Australian Prostitution Bill 2011 Essay

Senate Bill 420 would recast provisions by clearly defining prostitution and separating the buyers from the sellers. This bill not only defines the crime of prostitution but it also divides the crime into three sections: the involvement of the buyer, the involvement of the seller, and/or the involvement of a minor.

Additional prohibitions are placed on any advertising for sexual services which include newspapers, online, or other forms of media (Department of Justice Canada, 2014). This policy is greatly influenced by the Swedish Model argues that it is society’s responsibility to outlaw the purchase of sexual services on the understanding that ‘women are vulnerable’ and sex trade is never a choice (Cosh, 2014). Mainly, the new prohibitions will be supported by $20 million in new funding, with an emphasis on programs that can help individuals exit prostitution.

Bill C-36: Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act is a response to the December, 2013 Supreme Court decision in Attorney General of Canada vs. Bedford. The Act was introduced in the House of Commons on June 4th, 2013 and passed in the House of Commons on October 6, 2014 by a 156-124 vote. It will now be considered in the Senate. Bill C-36 attempts to take the Nordic model approach, penalizing paying for sex while decriminalizing the sale of sex. This paper will present a review of Bill C-36, the importance of decriminalizing prostitution and insight into the ways that I intend to influence it as a social worker.

Abel, Gillian, et al. Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers fight for decriminalisation. Policy Press, 2010. Part two: Implementation and impact of the Prostitution Reform Act (2003): the first five years: Review of the PRA

In Should Prostitution Be a Crime? , Gillian Abel and Taina Bien-Aime argue their standpoints on whether prostitution should be decriminalized. Abel, head of the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago, is not in favor of legalizing prostitution claiming that doing so would not fix the immediate risks involved with this field of work and could in fact increase the rates of human trafficking. Adding to her argument, with the decriminalization of pimps and customers, prostitution would become socially acceptable leading people to believe that women are objects who can be bought and sold. Bien-Aime, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, claims that by allowing prostitution to be legal, workers would

Sometimes, the term “sex work” is used, as well as “prostitution”. But whichever term we choose to say, it does not eliminate the stigma attached to it. Cases such as the Bedford V. Canada Case (144) indulges into the conspiracy of sex work and challenges certain sections of the Criminal Code that make business in relation to prostitution illegal. Ideally, a sex worker has a career just as a teacher or lawyer. For this reason, their human rights and dignity should be protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as are other professions. However, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as the Criminal Code do not seek to protect sex workers, yet, they seek to do otherwise using certain sections of the Criminal Code

It is rather odd to think that prostitution, which is considered to be the world’s oldest profession, would be illegal and harmful in nature. The issue of legalizing prostitution has entered public conversation around the world, which is severely divided. Many, like myself, consider prostitution to be a victimless crime. Despite such opposition to legalizing prostitution, many argue that legalizing it would result in decreased morality issues, increase the economic activity in the United States, and help decrease the number of sexually transmitted diseases among both prostitutes and those who patronize them,

She has produced many private members bills to correct the “archaic” laws. She states that "[Sex worker’s] rights are very much diminished by the fact that our legislation says that this activity, which has been going on for quite some time, is illegal." “Five attempts between 1980 and 2001 to decriminalise prostitution in SA have either been voted down or lapsed in Parliament” showing the pressure for change in the law and the support it has. Greens MP Tammy Franks has also placed her support behind the change citing that “to our shame” “there had not been reform of sex work laws for

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.

Victims of human trafficking continue to face health consequences years after their release. Potentially one of the most devastating forms of human trafficking, sex trafficking and its associated sexual abuse is responsible for the majority of long term health conditions that arise from trafficking (Muftic & Finn, 2013). According to Muftic and Finn (2013), women who enter into sex work via human trafficking, are at even greater odds of suffering from severe health conditions “…than women who enter into sex work by other means” (p. 1866). Other factors such as length of time in captivity, location of captivity, and age, also affect the long term severity of medical conditions (Oram et al., 2012). Trafficking victims who are exploited within

The legal definition of prostitution has recently expanded in many Australian jurisdictions to encompass voyeuristic practices as well as non-monetary exchanges. Prostitution laws now make inclusions for massage parlours, phone sex and computer sex. Sullivan’s study into the politics of the sex industry in Australia since 1945, found that due to the shifts in sexual culture there have been discursive changes in society’s’ view of what constitutes as prostitution and what signifies as deviant sexual behaviour. Post war culture accentuated sexuality as the source of individual uniqueness, later progressing into the ideals of equality and mutuality between the sexes thus producing our sexual culture, as we know it today.

John Scott, in his paper, "Prostitution and public health in New South Wales" accurately describes the way that prostitutes are seen in this particular region and in the rest of the world. "Prostitutes working in public spaces have been presented as sexual agents willfully engaged in criminal conduct and the spread of contagion" (2003). This is clearly a more or less universal opinion of prostitutes and prostitution. However, as Scott points out, in New South Wales, "They [prostitutes] have been made subject to strategic interventions that have attempted to normalize prostitution and render the prostitute a hygienic subject" (2003). While no such attempts have been overtly made in a widespread manner throughout the United States, similar efforts have been made elsewhere in order to protect the health of general public and promote the overall good. Those who wish to consume the services of prostitution will ultimately continue to do so, regardless of whether or not it is legal or illegal. At the very least steps should be taken to make the act of indulging in such things a more sanitary act, comparable to clean needle exchange programs for intravenous drug users. "The breadth of interventions justified by the interests of public health demonstrates that the relationship between public health and prostitution is far deeper than the use of population statistics and outbreak investigations to curb the spread of disease"

The history of prostitution dates back years to when mining activities were still big in Australia. It is wildly an old engagement that has seen its fair share of the much demanded reforms over the years, but given the status quo surrounding it, in the recent past, you

Sexual favours in return for money, just the thought of this has people cringing, although laws have deemed to move forward with the idea of prostitution it seems although socially there has not been much progress. The idea of prostitution still scares, or one could even go as far to say it disgusts people. The lack of knowledge and awareness of the details of sex work create this ongoing hate towards sex work, which continues to stigmatize sex workers. Regardless of changing laws, regardless of changing policies, why is it that sex workers are still afraid to proudly announce that their job is in fact the job of a sex worker? Unfortunately, it seems as though the idea of sex work that seems to be such a terrible one is not what bothers sex workers the most, it is the social misconception of what sex work is like that leads these individuals to feel highly stigmatized (Van der Meulen and Redwood, 2013). The primary harm for of prostitution seems to be the stigma against prostitution, women involved in prostitution are considered socially invisible as full human beings (Farley, 2004). Why is it that our changing and progressing laws are still unable to remove this stigma from the lives of sex workers? This paper will argue that prostitution laws continue to produce stigma around sex work. It will argue this through revisiting the historical laws, examining present laws and ongoing laws at this time.

Prostitution has been around as long as human beings have engaged in sexual activities, and it is even touted as the world’s oldest profession. Despite these proclamations, the subject of prostitution continues to spark controversy in the United States in moderns times as it is a hot debate topic. Off and on, throughout the years, various states around the country have proposed that the practice should be decriminalized; however, it remains illegal nationwide, except for a few counties in Nevada. The reasons for this stem from both sides of the argument, as anti-prostitution advocates claim decriminalization of prostitution is immoral and sexually exploitative, while pro-prostitution advocates want to keep the government out of the bedrooms of consenting adults. No matter the stance for or against prostitution, the current legal construction surrounding it is undeniably harmful. Regardless of the arguments against prostitutes, it is time to decriminalize the laws against this practice to protect the rights of sex workers.