Defining Prostitution Essay

Canada is a nation renown as a liberal-leaning, forward nation; promoting the advancement of women in all parts of the world. However, it is a nation guilty of punishing women for the circumstances in which they find themselves with laws showing an antiquated view on the issue of prostitution—one that prosecutes sex workers instead of those who take advantage of women’s situations and buy sexual services. BY examining the origins of current-day laws concerning prostitution in Canada and looking at European legislation as well as its successes and failures made it is possible to find a middle ground that will suit Canada should it ever decide to change its laws concerning prostitution.

Prostitution has been a part of our world's culture since the beginning of time, and is the world's oldest profession. Prostitution is defined by the Webster dictionary as “the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual relations especially for money.” If prostitution were legalized, there would a reduction in sex crimes, American citizens would have the freedom to choose any profession within the sex industry and it would provide economic benefits for the local and federal governments, as well as the population.

In sociology, the term deviance refers to all violations of social rules, regardless of their seriousness (Essentials of Sociology 136). Deviance is an individual or organizational behavior that violates societal norms and is usually accompanied by negative reactions from others. According to a sociologist S. Becker, he stated that it is not the act itself that makes an action deviant, but rather how society reacts to it.

Throughout America and the entire world, prostitution flourishes. Prostitution is another never ending war like abortion, which society feels is immoral. This immorality leads functionalists, who apply functionalism to this social problem, on a chase to figure out why prostitution is what it is today. Functionalism is the best theory for looking at prostitution. It allows us to see how prostitution changes along with other aspects of society.

Prostitution looms large in the Victorian consciousness. The image of the fallen woman reflects the Victorian upper classes' ideas about sexuality, gender and class. The prostitute is a staple of 19th century fiction. Debate about prostitution is also a reflection of cultural anxiety about urbanization.

Bedford vs. Canada resulted with parliament having to reform Canada’s prostitution laws, these changes raised question on the communities within Canada and if they have respect of law and have the tolerance of prostitution (Morton 229 2012 ). Prostitution is technically legal in Canada, although technically legal, the laws surrounding prostitution make it very difficult to conduct prostitution legally (Morton pp 229 2012). Because it is against the law to advertise in the streets, make a living off prostitution, or be in or involved with a bawdyhouse most exchanges must be done in near secret conditions leaving the individuals susceptible to victimization. There are many problems associated with prostitution so in attempts to make it a safer environment for them, a law reform has been in discussion, but how

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,

In his book Love For Sale, Nils Johan Ringdal wrote, “If nobody wants to sell sex, it is a crime to force anyone to do so. But when men or women do want to sell their bodies, they should have that full right without encountering punishment or discrimination.” Prostitution, often described as the world’s oldest profession is a legitimate criminal offence in 109 countries of the world today (“Human Trafficking Statistics”). Laws on prostitution vary considerably from country to country: in some countries it is punishable by death penalty ("Iran - Facts on Trafficking”), in some it is a crime punishable by prison sentence, while in other jurisdictions, it is a lesser administrative offense punishable only with a fine ("The Sentencing and

they were being forced, have a smoother system going, and making sure nothing was to go wrong.

Prostitution and human trafficking are taking place all over the world despite the legal restrictions put upon them. According to Ronald Weitzer, “The sex industry refers to the workers, managers, owners, agencies, clubs, trade associations, and marketing involved in sexual commerce, both legal and illegal varieties” (1). There are many questions that arise when discussing the sex industry. Should prostitution be legalized? If it were to be legalized, would anything change? Is prostitution morally acceptable? What is being done to stop human trafficking? There is not one correct answer for any these questions, but each question can be analyzed by scholars who have different opinions on the issue. Prostitution should be legal while

One of the oldest legal debates comes from one of the world's oldest profession, prostitution, there is no denying that the sex industry has taken international dimensions and is recognized as an economic motor for many countries. As countries around the world debate the merits of legalizing or at least decriminalizing prostitution. The following questions should be addressed. Would legalization 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 improve the status of women? On the surface, this looks like a rehashing of a timeless debate. However, it is not. The question is no longer about

Prostitution is ambiguous to define. The Macquarie dictionary defines prostitution as 1. the act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse 2. any base or unworthy use of talent, ability, etc. But the act of prostitution involves many other associated facets that are included under this extensive act. There’s the act itself, soliciting, advertising, pimping, house brothels, street prostitution, phone sex and even computer sex.

Prostitution, the act of “providing or receiving sexual acts, between a prostitute and a client, in exchange for money or some other form of remuneration” (Hock 557). The idea of exchanging sex for valuables has been seen since the beginning of human society; the first reported data about prostitution was reported around 3000 B.C.E in one of the first known civilizations, Mesopotamia (Caraboi and Fierbinteanu 362). Also, prostitution is often referred to as “the world’s oldest profession.” Today, even though prostitution is illegal in most parts of the world, it is still prevalent worldwide with many different types of prostitutes and different ways to exchange sexual services for payment. An example of a type of prostitute is brothel workers; brothel workers work in “a house of prostitution,” a brothel, which are normally in areas where prostitution is not criminalized (Hock 560). Like prostitution, human trafficking has been around for thousands of years and is still present today.

Prostitution has been a part of our world's culture since the beginning of time, and is the world's oldest profession. Ever since the beginning of time man has felt the need to pay for services of a sexual nature, whether are legal or not. In our culture; however, prostitution has become a topic of debate concerning the merits of this profession's legality. In viewing the legalization of prostitution one must take into account all the pros and cons of the situation, but more importantly what is currently being done to rid society of the problem of prostitution as well as the lack of effect of these so call solutions. One must ask one's self if outlawing prostitution, as a profession is the most effective or worthwhile way to deal with the

Before I entered this class, my imagination about what sociology is wasn’t of what it came to be after this class ended. First of all, before coming to this class, I didn’t know that prostitution was a social problem. I understand that being a prostitute is a sin, however I don’t think that a person should be punished by a society for being a prostitute. In other words, I thought that if a person is making money on his or her own body, it wouldn’t be a societal problem. Coming in this class, I have the knowledge that gay, lesbians or any other sexual orientation that isn’t heterosexuality was something that only exists in one’s mind and that if a person want to change their sexual orientation, he or she could. Therefore, in this class, after learning about sexual orientation, I accepted that people are born different and as society we should all accept that. Sexual orientation somehow I feel should require more large-scale intervention. In a lot places, LGBT people are discriminated. If God only created female and a male and that they only should be attracted to each other, let him only judge those whose feelings are different from what the bible states.