Open Access Research Article
THE DEVADASIS IN INDIA: LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION AND BEYOND
Published Paper
Article Details
THE DEVADASIS IN INDIA: LEGISLATIVE
PROTECTION AND BEYOND
Authors:
1.
Swarnika Tirkey
Faculty of
Law, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur-492010, Chhattisgarh
Email: swarnikaa.9@gmail.com
2.
Hiten Joshi
Faculty of
Law, B.M. Law college, Jodhpur-342008, Rajasthan
Email: joshi.hiten60@gmail.com
3.
Rahul Sharma
B.A.LLB
(HONS.), LLM
Email: rsshubham.sharma6@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
It is often
perceived in our mainstream thought that religion and sexual activities,
especially those of an unmarried woman, do not go hand in hand. However, when
exploring deep in some sections of the Hindu religion, we find that even
religions can promote sexuality in the form of prostitution, to be precise. The
Devadasis, Devi being a goddess and Dasi meaning female servant or slave, are
such a faction in the Indian society who, at a very young age, were dedicated
and “married off” to a deity, goddess Yelamma, and thus Yelamma becomes their
husband. Their virginity is then auctioned to the highest bidder. Once
dedicated, they are unable to marry, forced to become prostitutes for
upper-caste community members, and eventually auctioned into an urban brothel.
A ritual which, before being declared illegal, promoted revered classical art
forms such as Bharatnatyam, has today turned into a social evil that even the
law cannot get rid of. Prevalent mostly in the South India, the Devadasis are
now nothing more than prostitutes living in inhuman conditions in shanties,
suffering from a number of STIs, living on nothing but the meager money they
may make from men paying them for sex. Religion in India is a mass industry. A
country so vast that it contains religions and beliefs of all kinds, religion
in India is encashed in terms of monetary as well as political gains. However,
one industry in India which is carried on in the name of religion is rarely
acknowledged, much less talked about. The Devadasis in India have their
existence dangling between the fettered hands of an incompetent legislation and
a crippled judiciary. On the other hand, the social sanctions behind the
practice have their grasp strong on its stilts.
This research
paper tries to throw some light upon the plight of such women’s plight, who are
forced in to selling their bodies in the name of religion. It also tries to
determine the causes of the failure of the legislations to abolish this
practice completely, what the rights of the Devadasis in such a situation could
be and what can be done about it.
1. HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS PROSTITUTION
The
Devadasi system is said to have primarily originated as a part of tantric
beliefs and methods of worship in certain temples of India to provide regular
female attendants to the deities. Hinduism believes that if a woman engages in
prostitution because of her own free will, she will suffer its consequences.
Although, if she engages in the same for religious purposes, as a service to
God, or as a duty with detachment, she will not be held responsible for her
actions. It might not be conclusive to say that Hinduism favors or supports the
Devadasi system, but it’s existent nonetheless.
Although
religious prostitution is not something unique to the Indian subcontinent:
ancient Near Eastern societies along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and
Ancient Greece have depicted sacred prostitution in their remains, even the
Hebrew Bible has mentioned it. However, India is one of the few societies where
sacred prostitution is practiced, albeit illegal.
Hinduism is
a religion of individuals and has many layers to it. Prostitution has been a
part of India’s social milieu since ancient times. Kings, warriors, feudal
lords and rich merchants, all indulged in it. Women from poor social background
resorted to it to please their masters or gain freedom from the bondage they
were subjected to. On the other hand, there were some women who willingly
participated in the profession. The faction included girls sold by their
families into slavery on account of their inability to get them married, or
women who were captured during battles or wars and sold for a profit by their
captors.[1]1 Some served in
the courts of kings as spies, guards, courtesans and dancer girls. They often
accompanied the kings to war either to entertain or protect them.
In the
Hindu religion, sexual activity is not earthly, but lust definitely is. The
religion approves sexual union only for procreation, not pleasure. It preaches
that those who are interested in Moksha,
or salvation, should be wary of such non-celestial desires or impurities. Men
are not to indulge into sexual activity with unmarried women and maidens
against their wish. They would also have to repent for the physical pleasures
they indulge in. Women in this society were expected to live under the
protection of men at all times and were not allowed to move freely, unless
accompanied by men.
Even then,
prostitution was a recognized profession in the ancient Indian society. This
profession at that time cannot be judged by our current standards, as they
participated in professions of both entertainment and sensuality. Such women at
that time were both despised and admired: despised because they seduced men and
emptied their wealth, admired because their professional skills, beauty and
artistry kept men engaged. Nonetheless, sexual union between a householder and
a prostitute was frowned upon.[2] A
prostitute is considered a fallen woman who has swerved from a normal life and
can only be redeemed by turning to religion.
Ø History Of Prostitution In India
Prostitution
as a profession can be traced back to the Brahmanical period of 1500 B.C., for
purposes of studying its evolution, when prostitution was an integral part of
Indian society.[3]In the early
1850s, acuities regarding the morality of prostitution transformed, leading to
an augmented proscription of the practice.[4]At the same time,
the British perceived prostitution as an evil required to assuage the “natural
sexual desire” of their troops and pursued to regulate the practice by ordering
that Indian women be accessible in the cantonments for fighters, consequently
giving birth to the brothel system and red-light districts that exist in urban
India today. By the time the British period arrived in India, most of these
women became prostitutes or had taken up prostitution as the temples had lost
the royal benefaction and were no longer capable of supporting them.[5]
When the
British arrived in India, they were shocked by India?s tolerance toward
prostitution and the way in which the practice was treated like any other
occupation.[6]
In order to safeguard soldiers, the British administration planned the
health of prostitutes by way of medical inspections ensuing in arrest and
confinement for those who were found to be infested with ailment. Later
requirements encompassed registration of all prostitutes with the
Superintendent of Police, obligatory weekly health checkups, and the issuance
of identity cards to all prostitutes.[7] These
measures, approved under the pretext of public health necessities, were
motivated not by a concern for maintaining the health and welfare of
prostitutes, but rather were intended to protect clients.[8] Such
pronouncements laid the groundwork for the prostitution system that subsists in
India today and shed light on the incongruities that lie beneath present
legislation.
Ø Religious Prostitution in India
Religious
prostitutes in India can be divided in two categories: the Devadasis and the
Tawaifs. The Tawaifs were ancient women who were in the profession of
prostitution as well as entertainment, both not mutually exclusive. The Tawaifs
were, at this time, categorized by graded levels of prostitutes who, at the
utmost end, were schooled in classical dance and music. They were assembled
into three types: Kumbhadasi, Rupajiva, and Ganika. The Kumbhadasi were the
bottommost class, customarily a servant who gave sexual amenities to the head
of household. The Rupajivas were usually very aesthetically attractive and
trained in dance and the arts.[9]While
some Rupajivas were born into prostitution, many took it up willingly to pursue
riches or escape calamitous marital life. The most extremely respected were the
Ganikas for whom prostitution was a profession and whose practice was
controlled by state law. Ganikas were very gifted and skilled, and were thought
to be a source of good luck, at times providing sanctifications over brides at
weddings. Their rates were fixed by the government and received government
incomes. They reserved the right to consolidate and opine concerns and were
taken care of when sick. Prostitutes from this hierarchy in the long run formed
associations, held meetings, and claimed civic and domestic rights.
Devadasis,
simply put, are wives of the goddess Yellamma. Some also call them the servants
of God, although this definition can hardly be considered to be apt for the
current times. Devi means a female
goddess and Dasi means a slave or a
servant. Devadasis in the ancient times were respected highly and were known as
patrons of a refined culture of music and dance. The respect they gained was
mostly because they had a status in the society which the women did not have at
that time. While women were supposed to remain inside their respective homes
and observe certain social practices which restrained them from carrying out
normal activities or even engage in occupations, the Devadasis had a
prestigious status in as dancers and musicians in temples, and had a sense of
independence that the other women did not.
2. STRUGGLE FOR LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION
TO
DEVADASIS
Once
a socially honorable position in the sixth century, this system today has
devolved to pure prostitution due to crooked temple administration and more
androcentric customs of worship that laid down male dominance and supremacy
over these women.[10]Furthermore,
the privileges placed upon the woman as technique of being essentialized within
the pious realm consigned men to acquiring social status through communications
with women.
Colonial
imposition of Christian ethics fundamentally influenced notions of sexuality
and principles within civic and political dissertation in the country.
Representations of women through the matrimonial family units as wife and
mother gave rise to explorations of sexuality being restricted to the familial
and reproductive territory. Any sexual activity not focused towards reproductive
purposes was perceived as being divergent and was consequently socially
stigmatized. This was echoed in the abolitionist campaigns that pursued to
eradicate the Devadasi system. The campaign originated in the 1930s and by 1947
a law outlawing dedication of women to temples was approved. Muthulakshmi
Reddy, a major advocate of this legislation presented the bill in the Madras
Legislative Council in 1930.[11][12]The essential
argument that was offered in support of the bill was rooted in the immorality
of the practice. The practice was condemned and censured for fouling society
and was presented as a social evil that required rectification.12
Those in
contradiction of the abolitionist campaigns in the 1930s and 40s vied that the
Devadasi system was a cultural right that required to be preserved. One of the
stoutest contenders for the Devadasi system was S. Sathyamurthi, a
representative of the Madras Congress who contended that eradication of the
system would intimidate the existence of the temple priests. His disagreement
was grounded in the conservation of the Hindu temples and traditions that could
possibly be endangered due to colonization.
Both sides
of the discourse concerning the obliteration of the Devadasi system establish
their reasoning in the system but did not openly address the Devadasis
themselves. Hence, women served simply as a mode of dialogue without becoming
issues of those debates and were therefore denied their own awareness. This is
insightful of a huge number of human rights and feminist publicity that either
tolerates or censures prostitution whilst absolutely disregarding the benefits
of those directly affected by such movements and crusades. Such treatise not
only buttresses social structures and gender hierarchies that ostracize those
convoluted in the profession,[13] but
moreover form definitions that are caught up in laws creating the individuality
of a prostitute or a sex worker as a prey to societal tyranny. It undertakes
that a woman?s sexuality is browbeaten when brought out in the public sphere
and so targets to eliminate the tradition.[14]Yet again,
these claims are grounded on prevalent moral assumptions that bound female
sexual manifestation to the private sphere of a wife for the object of becoming
a mother.[15]
At that
time, even within the community of the Devadasis themselves, there were those
who reinforced the bill and others who felt susceptible to it. Women who supported
the bill were mostly those who had been ill-treated and were incapable to
attain any economic or material remuneration from the practice. Devadasis who
were economically subjugated by men and were financially reliant on them,
competed that “the time had come for dasis to uphold their chastity and honor
by leading the life of a housewife”.[16] Even
though, these were positions taken willingly by the Devadasis, it is
particularly hard to dissociate them from widespread notions of morals and
honor that were extremely influential in the expansion of such ideas. On the
other hand, those who objected to the bill articulated concerns about
restrictions on their monetary liberty as a result of the elimination of the
system.[17]
Altogether,
a number of legislations were enacted to prohibit the system. All legislations
had different perceptions of the system and prohibited different aspects of the
same. Bombay Prevention of the Dedication of Devadasis Bill, 1934 defined a
Devadasi as any unmarried woman who may be dedicated to: any Hindu deity, idol,
object of worship, temple or other religious institution. It made the act of
dedicating punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which
may extend to one year, or with fine or with both. Madras Devadasi (Prevention
of Devadasi) Act of 1947 defined “dedication” as the enactment of any ceremony,
by whatever name called, by which a woman is dedicated to the facility of a
Hindu deity; idol, object of worship, temple or other religious institution,
making the act punishable with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend
to six months or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with
both.
The
Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982 made the act
punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend
to three years and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees. Andhra
Pradesh Devadasi (Prohibition Dedication) Act,1988 included tying “tali with
jakini” to a female or tying a woman by a garland to a Garuda Khambham,
dhaarana and deeksha as a form of dedication. Goa?s Children Act, 2003 included
a dedicated child as a “Child in Need” under the Act. It defined dedication as
the performance of any act or ceremony by whatever name called, by which a girl
child is dedicated to the service of any deity, idol, object of worship,
temple, other religious institutions or places of worship and made the act
punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend
to 3 years and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees.
Girls, at a
very young age, often near 10-12 years of age, are dedicated to the goddess
Yellamma, by a ritualistic process which is very similar to the rituals
performed in a typical Hindu marriage ceremony. “A string of red and white
beads are tied around their neck and they irrevocably become Devadasi:
maidservants of the deity.”[18]
Predominantly practiced in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, a
Devadasi dedicates her entire life in service to her husband, the goddess
Yellamma, who is said to be a protector of the fertility of lands. The girls so
dedicated to the goddess are mostly from a low-income family and are
archetypally Dalits, a lower caste of India. These women are, as a result,
ostracized not only because of their gender but also because of their caste and
class connotations thus instituting the bottommost rung of the societal
hierarchy.
The
Devadasis too, have arisen at the bull's eye of multiple spheres of reasoning.
There has been some struggle that has gone into showing the Devadasi as a
“ritual specialist” primarily and only then as an artist or courtesan;[19] as
a figure vital to “complicate the historiography of social reform related to
women in colonial India”;[20]
as a fraternity of women who enjoyed substantial social and economic status and
attacked colonial authority, till they fell on the incorrect side of colonial
legislations.
Today,
Devadasis are often traded into urban brothels. This practice was banned in
India in 1947, but due to the pecuniary incentive involved, cases still
transpire of young girls being forcibly married away to serve as Devadasi.[21]This
system is no longer restricted to the religious tradition even if it still
finds its pedigrees in custom. The practice in the present day is simply
downgraded to sex work where young girls, upon attaining puberty, ceremonially
get their first buyer and continue the practice merely as sex workers. The
Devadasi system is heritable in that women either adopt young girls otherwise bestow
their own daughters. A historical reason for this ritual is that Devadasis were
obligated to perpetuate the system with the intention of maintaining the
material and economic doles and privileges they received from the temples.[22]
Humanitarian
organizations approximate that up to 5000 girls become Devadasi every year with
ritual “weddings” taking place in private homes in the middle of the night to
fend off detection.[23] The
following table gives an idea of the Devadasis and their mode of entry into
prostitution:[24]
3.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION TO
DEVADASIS
The Indian
Constitution is concentrated on achieving a qualified equality for all people
by way of the elimination of systematic pyramids, including gender-based
hierarchies.[25]
Article 14 of the Indian Constitution arranges the fundamental right that all
women have to equality. In practice, this right is challenging to enforce and
merely arranges for a foundation on which prospective legislation may depend
on. Numerous other provisions lay out the Indian Constitution’s accessible
attitude toward women, together with the Article 15(1) prohibition in
contradiction of discrimination based on sex. Article 16 necessitates equality
of opportunity for all in cases of public employment and prohibits
discrimination based on sex. These fundamental rights are bolstered by Article
15(3), which posits that the State is authorized to take positive action to
make “special provision[s] for women.”[26]
Article 23,
specifically pertinent to the sex trade, prohibits traffic in human beings and
all type of forced labor. Beyond its basic articulation of rights, the
Constitution encompasses Directive Principles of State Policy that levy
obligations on the State to protect equality and eliminate discrimination.[27] These
Principles are not enforceable in court but offer direction for state policy.[28]
Mainly
relevant is Article 39, which lays down that the State should secure an
suitable means of livelihood for both men and women the same, guarantee equal
pay for equal work, encourage health for workers, and check citizens from being
forced, through economic compulsion, to take on vocations unsuitable to age and
strength. Article 42 requires the State to protect just and humane working
situations and to provide maternity aids. Lastly, the Constitution states that
every citizen of India has a fundamental obligation to renounce practices
deprecating to the dignity of women.[29]
These provisions promote an emphasis on human rights and gender equality, and
should lead future national legislations.
Apart
from Constitutional provisions, the practice of Devadasis in any form is in
complete infringement of the provisions of Section 370 and 370A, as amended
through Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 as well as Section 372 of Indian
Penal Code. It is also against Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986.
4. DEVADASIS: A HUMAN RIGHTS
PERSPECTIVE
Current
human rights treatises on the matter are insightful of the various feminist
viewpoints on prostitution. Nonetheless, the practice today presents itself as
an undeviating abuse and mistreatment of women’s rights and freedoms
irrespective of the inherent social pyramids and gender disparities. We cannot
rebate the gender, class and caste obstacles in identifying the radical
feminist perspective that wish to prohibit prostitution by virtue of its
misogynistic worth. It is, nevertheless, vital to recognize and grant the abuse
experienced by the Devadasis for purposes of identification of the practice as
a violation of human rights before critiquing its gradations to formulate
feminist debates about the issue.
Even
though a law passed in Colonial India debarred the practice of bestowing young
girls to temples, the tradition still carries on because of not only its
ancient and religious implications but also the consequential lack of selection
for girls belonging to Devadasi families. Often young girls are involuntarily
given into sex work by their families because of monetary need and also because
there is no way for their daughters to get wedded and be assimilated back into
society. This profession today can be said to be born out of extreme poverty
and blossoms on deception, force, and simple cruelty to women.[30]
Due
to persistent economic needs and the overall perception of a girl child as a
liability to the parents, young girls belonging to these families are obligated
into the practice. This is contemplative of the radical feminist perspective
that observes prostitution as the institutionalization of misogyny.[31] It
characterizes not only class and caste supremacy but also an explicit endeavour
to control women's bodies and sexuality.
Another
major issue related with the Devadasi tradition that is caught up in current
human rights discourse is trafficking of women. There has advanced a „trafficking
belt? nearby the districts adjoining Maharashtra and Karnataka from where
Devadasis are obtained for the red-light districts of Mumbai, Delhi or other
large cities in the nation.[32]
Devadasis, because of their pecuniary and social status and lots of children,
often turn to pimps who assist as “guardians” making them susceptible to
trafficking.[33]Although
trafficking tracks are not developed exclusively on the foundation of the
Devadasi practice, the tradition plays a colossal role in their sustenance and
dissemination into conventional society.
Another
issue that is narrowly entangled with trafficking is the health threat that sex
work and trafficking pose. With restricted contact to healthcare resources and
dearth of awareness, AIDs and other venereal diseases are exceedingly
ubiquitous within the Devadasi sex workers. This threat is heightened when
women are handled to larger cities, due to lack of accessible space and
disclosure to larger populations. Even midst the Devadasi communities, frequent
pregnancies and abortions initiating at an early age serve as health dangers
for such young women. Besides, abortion practices for undesirable pregnancies
are rudimentary and lack of knowledge for the same pose imminent threat to the
lives of the mother, too.[34]Therefore,
deficiency of available resources and schooling also mark the decent of the
Devadasi practice as a human rights matter.
The
gravest violation of human rights of the Devadasis, according to me, occurs in
the name of rehabilitation of the Devadasis as sex workers under the ITP Act.
Many women have reported numerous cases of sexual and physical harassment in
the centres for rehabilitation. The women are kept in confinement in the centres
and are harassed continuously there. They are not even given a choice to stay
or walk away from these centres. This harassment renders them psychologically
damaged for a long period of time, not to mention being physically hurt and
wounded.[35]
Since
its independence, India has made constant commitments to international human
rights law. India is a signatory to the International Convention for the
Suppression of the Traffic in Persons[36]; the
convention provided the incentive for the introduction of the innovative
Immoral Traffic Prevention Act in 1956. India is moreover a signatory to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[37] and the
Abolition of Forced Labor Convention. Furthermore, the government has ratified
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which compel member states to
guard against discrimination and to subdue all forms of trafficking in women
and children.
5. FAILURE OF LEGISLATIONS
India
has by way of its legislations tried to put an end to the Devadasi system
altogether, but the Indian legislations have failed miserably to obliterate
this practice. The problem with these legislations can be found in their
adaptations as well as their drafting. First of all, prostitution in India has
not been banned completely and explicitly.
This
loophole leaves a hole big enough for corruption by the politicians and the
police. Also, the institution of Devadasis and prostitution have been confused
with each other so constantly that Devadasis have now become a synonym for prostitutes.
This perspective of Devadasis as prostitutes has been professed by none other
than the government itself. Failure to recognize the Devadasis as the promoter
of arts but as prostitutes instead has rendered the whole institution
worthless.
Even
after it has been banned, the practice continues still because of the fact that
the Devadasis, when they are virgin, are sold for quite a lot of money, but
when they reach their 30s or 40s, they do not earn as much as a sustainable
livelihood demands.
Because
of this fact, the Devadasis are often forced to sell their own daughters to
urban brothels and earn some money or they indulge in trafficking young girls
from these villages to the urban brothels for the same reason. This constitutes
a vicious cycle of poverty and a life of indignity for such women.
The
biggest issue is that even though the Devadasis think of themselves as higher
as and holier than the non-religious prostitutes, their clients see no
difference in the two and treat them just the same. They face violence by the
hands of their clients and are susceptible to undesired pregnancies and
venereal diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
There
is no scope for a proper rehabilitation by the government and even the NGOs
cannot work as much without the help of the executive and the police. The
improper rehabilitation and the harassment on these women in the rehabilitation
centers in itself is an ironic proof of the legislations being maladaptive. The
police themselves treat the Devadasis as simply sex workers and harass them
sexually and physically. The following table gives an account of all the sex
workers, including Devadasis, who have faced violence by hands of the police:[38]
CONCLUSION
Even
after hundreds of years of their existence and the numerous contributions the
Devadasis have made to the culture of India[39], the
Devadasis? existence continues to be denied. Many people in India may not even
have knowledge of such a custom existing in India. Due to these reasons, many
Devadasis have converted to other religions to liberate themselves from the
system and their curse.
Perceptions
of Devadasis are extremely vigorous and entrenched in their religious status in
society. Although they are marginalized and socially convicted for their work
based on popular morals, their social status is not liberated of their religious
status. Even today, Devadasis are thought to be propitious for marriage
ceremonies within upper caste Hindus and so their presence is vital on certain
occasions. Not only that, Devadasis, as followers of Yellamma, revel in a
semiholy status for the duration of five days of a festival in festivity of the
goddess.8 They are worshipped and esteemed by the locals thus
construing very different insinuations of the Devadasi system.
The
Indian government has been trying to eliminate this system completely and do
justice to the women who have suffered such grave human rights violation. The
Andhra Pradesh government has finally begun to frame rules for the Devadasi
Prohibition Act that was implemented 28 years ago. The act was first
articulated by the state in 1988, but the government had not outlined any rules
for the officials to follow if in any case a violation of the Act was found.[40] The
Centre, in December 2015, had requested states to invoke rigorous penal
provisions and bear special drives to prevent such practices under any
semblance, labelling the system as one of the most monstrous practices against
women.[41]
The
800-year old tradition came to an end formally, with the country?s last
practicing Devadasi, in the Jagannath Temple, Orissa, dying at the age of 92.[42]
However, the practice still continues by way of indulging in sex work. The
tradition may eventually come to an end if the legislation is made sturdier and
rigorous provisions are given for violating the provisions. The center
government also needs to bring the Devadasis to justice by breaking the vicious
cycle of poverty and trafficking and provide the Devadasis with adequate means
to live and an easier entry in the labor market. Only after such sturdy steps
can the Devadasis be finally liberated from the curse of being exploited in the
hands of the public or the police.
[2] Id at 5.
[3] K.C. Tarachand, Devadasi Custom: Rural Social
Structure and Flesh Markets, 197, Reliance Pub. House, New Delhi (1992).
[4] Id at 202.
[5] Rekha Pande, At
the service of the Lord- Temple girls in Medieval Deccan (11th to 17th
centuries), 32, Deccan Studies, Vol. II. No. 2 (2004).
[6] Geetanjali Gangoli, Indian Feminisms: Law,
Patriarchies and Violence in India, 132, Ashgate Publishing Limited (2007).
[7] Prabha Kotiswaran, Preparing for Civil Disobedience: Indian Sex Workers and the Law, 21
B.C, Third World L.J., 178 (2001) http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/twlj/vol21/iss2/1
[8] Id at 208.
[9] Karuna Sharma, The
Social World of Prostitutes and Devadasis: A Study of the Social Structure and
Its Politics in Early Modern India, 9 J. of Int’l Women’s Studies 297, 300
(2007).
[10] Amrit Srinivasan, The
Devadasi and Her Dance. Economic and Political Weekly Vol.20, Issue no. 44,
1869, 1876
[11] S. Anandhi, Representing
Devadasis: 'Dasigal Mosavalai' as a Radical Text, Economic and Political
Weekly, Vol.
[12] , Issue No. 11, 739 (1991). 12Id at740.
[13] Gail Pheterson, The Prostitution Prism, 234,
Amsterdam University Press (1996).
[14] Id at10.
[15] Shannon Bell, Reading,
Writing and Rewriting the Prostitute Body, 103, Indiana University Press
(1994).
[16] S. Anandhi,
Supra note 12 at 745.
[17] Id at 748
[18] Megan Rowland, A
Light in the Darkness: Fighting Ritualistic Prostitution in South India, 1,
http://www.hartuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/A-Light-in-the-Darkness.pdf
[19] S.Kersenboom, Nityasumangali: Devadasi Tradition in
South India, 54, Motilal Banarsidass, New
Delhi (2002).
[20] K.Parker, A Corporation of Superior Prostitutes: Anglo-Indian Legal Conceptions
of Temple Dancing Girls, 1800– 1914, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 32, Issue.
No. 3, 560 (1998).
[21] Minor Forced to
Become Devadasi, Times of India, (Dec. 18, 2006)
[22] S. Anandhi, Supra note 12 at 740.
[23] Owen Dean, Former
Religious Prostitutes Help Those Still Trapped, World Vision eNews
http://www.worldvision.
org/about_us.nsf1947
/child/eNews_india_051606
[24] Rohini Sahni & V. Kalyan Shankar, Sex Work and its Linkages with Informal
Labour Markets in India: Findings from the First Pan-India Survey of Female Sex
Workers, 46, IDS Working Paper, Vol. 2013 No. 416 (2013).
[25] Pami Vyas, Reconceptualizing
Domestic Violence in India: Economic Abuse and the Need for Broad Statutory
Interpretation to Promote Women’s Fundamental Rights, 13 Mich. J. Gender
& L. 177, 180-81 (2006).
[26] Article 15, Constitution of India,
1950
[27] Articles 36-51, Constitution of India, 1950.
[28] Prabha Kotiswaran, Supra note 8 at 167.
[29] Article 51A, Constitution of
India, 1950.
[31] Ishita Gupta, Supra
note 2.
[32] K.C. Tarachand, Supra
note 4.
[33] Maria-Costanza Torri, Abuse of Lower Castes in South India: The Institution of Devadasi, Journal
of International Women's Studies Vol.11 Issue No.2, 48 (2009).
[34] P M Nair, A
report on trafficking in women and children in India 2002 - 2003, New
Delhi, NHRC, UNIFEM ISS, 365 (2004) http://nhrc.nic.in/Documents/ReportonTrafficking.pdf (Accessed 1
October 2017).
[35] Id at 363.
[36] Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons
and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, July 25, 1951, 96
U.N.T.S. 271.
[37] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
Dec. 16 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171.
[38] R Sahani & Shankar Kalyan, Pan India Survey of Sex Workers, 2011 http://www.sangram.org/resources/Pan_India_Survey_of_Sex_workers.pdf.
[39] The Devadasis were said to have developed various
forms of dances and arts such as Bharatnatyam. Such form of classical dance has
now become the identity of India on a global pedestal. 40Supra note 2.
[41] Deccan Herald, Centre
asks states to stop Devadasi system, December 28, 2015 http://www.deccanherald.com/content/519925/centre-asks-states-stop-devadasi.html
. 43
[42] Mohapatra Debabrata, Puri’s Last Practicing Devadasi Dies at 9, Times
of India, Mar 20, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Puris-last-practising-devadasi-dies-at-92/articleshow/46629322.cms
Article Information
THE DEVADASIS IN INDIA: LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION AND BEYOND
Authors: Swarnika Tirkey, Hiten Joshi, Rahul Sharma
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/10/11
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
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