Comparative Governance of the Sex Industry: An Analysis Framework for Sex Worker Welfare in India and the Netherlands

Aphoristically speaking the sex worker industry is one of the oldest professions but remains highly stigmatised, operating under vastly different social and legal frameworks around the world. In India the act of sex work is not explicitly outlawed but regulated under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 which criminalises brothel-keeping, soliciting, and third-party involvement making it a legal grey area. On the other hand, the Netherlands has legalised the industry through the 2000s lifting of General Ban on Brothels Act and the industry is regulated under Article 250(a) of Dutch Penal Code granting sex workers access to labour rights and social protection. This paper conducts a social audit of the sex-worker industry in the above two jurisdiction and applies the Hanson’s audit framework to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing policies and reliability of institutional records. The paper also uses three research methodologies- Systemic risk analysis to examine regulatory vulnerabilities present in the system, Financial Gradient Analysis to track economic flows and labour conditions and lastly Social Entropy to measure social acceptance and institutional trust. The study aims to provide an secondary research evidence-based policy recommendations drawn from decriminalization models and harm- reduction approaches to ensure sex worker's rights, economic security and social protection. To realise this, we will conduct a qualitative analysis of legal texts, financial models of sex work economies, social entropy indicators and policy benching across different countries focusing especially on India and Netherlands. We will also refer to various field studies conducted by experts for the same. By including these methodologies, the paper aims to propose an actionable solution for creating a right-based, economically secured and socially inclusive environment for sex-workers.