Criminalization Of Prostitution Case Study

The sex work industry has changed and is changing over the years, similar to controversial issues such as, gay rights and abortion. Hence, there will never be a ‘black and white’ solution due to the distinct views of what prostitution entails versus what the law intends to do about it. Decriminalization is the removal of criminal penalties from an act formerly defined as crime (Weitzer, 2012, P: 49). Prostitution should be decriminalized so the government can regulate public safety and the safety of sex workers. This paper will also, examine how the government can regulate the prostitution business and reinforce the feminist ideology. In effort to best present my arguments this paper will be divided into different paragraphs, whereby each paragraph presents a different argument of why

Canadian prostitution, the practice of exchanging money for sexual services” (Shaver, 2011) originally started in the 1800’s, and has never been an illegal act Canada. However, the dangers of the job, and safety risks these women are exposed to have always been prevalent on Canadian streets. The most common form of prostitution when the trade was established was off street prostitution. This can be defined as, “Prostitution that is issued out of escort agencies, massage parlours, private residences, brothels, bars, clubs, trick pads and bathhouses” (“Fact Sheet,” n.d.). [Correct Citation?]This industry thrived for decades with little no to police presence as the newly created transcontinental railways transported large masses of single men to the west coast. However, in 1890, new legal constrains, which were now enforced, made operating brothers a challenge and forced street prostitution to become more common, “street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a provocative manner.” (Shaver, 2011). When the number of women working the streets increased, the safety level decreased. In order to expand one’s knowledge on the dangers of female street prostitution, one must fully comprehend the differences between the two forms of

Overall, Bill C-36 attempts to create a new legal framing for prostitution in Canada and is rooted in the belief that prostitution is inherently violent and exploitative; therefore the intent is to protect sex workers from exploitation, protect communities from the harms caused by prostitution, and reduce the demand for sexual services. The framework of Bill C-36 seeks to “denounce and prohibit the purchase of sexual services, procurement of persons for the purposes of prostitution and the development of economic interests in the prostitution of others” (Canadian Criminal Justice Association, 2014). Even though the aim of Bill C-36 is to protect victims from exploitation and/or prevent exploitative situations, it does so at the expense of the lives of those in the sex trade. Bill C-36 creates the environment for exploitation to flourish by only

Decreasing violence and promoting safety is one of the many positive outcomes from legalizing prostitution. Engaging in conversation about the purchase of sex is illegal in Canada. Because of this, Meaghan (2002) argues that prostitutes are forced to work in unsafe locations away from police surveillance, rushing negotiations and not being able to make an safe decision about their client. Seals (2015), found prostitutes are fearful of legal recourse when they are victimized. Legalization would give prostitutes the same protection as the general public and would be able to press charges accordingly. Providing a registered place of business for licensing also limits instances of violence. Seib, C., Dunne, M. P., Fischer, J., & Najman, J. M. (2010), found that prostitutes who worked in regulated brothels were healthier and safer than prostitutes who worked in non-regulated brothels or on the streets. “Elaborate safety measures (panic buttons, listening devices, and management surveillance) allow managers to respond to unruly or violent customers quickly and effectively” (Weitzer, 2006, p. 35). This also would help limit the chance of Human sex trafficking as businesses would be consistently checked and positive relationships with law enforcement would be made.

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

Statistics Canada says sex trade is job that is at a high risk since 2000. Homicide in Canada report had said that since 1991, 73 sex workers were murdered on the job. Sadly, this trend remains today. In 2007, 15 sex workers were reported “killed as a direct result of their profession, up and average of 7 per year for the previous decade”.1 Research has proven that the murder scale for sex workers “represents roughly 60 to 120 times the murder rate of adult women in the general Canadian population”.2

Violence, suicide and homicide are serious public health issues that affect many women globally. The World Health Organization recently sent “ a powerful message that violence against women is a global health problem of epidemic proportions (1)”. There is a growing advocacy that calls for the protection of young women who face consequences due to the exploitation of providing sexual services. Legalizing prostitution in Canada would just encourage clients to abuse sex workers even more so. By implementing a policy that would ban prostitution in Canada, the health issues of violence and homicide will diminish, protecting the basic interests of the population.

With no government control or regulation, work-place violence, harassment, and medical care are not monitored or concerned, even though this line of work is the most vulnerable to all three conditions. In fact, nearly seventy-five percent of sex-workers experience work-place violence. For this, “decriminalization could be the best means to protect the rights of sex workers and ensure that these individuals receive adequate medical care, legal assistance, and police protection” (Amnesty International). Along with Amnesty International, one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world, the World Health Organization, UN Women, Global Commission on HIV and the law, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Foundations also support the decriminalization of prostitution in the United States. Criminalizing prostitution will not end prostitution. Instead, the only plausible solution is government regulation. With government support, clients can be tracked through credit cards and any violence or harassment will be able to be reported and taken care of, on a legal level. The sex-work industry also has alarming statistics involving STI’s and STD’s. The men who control the women, or the ‘pimps’, force the women to have oral, vaginal, and anal sex without any kind of contraception, if that is what the client prefers. The Porn Industry,

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,

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.

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.

In the book Sex for Sale Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry, Table 1.1 shows characteristics of types of prostitution. There are six categories; Business location, prices charged, exploitation by third parties, risk of violent victimization, public visibility, and impact on community. There are also six types of jobs in the sex industry; Call girl, escort, brothel worker, massage parlor worker, bar or casino worker, and street walker. For every job besides the street walker the prices charged are high or moderate, exploitation by third parties were low to moderate, the risk of violent victimization was either very low or low, public visibility is either none or very low, and the impact on the community is either none or little (Weitzer 8). This shows that prostitution, unless one is a streetwalker, is relatively safe, profitable,

Prostitution, as stated by Flemming, is known as a form of sexual activity, a kind of sexual style or category, and a form of economic activity, a way of making a living through the provisions of certain services, by behaving in accordance with, or falling into such a category (39). This definition, though, is controversial. While conducting research for this project, we found that most topics regarding prostitution and its affiliates were controversial. Each author gave a differing interpretation for the same data. Due to this, our project centered on the female prostitutes, even though there is evidence of male prostitutes.

One of the oldest known jobs in history is Prostitution, otherwise known as the sex labor industry. It is a major part of our society as an illegitimate source of income and employment. The prohibition of Prostitution creates a larger number of issues in society. Before, prostitution was a more individual decision, where countless women picked it as a last resort in emergencies; whereas now these women are coerced into the industry and experience abuse, murder, etc. The involvement and trauma prostitutes experience results in mental disorders. Furthermore, I investigate how the prohibition of prostitution has greater drawbacks on our society and introduce three policies that may help resolve the social issue within sex workers. Some policies I believe will provide the most benefits are first, the legalization of prostitution, second, enforcing and strengthening the law enforcement for human trafficking, and third, development of availability of medical resources.

Street prostitution is where the sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, but also it is often seen at a beach or park. The sex acts may be preformed in the customers’ car, on a vacant street side, or in a rented room nearby (possibly the prostitute’s apartment). This kind of prostitution is mostly illegal; even in places that allow other forms of prostitution. Canada and the UK allow prostitution but not street prostitution and Australia, in some places, allow sex workers to solicit on the streets except in areas near schools. As sex workers these people are often vulnerable to assaults or mugging by pimps and clients. Ninety-five percent of women had been physically assaulted, seventy-five percent had been raped, and eighty-nine percent of the women interviewed stating that they wanted to leave prostitution, according to a study done in 2006 by Melissa Farley. A Chicago study held in 2008 found that women working alone without the help of pimps made an average hourly rate of twenty five dollars and hour and those working with pimps make fifty percent more. In the street prostitution business, condoms are rarely used and risks of disease are high. This endangers significant others of prostitutes by putting them at high risk of the many diseases that the sex worker is exposed to. In places such as Cambodia, where prostitution