The definition of human rights states that human rights are the sum total of the minimum rights required by human beings to live with human dignity and dignity. In other words, human rights are natural rights that only human beings have because they are born as human beings. But some events and conditions in the country show that everyone who is born as a human being does not receive the universal and inalienable human rights equally.

There are also examples of people losing their human rights due to special identity and special actions. For example, sex workers can be taken in the context of Nepal. 

Nepal has not yet made any legal provisions regarding sex workers. The government has not even recognized it as a profession. Nor does any existing law directly criminalize the profession. But in the Human Trafficking and Trafficking (Control) Act, 2064, it is mentioned that 'victim' means a person who is sold, trafficked or forced into prostitution and in paragraph-2 (4.b) of this act, it is mentioned that if the person commits an act of 'prostitution with or without taking any kind of benefit', it is considered to be human trafficking and trafficking. 

The same law that criminalizes trafficking within and outside Nepal is used for sex workers. The law, which was passed to prevent trafficking as prostitution, has been used to prosecute sex workers. Therefore, clients and accomplices who benefit from sex workers are considered as crimes, while those involved in sex work are arrested according to the law and made criminals.

In this way, when the law looks at human trafficking and sex work from the same point of view, sex work has been criminalized as an alternative to meet the daily basic needs of people who have violated their human rights and children who have been involved in a heinous crime like human trafficking. Yet, workers continue to buy and sell services clandestinely. At the same time, sex workers are victims of sexual violence, exploitation and rape. Despite this, they have been deprived of legal remedies. 

A 2017 UNAIDS report estimated that there are 67,300 sex workers across the country. According to the National Center for Sexual and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control, there are 86,809 female sex workers in Nepal, while 85,000 are members of sex worker organizations according to Swasa Nepal, Jagriti Mahila Federation and sex worker organizations. This reveals that Nepali society is not without sex work. Irony! All these sex workers in this society are deprived of their legal and constitutional rights/rights and human rights. whose voices are united to decriminalize sex work. 

Here it is important to understand the difference between decriminalization and legalization. The distinction between these midwives is based on the aspect of working for the rights of sex workers. According to which, when sex work is legalized it is regulated by the government, the sex worker concerned must obtain a license. This process is managed by the relevant government agencies, including the police, which means it is under their control. 

Legitimacy may include aspects such as work permit licenses, government registration systems for sex workers, and mandatory health checks. If the sexual act takes place without consent, the person involved may be criminally liable.

In addition to determining the minimum age limit for sex workers, even if sex work is legal, if a person under the specified age is involved in the act or is found to be involved, both the person involved and the person involved will be arrested. Along with legalization, professional records of sex workers, forced HIV testing, geographic restrictions on sexual activity and family background checks are carried out.

However, there are thousands of sex workers in Nepal and fellow organizations working to emphasize their human rights and access to justice, are advocating for the decriminalization of sex work and changes in discriminatory laws and policies. Legalizing sex work and keeping government records of sex workers can act as a deterrent if they want to change jobs in the future. Some of the "red light areas" in different countries have been turned into commercial, dignified and residential areas (gentrification) to a large extent due to the strict laws of the state and the activism of the locals. 

Examples include Kalijodo (Jakarta, Indonesia), Amsterdam's 'red light' district (Netherlands), Reeperbahn (Hamburg, Germany), Seoul, South Korea and Texas. Somewhere in these countries, the state itself is working to promote family-friendly, cultural tourism by making a law and removing those areas from the 'red light area'.

In the joint initiative of the state and non-governmental organizations, attempts have been made to rehabilitate sex workers, to provide them with employment options, and to remove the "red light" area. Strict laws on human trafficking have also made it difficult for brothels to operate openly, causing them to self-displace for fear of being caught in raids. 

When sexual labor is legalized, it must be kept in mind that it will repeat itself over generations and increase the possibility of human trafficking and forced sex work in the specified area. Sex workers do not have access to health care. In a discussion held on the Sex Workers' Rights Day, drug-using sex workers said that they could not seek health care openly even though they were HIV positive.

These workers are in a situation where they have to endure non-cooperation, violence and abuse from their families to prepare documents such as citizenship required for health insurance. According to a study conducted by the sex workers' friends organizations in 2024, only 61 percent of sex workers have citizenship.

Sex workers who have obtained citizenship have the same bitter feeling of being ostracized, having experienced domestic and social violence and abuse while being asked for citizenship by their father-in-law, brother-in-law, village dignitaries, and being circumcised in various institutions. Again they have no access to justice. Children born to non-citizen sex workers do not have birth registration and citizenship. Due to this, they have been deprived from basic level education to get higher education. 

The constitution provides that every person has the right to live with dignity (Article 16.1) and that all citizens are equal under the law, and that no one is deprived of the equal protection of the law (Article 18.1). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed by Nepal, states that every person has the right to a nationality (Article 15).

The situation of sex workers in Nepal was also presented during the 90th session of the 2119th meeting of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in Geneva, Switzerland. On February 24, 2025, SID stated that the legal definition of trafficking and sex workers are violated when sex workers' rights are violated, monitoring the exploitation of women sex workers, ensuring easy and if necessary access to free legal services/assistance and legal protection, providing sex workers with adequate access to education, health, social security and taking necessary measures to protect the rights of sex workers, remembering the need to respect the fundamental right to work and free choice of profession and recommends promoting a safe working environment for all workers.