Draft:Exploitation of Devadasis

• Comment: This needs to be completely rewritten as an encyclopedia article rather than a essay Stuartyeates (talk) 03:58, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

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The Devadasi tradition arose from a crossroads of India’s strict religious, gender, and societal norms; where girls or women would devote their lives to the religious service of deities in temples. In Hindu tradition becoming a devadasi was considered the most respectable service by a woman to society as she became a servant of God. According to inscriptions of 1004 A.D on the temple of Raja Rajeshwara there were portions of devadasis who were placed on similar levels to the temple priests. They would “sing sacred and divine songs and dedicated religious forms of dance for deities,” teaching music and dance while also engaging in “non-conjugal sexual relationships with upper-caste men.”

However, the Devadasi practice soon transformed into an extreme level of exploitation of these women in India. Majority of women in the Dalit caste, the lowest caste in India’s social hierarchy, are coerced into the devadasi system with half of them transforming into prostitutes. Therefore, the Devadasi practice contributes to the large scale of prostitutes and female victims of sex trafficking in India with over 20 millions Indian girls and women trapped in this system. Indian women and girls are often tricked into becoming devadasis to religiously devote their lives to the Hindu practice, however forced into human trafficking for commercial exploitation. The idea where a woman’s, “service to them is akin to service to God,” is used for women to be sexually exploited by higher caste individuals and temple leaders as their pleasure is pleasure to God as well. In a VICE documentary, “Prostitutes of God,” several Devadasi give first hand accounts of the practice. The women detail, “If you don’t become a Devadasi,” and engage in sexual prostitution, “there is no way to earn enough money.” The women become trapped in the cycle of prostitution, a cycle almost impossible to get out of after complete religious and financial dedication to the temple. Consequently, the modern iteration of the devadasi tradition is drastically different from its historical origins. The practice drifted from temple worship or dancing to sexual trafficking, prostitution and exploitation of the Dalit caste. Due to India’s strong religious and social beliefs these devadasis are forced into this lifestyle at an extremely young age, completely transforming into a religious sect of prostitution rather than the conventional system of sex workers. Due to its prominence in the Dalit caste, the practice thrives in many parts of Western and Southern India as the women are forced into the tradition for their own survival in the religious and economic pressures of the area. Therefore, due to the strict, misogynistic social commentary of these areas in India the judicial system is, “woefully ignorant of the law banning the practice,” even when the Indian Government outlawed the devadasi practice in order to make prostitution illegal throughout India. To combat this corruption, many people take to the streets to protest the sexual violence against young women and demand the government take more action against the exploitation of these women. Chief Justice of the Indian Supreme Court responded with policy reform to, “provide quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals accused of committing sexual assault against women.” This change in policy is a step forward in ending the religious and sexual exploitation of Indian women.

Saskia C. Kersenboom-Story details in her monograph the association of devadasis as “sacred prostitutes or “goddesses of fertility” cannot be applied to the modern day definition of devadasis as they are rather controlled and instilled to engage in sexual activity in pure means of survival or inability to receive help from the government. These women are forever trapped in this cycle due to higher caste members in these low economic areas, which contribute to the “enigmatic character of the devadasi tradition.”