India has over 8 lakh sex workers, historically forced to live in the shadows. They are brutalised by society and State. They seek justice against wage theft by law enforcement,  petty criminals, and non paying clients. Despite being highly vulnerable to HIV and other opportunistic infections, they are denied access to healthcare. There are no social security measures available to them. They are not even considered workers. 

Sex work entails the provision of sexual services, and sex workers are part of the informal workforce. Sex workers are not asking for legalisation. They are asking for decriminalisation. Without that, they will not have what every worker needs — safeguards against discrimination and the power to dictate their terms of labor with dignity.