict well argued: Moily,” Indian Express, August 3, 2009, http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/sec-377-misused-delhi-hc-verdict-well-argued-moily/497334/.
the Supreme Court had overruled: For the full text of the court’s verdict and related materials, see http://orinam.net/377/supreme-court-verdict-2013/.
In editorials: For an extensive listing with links, see http://orinam.net/377/media-stories-377-sc-judgment/.
India’s attorney general, Goolam Vahanvati: Goolam E. Vahanvati, “Law Can’t Remain Static: Government Told SC That Section 377 Didn’t Reflect Indian Values,” Times of India, December 13, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/edit-page/Law-cant-remain-static-Government-told-SC-that-Section-377-didnt-reflect-Indian-values/articleshow/27246846.cms.
The most moving criticism: Leila Seth, “A Mother and a Judge Speaks Out on Section 377,” Times of India, January 26, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/A-mother-and-a-judge-speaks-out-on-section-377/articleshow/29383723.cms.
EPILOGUE
a pathbreaking ruling on transgender rights: See “Salutary judgment,” editorial, The Hindu, 17 April 2014, which notes, “The verdict on the transgender community now provides one more reason why Section 377 ought to be amended to de-criminalise gay sex.” www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/salutary-judgment/article5919493.ece?ref=relatedNews.
Things turned around unexpectedly: Amy Kazmin, “India’s landmark privacy ruling marks rebuke to political Hinduism,” Financial Times, September 1, 2017, https://www.ft.com/content/1c8796a4-8d6e-11e7-a352-e46f43c5825d.
it is almost a certainty: On September 6, 2018, a five-judge bench of India’s Supreme Court unanimously decriminalized consensual gay sex and affirmed that India’s LGBT community has fundamental rights to equality, dignity, selfexpression, and privacy, calling the Victorian-era law “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary” and saying that “history owes the LGBT community an apology for their sufferings.” Siddharth Dube, “The Strange, Long Afterlife of an Inhumane Colonial Law,” The Nation, September 14, 2018, www.thenation.com/article/the-strange-long-afterlife-of-an-inhumane-colonial-law/.
“enabling sex trafficking”: Jeff Sagnip, “House Members: HHS Rule Undermines Smith Amendment, a Law Blocking US Taxpayers Funds to Organizations that Support Prostitution, Sex Trafficking,” www.chrissmith.house.gov, May 13, 2010, https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=185576.
arrested the CEO: Graeme Reid, “US Raid on Rentboy Is a Raid on Rights,” Human Rights Watch, August 27, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/08/27/dispatches-us-raid-rentboy-raid-rights; New York Times Editorial Board, “Homeland Security’s Peculiar Prosecution of Rentboy,” New York Times, August 28, 2015, https://nyti.ms/1Vio256.
Amnesty International announced: Documents relating to the policy are available at www.amnesty.org, including https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/amnesty-international-publishes-policy-and-research-on-protection-of-sex-workers-rights/; See also Bazelon, “Should Prostitution a Crime?,” New York Times; Melissa Gira Grant, “Amnesty International’s Long-Due Support for Sex Workers Rights,” The Nation, August 6, 2015, www.thenation.com/article/amnesty-internationals-long-due-support-for-sex-workers-rights/.
a public letter that made headlines: The text of the letter and list of signatories is available at http://catwinternational.org/Content/Images/Article/621/attachment.pdf; Bazelon, “Should Prostitution be a Crime?,” New York Times.
hopelessly out of touch: Similarly, Altman notes, “Increasingly, the language of sexual rights is being shaped from the south.” Dennis Altman, “AIDS and the Globalization of Sexuality,” Social Identities 14, no. 2 (2008): 145–160, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504630801931161.
The Lancet: Pamela Das and Richard Horton, “Bringing Sex Workers to the Centre of the HIV Response,” The Lancet 385, no. 9964 (January 3, 2015): 3–4, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61064-3/abstract; Sarah Boseley, “Decriminalise Sex Work to Help Control Aids Pandemic, Scientists Demand,” The Guardian, July 21, 2014, www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/22/decriminalise-sex-work-control-aids-scientists-demand.
UN Secretary-Gen
eral Ban Ki-moon: On the fast track to ending the AIDS epidemic: Report of the Secretary-General, United Nations General Assembly (Seventieth session Agenda item 11), A/70/811, April 1, 2016, http://sgreport.unaids.org/pdf/20160423_SGreport_HLM_en.pdf.
embraced by the world’s leading rights defenders: In July 2018, in an extraordinary step, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons and the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery released a public statement criticizing a new anti-trafficking bill introduced in India’s Parliament by the Bharatiya Janata Party government, emphasizing that the “over-broad and vague nature” of some of its provisions could lead to blanket criminalization of activities that do not necessarily relate to trafficking, and singling out their concern that the “bill may conflate sex work with trafficking.” The UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons and the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, “India Must Bring Its New Anti-Trafficking Bill in Line with Human Rights Law, Urge UN Experts,” press statement by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, July 23, 2018, www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23392&LangID=E.
Shweta Basu-Prasad: Sudipta Sengupta, “Pressure Mounting for Early Release of Actress Shweta Prasad?,” Times of India, October 28, 2014, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pressure-mounting-for-early-release-of-actress-Shweta-Prasad/articleshow/44955006.cms.
Sunitha Krishnan: Ibid.
Lalitha Kumaramangalam: “Prostitution in India: Make It Legal. A Proper Debate Is Needed on Legalising Sex Work,” The Economist, November 1, 2014, www.economist.com/node/21629472/; Himanshi Dhawan and Malini Nair, “Legalizing Prostitution? Let’s Put a Pin in it,” Times of India, November 2, 2014, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Legalizing-prostitution-Lets-put-a-pin-in-it/articleshow/45009389.cms.
An Indefinite Sentence Page 42
