Less than a fortnight after a high-profile campaign against foreign sex traffickers by Delhi Minister Somnath Bharti, thousands of people in search of paid sex continue to flock the Capital’s largest red-light district, Garstin Bastion road. Potential clients negotiated openly with pimps on Thursday evening, as bored policemen stood by in two jeeps stationed on the road.
Pimps and sex workers, police officials told The Hindu , were also on the streets operating in several Delhi neighbourhoods, including Rohini, Sangam Vihar, and Tughlakabad.
Local newspapers, apparently unfazed by the Delhi government’s new commitment to stamp out sex trafficking, continue to carry thinly veiled sexual services for upmarket customers.
Depending on the location, and the specific nature of sexual services, street pimps charge customers anything between Rs. 100 to Rs. 5,000 for one customer.
Garston Bastion road pimps The Hindu spoke to said they had never seen workers of the Aam Admi Party (AAP), responsible for the controversial vigilante action against Ugandan and Nigerian sex-workers in Khirki area here.
“What AAP? No one from any party comes here,” one said. “The policemen do conduct raids at regular intervals and arrest us but let us go after taking some money.”
Another one said: “People from the NGOs come here to meet the sex workers but I have never seen anyone from the AAP. And even if they come here, such things will not be able to stop the sex trade here.”
Members of NGOs working for better conditions for sex workers said no political party had proved responsive when contacted for help with cases of trafficked women.
