DCW against move to legalise prostitution
She said she was in touch with the education department to make the curriculum more gender sensitive.
New Delhi: Terming it the "worst form of slavery," Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal on Tuesday opposed the movement to legalise prostitution in the country, adding such a move would only promote trafficking.
Questioning the experts vouching for legalising the trade, she said only poor women would be pushed into it if prostitution was allowed under the law.
"I am not at all in support of legalisation of prostitution. Prostitution is the worst form of slavery and it will only promote trafficking. Only poor women would be pushed into the trade if it gets legalised. I want to ask the experts who vouch for its legalisation, will you allow your daughters, sisters or wives to take this up," she said.
Ms Maliwal said her priority areas would be to ensure implementation of the recently passed ordinance, which prescribes death penalty to rapists of children within six months, push the authorities for setting up fast track courts, close down the red-light area (GB Road) and eliminate drug mafias from the city.
She said she was in touch with the education department to make the curriculum more gender sensitive. According to the DCW it has dealt with 52,473 complaints in the last three years under Maliwal's tenure, registering an increase of over 700 per cent compared with the work done by the commission under the previous chairperson in eight years.
The DCW said its chief personally perused over 2,000 cases in three years, while the previous head had taken up only one case in over eight years.
Ms Maliwal made over 500 visits to various shelter homes, communities, rape survivors and other women and girls in distress, and submitted over 175 policy recommendations to the government, whereas the previous dispensation had submitted a single recommendation in eight years, the women rights body said.
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