Immoral Traffic
An Ethnography of Law, NGOs, and the Governance of Prostitution in India

An in-depth ethnography of the complex and contradictory impacts of India's anti-prostitution law and global anti-trafficking campaigns.

Vibhuti Ramachandran (Author)

9781009490290, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 April 2025

278 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.1 cm, 0.53 kg

This insightful ethnography delves into the complex intersection of India's anti-prostitution law and global anti-trafficking campaigns, and how they impact sex workers in both voluntary and involuntary situations. Immoral Traffic examines the role of legal actors and NGOs in implementing these interventions, revealing the mix of paternalism, humanitarianism, punitive care, bureaucracy, and morality in their efforts. Through a sequence of interventions prescribed by India's anti-prostitution law, the book follows the experiences of sex workers, from rescues to courts to carceral shelters. It sheds light on the ways in which donor-driven NGOs draw upon this law to implement anti-trafficking agendas, and how these interventions are navigated by women removed from the sex trade. Detailed and eye-opening, this book is a valuable resource for scholars and students of anthropology, law and society, gender and sexuality studies, South Asian studies, global studies, and critical studies of NGOs and humanitarianism.

1. Law, NGOs, and the Governance of Prostitution in India
2. A Tale of Two Rescues: Navigating Victimhood and the Politics of Intervention
3. 'These girls never give statements:' 'Victim-Witness Testimony' in a Delhi Court
4. Proving Prostitution: Evidence and Respectability in a Mumbai Court
5. 'She is not revealing anything:' Navigating Inquiries, Documents, and Kinship in a Mumbai Court
6. From 'House of Horrors' to 'Sensitive' Governance: Shelter Detention in Mumbai
Conclusion: The ITPA and Beyond.

Subject Areas: Law & society [LAQ]