This section includes both the criminalisation of prostitution and of buying sex. The benefits of criminalising either of these include public health consideration, reduction in trafficking, and female empowerment. The costs associated with criminalisation include the marginalisation of sex worker, greater risk of violence, less protection for sex workers, and perhaps greater oppression. If selling sex is criminalised, then victims of abuse or trafficking will not report anything to police because they would be prosecuted. Criminalisation of the sex buyers also reduces reporting because sex workers fear their place of work will be targeted by police. In terms of oppression, prostitution is often a last resort in that most are there because …show more content…
It is unlikely that they could leave the industry and find new work. Therefore, it can be speculated if they just went indoors or online. There was also found to be less trafficking in Sweden, however, rates went up drastically in neighbouring countries, Norway and Denmark. The number of street prostitutes also rose.
The goal of the law was to reduce demand, but this is not necessarily a good thing for voluntary prostitutes. Sex workers are generally in the industry as a last resort because they do not have other economic options. By reducing demand, this does not change the sex worker’s life circumstances and opportunities, but merely gives them a smaller pool of clients. This reduction in demand will lead to greater competition if supply does not adjust which leads to riskier behaviour, such as unprotected sex.
It has also been noted that street based sex workers will work further away from detection, to avoid arrest. This leads to less time available to assess a client and an increase in assaults and sex offences. Much of the streetwalker trade takes place in their clients' cars, which is a vulnerable place if the client is violent.
Sex workers are less likely to report attacks because they fear that their address will be targeted by police in the future, to arrest clients. The UNAids Programme stated “the approach of criminalising the client has been shown to backfire on sex workers”, creating “an environment of fear and
“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.”
According to Jacqueline Barnhart in her book, “The Fair but Frail,” there is an increase of sex crimes in locations where prostitution was made legal. She also argues legalized prostitution promotes and contributes to
Our criminal justice system’s explicit bias against sex workers only compounds the problem” (Keena). Sex workers are given no respect and in cases have their livelihood used against them as a way to further abuse them. This comes from the belief that since sex is their job; their safety and consent do not matter as they are not seen to be doing anything for society. People see these women as products sold to them instead of
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
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,
(2014) argue that prohibiting the purchase of sex specifically violates s. 7 of the Charter Rights and Freedoms, i.e., the right to security of the person because it prohibits sex workers from taking preventative safety measures. Despite the objective of Bill C-36 to ‘protect’ women from male violence and exploitation, such provisions further endanger sex workers and limit their police protection that is contrary with the original intent of the bill (Walters, 2015). Moreover, criminalizing clients makes it more difficult and dangerous for sex workers to operate, because sex workers are forced to put themselves at risk in order to protect their clients. Secondly, s. 213 of Bill C-36 decriminalizes public communication for the purpose of prostitution with the exception of locations wherever anyone 18 years of age or younger could be present (Walters, 2015). This provision severely limits sex workers’ options for operating on the street. Not only does this provision force sex workers into isolated and dangerous areas due to its limitation of communicating in spaces. For instance, if a sex worker meets with a client without properly screening them, and she gets threatened or forced into engaging in sexual activity. If the sex worker was able to appropriately assess him, then she would not have been subjected to the physical or sexual abuse. This is just one example that illustrates that Bill C-36 fails to ensure the safety and security of women it intends to
However if the goal of criminalization is to end prostitution, it is clearly not yielding the desired results. Making the act of selling sex illegal actually causes the sex workers to go further underground, making them more vulnerable to police and poor working conditions. It creates a culture permitting violence against sex workers. In countries such as China, Cambodia and Vietnam where prostitution is also illegal, sex workers are detained in facilities for ‘rehabilitation’ or ‘re-education through labor’. The approach of these facilities is to punish sex workers for engaging in behavior that is regarded as a
Thesis: 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.
groups of street prostitution exist. Professionals who work full time for a living, the ones
they were being forced, have a smoother system going, and making sure nothing was to go wrong.
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.
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,
The sex industry is rather large in Hungary and the majority of prostitutes who are called “sex workers” willingly participate in their act. There are many reasons why they choose this “occupation”. With the recent economic downturn numerous people were left without a job, and they need to act to survive. Most of these people decide to work as a prostitute, because the poverty level is high, they don't have opportunities to train for new jobs or their educational level is low to reach another level or society. The absolute majority strongly believe that their activity is merely a source
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.