Legalizing the World's oldest profession

Prostitution is always referred to as the World's Oldest Profession. The first prostitute was one of our cave dwelling ancestors who was 'nice' to a cave man in exchange for a haunch of mammoth. It was a common sense 'survival' sort of arrangement back then. Things have not changed. It still is today. 

Historically Hindu mythology does not have anything against this profession. Rather the depiction of the character of Basantasena (played by Rekha) in the film Utsav eulogizes the profession, showing they were accepted by the society. I don’t know the authenticity of the story, but remember the character Vasantasena from some other story of the same era. Hence I can safely say that they were accepted in ancient Indian society.

Modern day prostitution can go back to the Devadasi system of South India, Baijees of North India. We find the profession was established around temple towns and near Palaces. In old Kolkata, where the erstwhile Zamindars resided, this profession was patronized by the high-class society, rich and the aristocracy.

But prostitutes are not a respected lot.

Governments across the world are faced with the question of legalizing this profession. The Supreme Court of India supports legalizing prostitution. 
"They (sex workers) have been operating in one way or the other and nowhere in the world have they been able to curb it by legislation. In some cases, they (the trade) is carried out in a sophisticated manner. So, why don't you legalize it?" Justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Patnaik told Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam. 

It’s high time this profession is legalized. They should receive benefits like Provident fund, Retiral benefits, tax exemption etc. In fact, their service should also be subsidized by the Government. They should also be honored with President’s medal, life time achievement awards etc. As lunatic as I may sound, these people serve to protect the innocent.  

The main reason why prostitution remains relevant till today is because sex has always been regarded as a highest form of pleasure for humans and thus explains peoples’ crave for it. The same craving results in bizarre and unbelievable acts. We have seen umpteen incidents of rape highlighted in the media (not to forget hundreds of fake rapes.. a la.. violinist L Subramanian and the more famous Shiney Ahuja). There are two incidents in newspaper today, which are so disturbing and were the motivation for me to write this piece.   

In a shocking incident, two tipsy youths stormed into a temporary house of an 85-year-old widow and allegedly raped her. The incident took place on the outskirts of Hardoi district (Uttar Pradesh). The victim is in a critical condition, doctors are trying to stabilize her.

In another incident, a 20-year-old man tried to rape his one-and-a-half-year-old neighbour. He failed in his intention as the mother reached the place before he could succeed in his attempt. This happened in Bangalore.

By legalizing prostitution and making it easily available to craving individuals, we may be able to save some innocents from such attacks. These attacks crush the entire lives of affected individuals. (Quite the opposite in case of Shiney)