Alam, Nazmul, et al. “Factors associated with condom use negotiation by female sex workers in Bangladesh” International Journal of STD & AIDS, vol 24, no. 10,
2013, p. 813-821. This paper summarizes Alam’s cross-sectional study focussed on the ability of female sex workers in Bangladesh to negotiate for condom use with clients. After conducting an assessment with 1395 workers, 439 from brothels, 442 from hotels and 514 street workers, he has reported that there are key differences in the factors influencing each group. He finds that they are mobile and there are a greater number of them, street sex workers are least likely to negotiate with clients. The overall results of condom use negotiation are quite poor; on average, about 28.1% of all sex workers negotiated consistently. As the lack of condom use makes sex workers vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, it is essential that they are given the required administrative support to enhance negotiation skills. Alam’s insights are powerful as they document the specific factors that discourage female sex workers from negotiating with clients. He finds that the primary motivation is financial; clients offer more for condoms to not be used, and sex workers are reluctant to negotiate as it could lead to lost customers. This conversation about competition for clients provides important insights regarding the structural factors affecting sex work. Alam finds that sex workers are heavily influenced by this factor due to
“When women say the harm in sex work comes not from the act of selling sex, but from the stigma and violence surrounding it because of its illegal nature, we must hear them.” (Datta). If prostitutes could turn to police for help from an abusive pimp or unwanted client, without the fear of being arrested, they would be able to work in a more secure and professional environment. Legalizing prostitution, can allow sex workers to form unions, make a safe environment for them, allow birth control and condoms. Thus reducing STD and unwanted pregnancies, and even give prostitutes the right to say no. “If sex workers should be required to get regular blood and STD tests, so should the clients who see them. Whether these two protections -- against violence and against disease -- come about through decriminalization or legalization depend upon the letter of the law.”
Annotated Bibliography Alcorn, Randy. " 39 ProChoice Arguments. " Seeking Direction? There Are Answers.
Policies and laws fail to stop prostitution, and it will not stop. It is more costly to keep prostitution illegal. Prostitutes will be more vulnerable to getting criminal records, which then makes it harder for them in society, to obtain legal jobs. Also, with prostitution being illegal the workers may not be able to protect themselves from crimes against them. As prostitution is not legal, then they have to find discreet places to work, which usually is not in a safe environment. If some kind of crime against them did happen, they may feel that, they aren’t able to go to the police for help, as their work is illegal. It actually makes it harder on the worker, in turn making it harder for the client. There are all sorts of people who turn to prostitutes. From blue collar workers to high executives of companies, business owners and more. With prostitution being illegal, the clients are facing criminal charges as well. This does not only hurt the client, but communities as well. The author believes that people around the world have changed their older views and sexual norms to adapt to a more modern society. Brents, B.A., Jackson, C.A., & Hausbeck, K. (2010) concludes that prostitution is better being legalized than being criminalized (p.233). And with this change, people should reevaluate and learn from Nevada’s policies on prostitution being legal. While the author has shown many reasons why
People may not believe that there is a positive outcome of prostitution when first thought of. In fact, there are multiple ways that prostitution can benefit the sex workers, society, and even the economy. A quantitative and qualitative study was made by Lutnik and Cohan in San Francisco on prostitutes in the area. Although the sex workers that were interviewed are not part of the Canadian society, the United States is also part of the Western Civilization and the results reflect those of Canada as well. In the study, women spoke about the beneficial factors of having “police protection, the ability to build community with other sex worker, and obtaining rights as workers” upon the legalization of prostitution (Lutnik and Cohan, 2009: 41). Overall, the prostitutes that were surveyed preferred the “removal of statutes that criminalize sex work in order to facilitate a social and political environment where they had legal rights and could seek help when they are victims of violence.” (Lutnik and Cohan, 2009: 39). This research provides evidence that majority of people in the sex worker industry would like to feel safer as they are working as every person is entitles to feel safe when they go to work. Considering the health of the sex workers, a study was presented at the International AIDS Conference in Australia which showed results of the transmittal of HIV/AIDS among sex workers would decrease by 33-46% if prostitution is either legalized, or at least decriminalized (Listland, 2014). Another factor that is considered regarding sex workers and the legalization is the diminishing of violence and sex crimes. In the same research study conducted by Lutnik and Cohan, it was found that 91% of prostitutes desired laws that protected their rights in specific, and they also wanted more police protection, create safe houses, and would be safest under a regulated system (Lutnik and Cohan, 2009: 41, 43). Lastly, a
For the purpose of this study, male prostitutes and sexual acts such as pornography, stripping and erotic massages are excluded from the definition of prostitution. The terms ‘sex worker’ and ‘prostitute’ will be used interchangeably throughout the paper. The term ‘sex work’ was coined to circumvent the stigma that accompanies prostitution and to acknowledge that it generates income, like any other profession in our society (Sondhi, 2011).
To start off, although many people are aware that Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections are real most of them forget about the protection needed against any. The women and men involved in prostitution do not get to worry about that kind of protection. The health risks involved are brutal and dangerous. “Sex-work communities around the world are in dire need of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services” (Doyle 1). It is not unheard of that, the current prostitution rings do not care about these diseases, in fact “a meeting of sex workers held at the International AIDS Conference heard that the criminalization of the profession was fueling secretive transactions and unsafe sex practices, putting people at risk of HIV and
Economist Mark P. Lagon tells us that “ Legal prostitution both drives up the demand for victims of human trafficking and provides a veil behind which traffickers can hide their operations” (2014). The country of Zimbabwe shows evidence of this where, The Economist states “...the oldest profession has been decriminalized, a flood of young women and girls are joining it and driving down the prices” (2017). Along with the drop in compensation for prostitutes, there came an INCREASE in crime as a result of the turf war that comes with the new competition. As a result, older prostitutes are being forced out of the industry with nowhere to turn, because they have no other way to earn money. If they did, they would not have to be prostitutes in the first place. Mark P. Lagon points out the irony in that, “...(an) individual’s primary reason for entering the industry is financial desperation. Ironically, this data also demonstrates that prostitution, rather than helping prostituted peoples to escape the cycle of poverty, instead permanently entraps them”(2014). This embodies one of the harshest realities of being a prostitute; There is no way out. Lagon argues that this is because, “From as early as six years old, these women are molded to believe they have little earthly purpose other than to give pleasure to men” (2014). This is how Prostitutes’ desperation is taken advantage of by forcing them to sell their bodies,
Dr. Ronnie gave an excellent presentation this past week on abortion and its current laws. We were able to discuss quite a few abortion laws prior to 1952, as well as take a look at some more recent laws. In 2015, Pennsylvania created a bill entitled “HB 1948” which reduced the time frame that a woman could have an abortion from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. Although it didn’t make it past the state senate, it was considered several times. Dr. Ronnie brought up several controversial legislative questions, one of them being, “Does a woman have to be on her deathbed or likely to die to get a legal abortion?” Although the 1967 therapeutic abortion act, signed by Ronald Reagan, said that abortions were only legal if a woman had been made pregnant through
Finer, L. B., Frohwirth, L. F., Dauphinee, L. A., Singh, S., & Moore, A. M. (2005). Reasons U.S. women have abortions: Quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 37(3), 110-8.
Legalizing prostitution would likely decrease AIDS, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Certain conditions would be encouraged to make the profession more comfortable and safer for most prostitutes. “‘The commission of global leaders and specialists, backed by the United Nations Development Program and Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, spent 18 months discussing sex work, drug use and laws criminalizing HIV status. Its report concluded that laws against prostitution should be repealed because they fail to protect women and instead drive at-risk people away from health care services. ‘Rather than punishing consenting adults involved in sex work, countries must ensure safe working conditions, and offer sex workers and their clients access to effective HIV and health services and commodities,’ said the commission’s report. It added that laws against all forms of child abuse and human sex trafficking still should be enforced (Wetzstein)”. Countries, or states will assist in the safety of prostitutes and sex
The sex industry is highly divided between those who call themselves “sex workers”, and former prostitutes who call themselves “survivors” (Glazer 340). Women should have the right to choose what they do for a living, including prostitution. The criminalization of prostitution does more harm than good when often women are left unprotected, both socially and legally, and therefore, the United States should make efforts to decriminalize and regulate prostitution instead.
America’s perception of the sex industry is oddly backwards. We allow pornographic films and strippers, but we do not allow women to work in the sex industry. Women should be allowed to make their own decisions for the career or job they enjoy working. A law that prohibits them doing so is an example of taking away their fundamental rights. Moreover, this increases the risk of street prostitution that makes it more susceptible to diseases such as, HIV and AIDS (Sonntag, 2009). It is essential that if prostitutes are allowed to work, there should be management and responsibilities, but prostitutes should have their own freedom of
"Birth control" illustrates every approach applied to avert a woman from becoming pregnant. During the 1800s, laws in the United States barred contraception, once abstinence and anti-vice groups supported prohibiting contraception methods, means, and knowledge about contraception devices. Many factions deemed birth control information to be offensive and lewd; an idea that was prevalent during1873, Congress accepted the Comstock Act prohibiting the distribution of contraception devices or information via mail. For the most part states shadowed this law via passing their own laws banning the promoting, vending, and circulation, of contraception’s.
Commercial sex is a site of political contest and judgment. In various cultures throughout the world, women are depicted as sexually passive, ascribing to patriarchal ideals of power. A popular portrayal of female sex workers -- particularly those in non-Western countries-- is that of brutalized victims that were coerced and trafficked into the industry. While this narrative is accurate in some instances, all sex work is not homogenous. Many women, who migrate to participate in sex work, do so as a response to limited economic opportunities. By adhering to this notion of sex trafficking, it discredits these women of their agency and autonomy, reducing them to victims of sexual abuse rather than labor exploitation. In her book, Cosmopolitan
The all-encompassing power of the sex industry has devastated the economic and financial status of women in the developing countries. Governments in the developing world encourage the sex industry due to the profit they gain to pay their countries’ debts, and are uninterested in the women’s well-being.