Report No. 64
3.3. Abolition not practicable.-
There is, however, a deeper reason also. Prostitution, though an evil, has been regarded in almost all societies as an unfortunate but a necessary evil, and Indian society is no exception1 Various measures have been adopted from time to time to check the evil effects of prostitution and to control its undesirable aspects, but the inarticulate assumption that the law cannot abolish it effectively, has been the basis of legislation in India as well as in many other countries. Down from 1837, when the Penal Code was taken up on the anvil,2 to 1956, when the present Act was passed, it has not been considered necessary to go beyond the provisions which we find in the Act. The Act is, therefore, concerned not with prostitution itself, but with the manner in which the activities of prostitutes and of those associated with them which offend against, public order and decency, expose the ordinary citizen to what is offensive or injurious, or involves the exploitation of others.
1. See para. 1.7, supra.
2. The Penal Code was actually passed in 1860.
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