India, Oct. 24 -- The Supreme Court's direction to magistrates to conduct a mandatory "threshold inquiry" in the event of an anti-trafficking operation should be seen as more than a mere procedural intervention. The move, which seeks to distinguish between voluntary sex work by an adult woman and human trafficking, returns a woman's agency back to her.

The inquiry, in itself, is not a new thing. Magistrates have long been tasked with inquiring about a trafficking victim's details, particularly when ascertaining their age. The significance of the top court's recent directive, however, lies in the intent behind the inquiry. By seeking to know whether the adult woman has consented to sex work, the court pushes the State to consider her fund...