Prostitutes of God documentary explores the presence of sex trafficking in India. The documentary is hosted by a journalist known as Sarah Hassan who visits several parts of rural India. Young girls in different parts of India are dedicated to the goddess Yellemma through a ritual. The investigation in the documentary aims at understanding the practice as a cultural and religious process. Nonetheless, the documentary provides disturbing scenes that are a violation of human rights and cannot be justified based on cultural relativism.
The most disturbing aspect of the documentary is that dedication is a form of sex trafficking. Most of the girls are dedicated at a very young age. Thus, they do not give consent to and do not have an idea of what the dedication entails. The young girls do not get an understanding of what being a Devadasi means (Stelley & Capper 2012). The sad fact about this is that it is tied to religion. The Indians community highly regards religion and culture. Thus, even after the girls learn what a Devadasi means, they still have no choice but to carry on.
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Another disturbing fact presented in the documentary is that most of these girls end up HIV positive. There are no measures taken to protect the girls. HIV is very prevalent in the community (Stelley & Capper, 2012). For instance, in the documentary, a former devadasi narrates how she lost her daughter to HIV. In that, when one member of a family gets infected, then the other family members become vulnerable. Notably, the dedication is considered by some as cultural relativism.
Cultural relativism is the idea that some cultural practices should not be judged based on their standard. In that, what is considered as right or wrong are relative. Thus, people outside the culture should try to understand and respect cultural practices ( Mingst et al., 2018). The idea of cultural relativism is seen in the young girls that are dedicated to Yellema. The dedication of these girls to prostitution is ranked as a cultural and religious activity. However, the dedication to the Yellamma cannot be justified based on cultural relativism.
All human rights are universal, interdependent, and indivisible. Thus, there are not cultural practices that should be justified based on cultural relativism (Mingst et al., 2018). Based on human rights, women and girls should be protected against sexually trafficking. They should be protected regardless of their cultural practices. The girls dedicated to Yellemma, do not give consent, and some are so young that they do not understand the practice. Thus, these acts should be considered as a violation of human rights.
The main issue identified in the documentary is the sexual trafficking of young girls. Thus, some recommendations can be implemented to eliminate sex trafficking of young girls. The first recommendation is to develop a bill that will expand into a law that prevents and protects these young girls (Mingst et al., 2018). The bill will provide immediate protection to vulnerable girls. It will also stipulate the punishment of the offenders.
Additionally, the human rights body can launch a national investigation agency. The national investigation agency will be in charge of looking out and ensuring that the dedication ritual is not active. Besides the bill, the agency will act as the physical protector of these young girls.
Conclusively, the prostitute of god documentary is a presentation of the prevalent sexual traffic act in India. Even though the ritual was declared illegal, it is practiced in different parts of India. The documentary presents how the human rights of young girls and women are violated. The Indian human rights office should look into developing law and an investigation agency that will protect women against sex trafficking.
References
Mingst, K. A., McKibben, H. E., & Arreguin-Toft, I. M. (2018). Essentials of international relations . WW Norton & Company.
Stelley, S., & Capper, A. (2012). Prostitutes of God [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GFaN9-1iz0&feature=youtu.be
