Sex & the city: Social media a force multiplier

Bengaluru: It’s no secret that the city ‘s many lodges, massage parlours and young professionals flush with money provide the perfect combination for a thriving sex racket in Bengaluru. But of late social networking sites have made it even more lucrative for those in the business. Interestingly, Bengaluru was ahead of Mumbai ( 74) and Kolkatta ( 31) in the the number of cases booked under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act in 2013 with only Chennai recording more cases (264), going by the National Crime Records Bureau.

As many as 160 cases were booked in Bengaluru in 2012 , 182 in 2013 and over 150 till the end of November this year under the Act. Despite the spiralling cases, the police insists the city is not a flesh trade haven.

“Just because the number of cases registered is rising, you cannot conclude the city is turning into a hub for prostitution. It’s only because we are more alert now and are cracking down harder on prostitution and human trafficking that the cases on record are rising. Whenever a raid is conducted, we book a case under the ITP Act,” says a senior police official. One officer however, admits Bengaluru is proving ‘lucrative’ for those in the flesh trade.

“The city has a huge population of outsiders, who come here looking for education and employment. Also, its young professionals are making a lot of money and don’t mind spending some of it on having ‘fun’. The racketeers are aware of this and make best use of it,” he says, revealing that unlike in the past when they operated only through their contacts, now, they are approaching people through websites as well.

While massage parlours and spas offer a front for the business, social networking sites are now being increasingly used by those in the trade to gain easy access to clients. Online advertisements are often tailored to appeal to young customers, who prove easy pickings for those running the racket, says the police. But if the social networking sites are helping bring more business to those in the trade, they are also being used by the police to bust prostitution rackets with a good number of people tipping off the lawmen on Twitter about where they can crack down on them in the city.

Meanwhile, the police may not believe the city is turning into a flesh trade haven, but it cannot deny that thousands of young girls and women are brought to it by human traffickers looking to make money from the racket.

Many of the girls are trafficked to the IT city from Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and even North Karnataka. On arrival, they are lodged in a flat owned or rented by the pimp involved before the “business” begins post sunset. The kingpins assign the pimp the job of managing seven or 10 women, depending on the area of his operation.

Different parts of Bengaluru are divided into smaller blocks to make the operations easier to handle. The blocks are usually commercial and not residential in nature to avoid conflict with local residents. But at times high-end apartments too are used to pull wool over the eyes of the authorities. Besides the women trafficked to the city, a large number, who come from rural areas to it in search of a living, often end up doing sex work, according to social activist, Manohar Elavarthi.

“They are not victims of trafficking, but economic migrants, who are drawn into it due to poverty, ” he explains.

“This year alone, the Central Crime Branch has conducted over 100 raids and rescued over 800 women and children,” he says.