Pros And Cons Of Decriminalizing Prostitution
Blaine Garland
Dr. Manian
Final Paper
5 December 2014
Legalize Prostitution
One of the oldest legal problems comes from one of the world 's oldest profession, prostitution; there is no denying that the sex industry has been an international work force and some believe it has helped the economy for many countries. As countries around the world deliberate the characteristics of legalizing or at least decriminalizing prostitution. By legalizing or decriminalizing would this reduce some of the inequalities and abuse suffered by the women involved? On the other hand, by legitimizing prostitution, would society reverse decades of work to promote human rights and help women become more involved in society? One might say, this is just is just …show more content…
an argument our society brings up over and over again and never resolves. However, it is not. Rather than focus on morality, now the question asked should be: is prostitution a form of exploitation to be put an end to or an occupation to be regulated? Personally, I don 't know why prostitution isn 't legal, other than for some moral reason. It 's something you cannot get rid of, so I think prostitution should be legalized. I believe that if a male or female decides to sell her body in a sexual or erotic manner then that is their business. Granted, I do not find prostitution a decent profession, nor would I ever consider it, but I think it is a decision that should be made by the individual. I will argue in this paper that by decriminalizing prostitution, prostitution can be seen as an occupation, laws would protect prostitutes, and finally health concerns would be regulated.
For decades, researchers have speculated why women would go freely into prostitution. Latent lesbianism, low intelligence, a home life of abuse, and desperate poverty are on the top of the list of possible reasons. Nevertheless, no one has been able to isolate a specific set of social factors that leads to prostitution. “But, many women enter the sex work from a variety of castes and for a range of reasons. Some are abandoned by their families, some are beaten by their husbands, and some are widows” (Gangoli 2007). Current articles about prostitutes and new scientific studies have been shown through, How Indian feminist engage with prostitution, to conclude that prostitution is, “just another occupation” (Gangoli 2007). If in fact, prostitution is looked upon as an occupation, then why not create a win-win situation for the women. Some believe “like any other occupation, sex-work too is an occupation and not a moral condition. If it is one of the ‘oldest’ professions in the world, it is because prostitution must have continued to meet an important and consistent social demand. But the word ‘prostitute’ is rarely used to refer to an occupational group of women who earn their livelihood through providing sexual services” (Gangoli 2007). The DMSC, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, believes prostitution is a career choice for social and economic reasons (Gangoli 2007). Prostitutes would contribute economically to society and would have in return rights to health benefits and retirement would be ensured. Prostitutes should pay regular taxes on the same terms of other working people and employees, and with that receive the same benefits as them.
As well as being able to contribute to society, prostitutes will be safer following the rules of the law. One argument against prostitution is that women and children are forced into the sex trade or they are kidnapped. This can be true, especially in Asia and other third world countries, “women and girls are taken across borders and sold into brothels and into sex-work without them knowing or their consent” (Joshi pg. 242). It should be noted; however, that most prostitutes do not consider themselves to be victims and claim to freely choose prostitution as their occupation. In the article Immorality, Hurt or Choice, the author recognizes India and their focus has been on harm, coercion and victimhood, especially on child prostitution (Gangoli 2007). More serious crimes, such as child prostitution, are harder to supervise in the general case of criminality. Prostitution of children is definitely a violation of rights because it shows the child sexual activity when they are lacking physical and mental maturity (Gangoli 2007). Prostitutes find it almost impossible to press their cases on abuse and other cases because of their vulnerability to prosecution and because of their lack of resources. If they do press their case about abuse or something else, it is doubtful that they will be believed. For instance, it is often said a prostitute cannot be raped. Legalization would also allow officials to give up the untrue ideas of upholding anti-prostitution laws, bring more safety, legitimacy, and autonomy to the industry as a whole. Laws would distinguish between voluntary and forced prostitution.
Empowerment of prostitutes holds the greatest promise of the prevention of the spread of AIDS and venereal diseases.
From the health point of view, it is surely self-evident that an open sex industry, in which workers are not stigmatized and outlawed, would be to the benefit of all concerned, both prostitutes and clients. Countries like India could and should provide health facilities for sex workers. In the section, “The Daughters of Yellamma,” we see that people with the disease have no hope for themselves. Kaveri’s brother has AIDS and has totally given up on life. Kaveri says, “My brother is totally bedridden now. He has fevers and diarrhea. He used to be such a handsome man, with a fine face and large eyes. Now those eyes are closed and his face is covered in boils and lesions” (Dalrymple pg. 220). Having AIDS for these people is life ending and the person ultimately gives up. These women should have a place to go if they have this disease. In Nepal, they have the option of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation within Nepal has “focused on an education, counseling and safe home. Rehabilitation has also focused on encouraging women to be financially self- sustaining by teaching them income- generating skills, and providing women with information about personal health care and disease prevention” (Joshi 2004). In Nevada, prostitutes are required to register with the state. These prostitutes are required to appear twice a week at a special clinic to be examined for venereal diseases. This health supervision and care of prostitutes, including hospitalization when necessary, is brought about entirely by the state. Although some rules the prostitutes have to endure are excessive, such as not being able to go into town during the week and not being allowed to have relationships with anyone outside of the brothel, Nevada has done a better job than most to control prostitution. The Bombay-based, Asahaya Tirskrut Nari Sangh, feels as if prostitution is necessary
and preserves the family and prevents rape (Gangoli 2007). A social worker with this group has quoted, “if prostitutes are unhealthy, they will infect our children, the young boys who go to them for gratification. Prostitutes prevent women from good families from getting raped. If prostitutes were not there, women would not be able to walk on the road. Unmarried young men would attack any woman on the road. In fact in my opinion, prostitutes are next only to mothers and should be treated with respect” (Gangoli 2007). The current system, where prostitution is withdrawn but not substantially punished, is clearly not working. Society should learn from other countries that have decriminalized adult sex work, yet resist street prostitution. Countries, such as Thailand, have shown that decriminalization and even legitimized prostitution can work under specific circumstances. State regulation has reduced prostitution related crime and venereal diseases, and it has even increased state revenues, as prostitutes and brothels have to pay income taxes.
Along with health conditions, prostitutes are also treated with violence by their brothel owners. Prostitution has much in common with other kinds of violence against women. What incest is to the family, prostitution is seen to the community. Prostitution is widely socially tolerated and its consumers are socially invisible. Clearly, violence is the norm for women in prostitution. Incest, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, stalking, rape, battering, and torture are points on a variety of violence, all of which occur regularly in prostitution. A difference between prostitution and other types of gender violence is the payment of money for the abuse. Yet payment of money does not erase all that we know about sexual harassment, rape and domestic violence. If we were to legalize prostitution this would enable prostitutes to prosecute for abuses against their brothel owners. This would then be considered the prostitutes choice in society and would no longer be considered a crime because it is legal.
An experiment of legalization or decriminalization is worth the risk; however, regulation would be necessary. It is important to stress that prostitution legislation improvement needs to go hand and hand with other social policy improvements, including the female poverty problem and child welfare. Unfortunately, the fact remains that a politician 's support for the legalization or decriminalization of prostitution would be political suicide. Public opinion does not go well for any politician who is perceived to be soft on crime, much less someone that is a supporter of prostitution. One can only hope that political courage and public education will allow improvements to occur. The benefits to both the prostitute and society are hard to ignore. By the legalization and decriminalization of prostitution, the life of sex workers will be greatly improved, because legal workers are more able to resist exploitation and to report offenses committed against them. They will be able to access health, welfare and legal resources. Society will have a greater say in their health habits and regulation will be possible. Society as a whole will be safer. For example, as a restaurant will lose its reputation and eventually its license if the food isn 't fresh and health codes aren 't met, the exact same thing will happen to the free market to regulate health standards of working women.
Bibliography
Dalrymple, William. "The Daughters of Yellamma." AIDS Sutra: Untold Stories from India. New York: Anchor, 2008. 219-42. Print.
Gangoli, Geetanjali. "Immorality, Hurt Or Choice: How Indian Feminists Engage With
Prostitution." International Feminist Journal Of Politics 9.1 (2007): 1-19. Academic Search Complete. Web.
Joshi, Sushma. " 'Cheli-Beti ' Discourses of Trafficking and Constructions of Gender,
Citizenship and Nation in Modern Nepal." Sexual Sites, Seminal Attitudes Sexualities, Masculinities, and Culture in South Asia. New Delhi: Sage, 2004. 242-70. Print.
Raj, Anita, et al. "Transactional Sex Risk And STI Among HIV-Infected Female Sex
Workers And HIV-Infected Male Clients Of Fsws In India." AIDS Care 23.11 (2011): 1374-1381. Sociological Collection. Web.
Razack, Sherene. "Race, Space, And Prostitution: The Making Of The Bourgeois
Subject." Canadian Journal Of Women & The Law 10.2 (1998): 338-379. Academic Search Complete. Web.
Dr. Manian
Final Paper
5 December 2014
Legalize Prostitution
One of the oldest legal problems comes from one of the world 's oldest profession, prostitution; there is no denying that the sex industry has been an international work force and some believe it has helped the economy for many countries. As countries around the world deliberate the characteristics of legalizing or at least decriminalizing prostitution. By legalizing or decriminalizing would this reduce some of the inequalities and abuse suffered by the women involved? On the other hand, by legitimizing prostitution, would society reverse decades of work to promote human rights and help women become more involved in society? One might say, this is just is just …show more content…
an argument our society brings up over and over again and never resolves. However, it is not. Rather than focus on morality, now the question asked should be: is prostitution a form of exploitation to be put an end to or an occupation to be regulated? Personally, I don 't know why prostitution isn 't legal, other than for some moral reason. It 's something you cannot get rid of, so I think prostitution should be legalized. I believe that if a male or female decides to sell her body in a sexual or erotic manner then that is their business. Granted, I do not find prostitution a decent profession, nor would I ever consider it, but I think it is a decision that should be made by the individual. I will argue in this paper that by decriminalizing prostitution, prostitution can be seen as an occupation, laws would protect prostitutes, and finally health concerns would be regulated.
For decades, researchers have speculated why women would go freely into prostitution. Latent lesbianism, low intelligence, a home life of abuse, and desperate poverty are on the top of the list of possible reasons. Nevertheless, no one has been able to isolate a specific set of social factors that leads to prostitution. “But, many women enter the sex work from a variety of castes and for a range of reasons. Some are abandoned by their families, some are beaten by their husbands, and some are widows” (Gangoli 2007). Current articles about prostitutes and new scientific studies have been shown through, How Indian feminist engage with prostitution, to conclude that prostitution is, “just another occupation” (Gangoli 2007). If in fact, prostitution is looked upon as an occupation, then why not create a win-win situation for the women. Some believe “like any other occupation, sex-work too is an occupation and not a moral condition. If it is one of the ‘oldest’ professions in the world, it is because prostitution must have continued to meet an important and consistent social demand. But the word ‘prostitute’ is rarely used to refer to an occupational group of women who earn their livelihood through providing sexual services” (Gangoli 2007). The DMSC, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, believes prostitution is a career choice for social and economic reasons (Gangoli 2007). Prostitutes would contribute economically to society and would have in return rights to health benefits and retirement would be ensured. Prostitutes should pay regular taxes on the same terms of other working people and employees, and with that receive the same benefits as them.
As well as being able to contribute to society, prostitutes will be safer following the rules of the law. One argument against prostitution is that women and children are forced into the sex trade or they are kidnapped. This can be true, especially in Asia and other third world countries, “women and girls are taken across borders and sold into brothels and into sex-work without them knowing or their consent” (Joshi pg. 242). It should be noted; however, that most prostitutes do not consider themselves to be victims and claim to freely choose prostitution as their occupation. In the article Immorality, Hurt or Choice, the author recognizes India and their focus has been on harm, coercion and victimhood, especially on child prostitution (Gangoli 2007). More serious crimes, such as child prostitution, are harder to supervise in the general case of criminality. Prostitution of children is definitely a violation of rights because it shows the child sexual activity when they are lacking physical and mental maturity (Gangoli 2007). Prostitutes find it almost impossible to press their cases on abuse and other cases because of their vulnerability to prosecution and because of their lack of resources. If they do press their case about abuse or something else, it is doubtful that they will be believed. For instance, it is often said a prostitute cannot be raped. Legalization would also allow officials to give up the untrue ideas of upholding anti-prostitution laws, bring more safety, legitimacy, and autonomy to the industry as a whole. Laws would distinguish between voluntary and forced prostitution.
Empowerment of prostitutes holds the greatest promise of the prevention of the spread of AIDS and venereal diseases.
From the health point of view, it is surely self-evident that an open sex industry, in which workers are not stigmatized and outlawed, would be to the benefit of all concerned, both prostitutes and clients. Countries like India could and should provide health facilities for sex workers. In the section, “The Daughters of Yellamma,” we see that people with the disease have no hope for themselves. Kaveri’s brother has AIDS and has totally given up on life. Kaveri says, “My brother is totally bedridden now. He has fevers and diarrhea. He used to be such a handsome man, with a fine face and large eyes. Now those eyes are closed and his face is covered in boils and lesions” (Dalrymple pg. 220). Having AIDS for these people is life ending and the person ultimately gives up. These women should have a place to go if they have this disease. In Nepal, they have the option of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation within Nepal has “focused on an education, counseling and safe home. Rehabilitation has also focused on encouraging women to be financially self- sustaining by teaching them income- generating skills, and providing women with information about personal health care and disease prevention” (Joshi 2004). In Nevada, prostitutes are required to register with the state. These prostitutes are required to appear twice a week at a special clinic to be examined for venereal diseases. This health supervision and care of prostitutes, including hospitalization when necessary, is brought about entirely by the state. Although some rules the prostitutes have to endure are excessive, such as not being able to go into town during the week and not being allowed to have relationships with anyone outside of the brothel, Nevada has done a better job than most to control prostitution. The Bombay-based, Asahaya Tirskrut Nari Sangh, feels as if prostitution is necessary
and preserves the family and prevents rape (Gangoli 2007). A social worker with this group has quoted, “if prostitutes are unhealthy, they will infect our children, the young boys who go to them for gratification. Prostitutes prevent women from good families from getting raped. If prostitutes were not there, women would not be able to walk on the road. Unmarried young men would attack any woman on the road. In fact in my opinion, prostitutes are next only to mothers and should be treated with respect” (Gangoli 2007). The current system, where prostitution is withdrawn but not substantially punished, is clearly not working. Society should learn from other countries that have decriminalized adult sex work, yet resist street prostitution. Countries, such as Thailand, have shown that decriminalization and even legitimized prostitution can work under specific circumstances. State regulation has reduced prostitution related crime and venereal diseases, and it has even increased state revenues, as prostitutes and brothels have to pay income taxes.
Along with health conditions, prostitutes are also treated with violence by their brothel owners. Prostitution has much in common with other kinds of violence against women. What incest is to the family, prostitution is seen to the community. Prostitution is widely socially tolerated and its consumers are socially invisible. Clearly, violence is the norm for women in prostitution. Incest, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, stalking, rape, battering, and torture are points on a variety of violence, all of which occur regularly in prostitution. A difference between prostitution and other types of gender violence is the payment of money for the abuse. Yet payment of money does not erase all that we know about sexual harassment, rape and domestic violence. If we were to legalize prostitution this would enable prostitutes to prosecute for abuses against their brothel owners. This would then be considered the prostitutes choice in society and would no longer be considered a crime because it is legal.
An experiment of legalization or decriminalization is worth the risk; however, regulation would be necessary. It is important to stress that prostitution legislation improvement needs to go hand and hand with other social policy improvements, including the female poverty problem and child welfare. Unfortunately, the fact remains that a politician 's support for the legalization or decriminalization of prostitution would be political suicide. Public opinion does not go well for any politician who is perceived to be soft on crime, much less someone that is a supporter of prostitution. One can only hope that political courage and public education will allow improvements to occur. The benefits to both the prostitute and society are hard to ignore. By the legalization and decriminalization of prostitution, the life of sex workers will be greatly improved, because legal workers are more able to resist exploitation and to report offenses committed against them. They will be able to access health, welfare and legal resources. Society will have a greater say in their health habits and regulation will be possible. Society as a whole will be safer. For example, as a restaurant will lose its reputation and eventually its license if the food isn 't fresh and health codes aren 't met, the exact same thing will happen to the free market to regulate health standards of working women.
Bibliography
Dalrymple, William. "The Daughters of Yellamma." AIDS Sutra: Untold Stories from India. New York: Anchor, 2008. 219-42. Print.
Gangoli, Geetanjali. "Immorality, Hurt Or Choice: How Indian Feminists Engage With
Prostitution." International Feminist Journal Of Politics 9.1 (2007): 1-19. Academic Search Complete. Web.
Joshi, Sushma. " 'Cheli-Beti ' Discourses of Trafficking and Constructions of Gender,
Citizenship and Nation in Modern Nepal." Sexual Sites, Seminal Attitudes Sexualities, Masculinities, and Culture in South Asia. New Delhi: Sage, 2004. 242-70. Print.
Raj, Anita, et al. "Transactional Sex Risk And STI Among HIV-Infected Female Sex
Workers And HIV-Infected Male Clients Of Fsws In India." AIDS Care 23.11 (2011): 1374-1381. Sociological Collection. Web.
Razack, Sherene. "Race, Space, And Prostitution: The Making Of The Bourgeois
Subject." Canadian Journal Of Women & The Law 10.2 (1998): 338-379. Academic Search Complete. Web.