Sex workers demand abolishment of ITPA

Kolkata, July 1 (UNI) Hundreds of sex workers demanding withdrawal of Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act (ITPA), today burnt Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury in effigies.

The sex workers, carrying festoons and placards under the banner of Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), an ngo working for people in red light areas here, burnt the effigies of the Union Ministers at Esplanade East after parading the streets.

The DMSC has been demanding a legislation seeking rights of approximately two crore sex workers in India.

DMSC secretary Asha Banerjee said the business for 2 crore sex workers would be in jeopardise if ITPA and its sections 3(1), 4, 5(C), and 13(2) were implemented. She said the ITPA's implementation was dangerous for sex workers' business and it would help spreading HIV/AIDS in the country.

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