Distrust Between Criminalization And Arrest

Contrary to popular belief that ‘prostitutes’ need to be heavily controlled and restrained; criminalization and arrest can backfire into a huge problem for both sides as it creates distrust between the law and prostitutes. Criminalization and arrest can have many repercussions, such as jeopardizing their career, ruin their reputation in the industry and in case of an arrest it can create a criminal record which causes the sex worker to be unable to obtain jobs if he/she wants to do something else later in life. This distrust causes further problems and gives an opportunity for the aggressors/customers to use this chance to their advantage; such as coercing the worker into providing a full service rather than what she had already offered by
threatening to call the police on the establishment. Aside from that the worker might be in a hurry to find a customer and not get caught by the police which makes her rush her choice, and not pay proper attention to her customer, such as not writing down their license plate number or seeing if the client is on the blacklist. This toxic relationship between the two parties makes the worker not feel safe enough when she needs help and support of the law, putting her life at stake. Not only a sex worker is under-protected from the police, she does not have the same rights and privileges as a normal citizen. A sex worker might also experience harassment from the police which also normalizes this behavior for community members; making it seem that it is acceptable if sex workers are discriminated against.

One of the biggest and main issues that has been around for many years around sex work is stigmatization that stems from the aristocratic prejudice, this prejudice deemed earning wages for providing a service as immoral and proposes that ‘their inevitable preoccupation with gain would pervert their political judgement, making them small minded’ (Nussabaum, 371) therefore, earning money for offering sex is considered to be dishonest at its base.
Moreover, the shame that one is offering sex in exchange for profit is only pushed towards workers and not their clients; they get labeled as “whores” and ‘being treated as this job title is who they are not what they do’. (Bruckert, 71) This label usually sticks with the workers throughout their trajectory and they feel like they have been out casted from the society; receiving treatments such as being declined jobs outside of the industry, eviction once landlord knows about their choice of career, and being followed by the police even when they are not working. The critical labeling of sex workers was partially because of the understanding people had, as having ‘sexual contact that does not involve love or marriage is presumed to be obscene, and female sexuality is a cause of disruption unless tightly controlled.’ (Nussabaum,381,384) All of these labeling and stigmatization derive the workers out of the normal society and to their own community, because no one will be judging rather empower and sympathize just like friends
do.

Sex workers in Canada have been trying to voice their opinions to feminists for a long time now, yet they tend to be underestimated and excluded. This behavior usually is from the assumption that a worker does not know better and does not qualify to make intelligent, sufficient remarks therefore, their judgement is not valuable to make changes. The feminist activist groups that overshadow their ideas believe that they have been coerced and repressed into entering the industry; although this may be true for those who have been trafficked and exploited from a young age, it does not necessarily cover for those workers who work in the industry consensually and depend on it to survive. As Rose says, this constant remark that ‘prostitution is entangled with victimization and trafficking has produced extreme amount of shame’ (59) this also brings us to another point that even if a worker realizes that she has been exploited all along her career but wants to continue her trajectory only with better conditions is looked at with ‘severe amount of skepticism’ (60), putting her in a position to do less work and increase dependability on her partner. Finally, the sex worker community has been incredibly undermined and underestimated. They get discriminated against not only from the feminist communities but also from the police for “not knowing better” and not being intelligent enough to make a change; suppressing their voices rather than hearing and helping them out.

In conclusion, the sex work industry whether it is exploitation, trafficking or consensual sex has been heavily discriminated against it is one of the most under protected jobs by the police.
They get judged if they want to offer experiences, and will be constantly reminded that they are not part of the normal society where everyone has rights except them. Criminalization can make matters worse by creating a hateful environment between the law and the workers, making it that much harder to monitor the abusers and aggressors towards women in the industry. This environment can also be the cause why many women who have been trafficked to first world countries do not speak up, as they get threatened by their managers and ‘pimps’ that the police will punish them for what they have done rather than sympathize and understand. Overall, I think sex work should be legalized considering it will lower violence, harassment and distrust towards the workers. Also feminist communities and the police should be a source of support and assistance by listening and watching their
backs.