è SUPPRESSION OF IMMORAL TRAFFIC IN WOMEN AND GIRLS ACT, 1956:
The Suppression of Immoral
Traffic in Women and Girls Act, enacted in accordance with the International
Convention signed in New York in 1950, aims to combat immoral trafficking.
Originally known as the All India Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act (SITA), it
was later amended and renamed the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA). Under
this premier legislation, anyone found guilty of involving a child or woman in
commercial sexual exploitation can face imprisonment for seven years or more.
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SALIENT
FEATURES OF SUPPRESSION OF IMMORAL TRAFFIC PREVENTION AT 1956:
§ The act aims to prevent the trafficking of
women and girls.
§ It crubs the immoral aspects of prostitution.
§ It criminalizes the various activities related
to prostitution, such as soliciting, running brothels and living on the
earnings of prostitution.
§
The act provides
for penalties and punishments for those involved in such activities.
§
It also
establishes protective measures for victims of trafficking.
§ The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA)
doesn’t declare sex work illegal, but prohibits running brothels. Soliciting
clients for prostitution is illegal.
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DEFINITIONS
AS PER SECTION 2 OF THIS ACT:
1. Brothel:
· A brothel includes
any house, room, conveyance, or place (or any portion thereof) used for
purposes of sexual
exploitation or abuse for the gain of another person or for
the mutual gain of two or more prostitutes.
2. Girl:
· A girl refers to
a female who has not
completed the age of twenty-one years.
3. Magistrate:
· A magistrate
encompasses a District Magistrate, a Sub-Divisional Magistrate, a Presidency
Magistrate, or a Magistrate of the first class specially empowered by the State
Government to exercise jurisdiction under this Act.
4. Prescribed:
· Prescribed means
defined by rules made under this Act.
5. Prostitute:
· A prostitute is a
female who offers her body for promiscuous
sexual intercourse for hire, whether in money or in kind.
6. Prostitution:
· Prostitution refers to
the act of a female offering her body for promiscuous sexual intercourse for
hire, whether in money or in kind.
7. Protective
Home:
· A
protective
home is an institution (by any name) where women and girls may
be kept in pursuance of this Act.
· It includes shelters for female undertrials and corrective
institutions where, rescued women and girls receive training, instruction, and
moral influences for reformation and prevention of offenses under this Act.
8. Public
Place:
· A
public
place encompasses any location intended for use by, or
accessible to, the public.
· This definition includes public conveyances.
9. Special
Police Officer:
· A special
police officer is an officer appointed by the State
Government to assist in the implementation of this Act.
10.
Women:
· The term women refer to
adult females (those who have attained the age of eighteen years or more).
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PUNISHMENTS
UNDER THE IMMORAL TRAFFIC PREVENTION ACT:
The
Immoral Traffic Prevention Act’s various penalties are listed in sections 3 to
9, 11, 18, 20 and 21. The following offenses are penalized under the act.
· Maintaining and Utilizing a Brothel:
o First Conviction: Rigorous imprisonment for 2
to 3 years and a fine of up to ₹10,000.
o Second or Subsequent Conviction: Rigorous
imprisonment for a term of 3 to 7 years and a fine of up to ₹2,00,000.
· Living on the Income Earned via Prostitution
· Pimping or Soliciting for Prostitution
· Seducing a Person for Prostitution in Custody
or Otherwise
· Prostitution in a Public Place
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