Escort service trade on the rise, despite govt measures

Experts believe govt's ban on escort websites would not put a stop to an industry, having a yearly turnover of Rs 600 crore

A quick search on Google for 'Escorts Service India' shows around 2,470,000 results. Even after factoring that some of these would be news, websites of companies with similar names, around 85 per cent of these offer "companionship and other related services" for a few hours at a price.

Earlier this week, the government banned 237 such websites on the recommendation of committee under the ministry of home affairs. However, experts believe such bans would not put a stop to an industry, having a yearly turnover of Rs 600 crore.

From five-line advertisements in a corner of the classified section of newspapers to snazzy websites, escort services in India have come a long way. Balancing itself on a thin line between legal and illegal, escort services have for long managed to thrive. While there are no official figures, according to studies done by several international government and non-government agencies, the global escort service industry sees an annual turnover of $11 billion, growing at a rapid pace.

"The menace of the escort service industry is increasing at a fast pace. Many agencies, massage and beauty parlours which cater to flesh trade are mushrooming not only in metropolitans but in tier-II and tier-III towns. We do not have any official numbers but this could more than Rs 600- crore industry. Girls from Northeastern states are being pushed into this industry and the government needs to do a crackdown of these services," said Rishi Kant, social activist of Delhi -based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Shakti Vahini.

But are these websites illegal? According to the police, they are not. "Most of these websites, offer everything from companionship, friendship, but not sexual services, at least not in as many words. We cannot arrest them for that. When we crackdown these sites, we first send a 'decoy customer' and only after the other party accepts the payment, we go for the arrest. We can only arrest them for solicitation and that, too, with the proof the money paid was to gain sexual favours," said a senior police officer of the Delhi Police.

According to cyber law experts, banning these websites is difficult and futile it is social media posts and pages through which these agencies operate and not just the website.

"Banning is a failed experiment as it cannot be done from within the country because they are outside territorial bounds. Also many are active on popular social media portals and not all can be tracked. The best thing to do is to create awareness of the legal ramifications that one might face for opting these services. Till then, it would be a demand and supply game," said Pavan Duggal, an advocate cyber and e-commerce law.

Many experts also point out international classified portals as a major source for such services. "Apart from the banned escort service sites, there are many other sites which offer such services. You can even find these services being offered on classified advertisements website Craigslist. Banning such sites is impractical," said Prasanth Sugathan, partner at Sugathan & Associates, counsel at Software Freedom Law Center, India.

"Even if the government blocks these websites, this is not going to solve real problems. The government should take action on the ground instead of coming up with superficial measures," he added.