Prostitution Law Reform Research Paper

As part of McGill’s Community Engagement Day, I went on a walking tour of Montréal’s historical Red Light District presented by Karen Herland, professor and specialist in the history of prostitution. Her historical analysis (personal communication, October 2, 2015) of the neighbourhood gave great insights on morality and legislation issues regarding sex work, specifically about the relationship between authorities and prostitution as well as some of the impacts that these laws and other attitudes that regulate sex work have on women. Her astute reports lead us to the following proposition: the dynamics between authorities and sex work indicates that under the guise of “morality”, the laws in place and their application did not actually oppose sex work, they rather worked to limit women’s emancipation.

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

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

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,

Despite being multi facet in its proposal the Bill countenance opposition by the sex agencies Scarlett Alliance and the Australian Sex Party. The sex worker organisation Sacrelt Alliance presented a submission and argued that the Western Australian Prostitution Bill 2011 is not a practical model of sex trade regulation for WA, as it will create potential hurdle to the laws itself and at considerable cost to the taxpayer Scarlet Alliance (2010).

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

The article discusses the relative safety that a brothel provides a sex worker as well as other positive rights, however it also discusses the issues that arise for sex workers such as labour policy and wages. This article also discusses street based sex workers and how they are usually more likely to be addicted to drugs, and more vulnerable to experience violence (Sullivan, 2010). Lastly, this article discusses private sex workers who make up the majority of sex workers in Australia (Sullivan, 2010). For a private sex worker, it “is illegal [ . . . ] to work with another sex worker or to employ a receptionist; they may employ a licensed security guard and (since 2009) can maximize their safety by making phone contact with another person before and after a job” (Sullivan, 2010, p.

The first category of law deals with the punishing of prostitutes for the sale of sex. With the exception of New South Wales, street prostitution is deemed illegal across the nation and prostitutes may be arrested for loitering for the purpose of gaining business (Australian Institute of Criminology, 1990, 2). Secondly laws are passed to punish those who are involved in the management and organisation of prostitution whilst there are laws punishing clients. There are only two categories of legal sex work within Queensland including that of private sex work, the unaccompanied/solo operation, and licensed brothel work (Prostitution and the law in Queensland, 2007,1). All other forms of prostitution are governed by, the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld) S229; which states that any persons who knowingly participates, directly or indirectly, in the provision of prostitution is guilty of a crime and may be liable for up to 7 years imprisonment. Further more the Vagrants, Gaming and other Offences Act 1931 S5; recognises that any persons soliciting or loitering, being a prostitute, behaving in a riotous disorderly or indecent manner in a public place; is accountable for engaging in the crime of street work (Prostitution laws in Australia 1990, 2). Whilst this legislation proves to be of particular relevance today in regulating the presence of street work, the accuracy

On August 11th, 2015 Amnesty International, Humans Right Watch, and the World Health Organization all voted in support of decriminalizing prostitution to help internationally defend human rights (Purtill). In recent years, prostitution is no longer seen as a victimless crime. While there are some laws offering little protection for child sex trafficking victims, currently in the United States there is virtually no protection for adult victims. Sadly, at one point almost all of these adult victims were once child victims and have just never been able to escape the horrors of sex trafficking. The United States is currently doing too little to prevent sex trafficking and by the time they do help a victim it is too late for them to be helped.

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.

The public stigma and moral taint associated with sex works, makes the location and public presence of sex work heavily disputed. When first introduced, concerns were raised regarding whether acknowledging sex work as a legal occupation would increase the number of sex workers (New Zealand Government 2012). Research, however, suggests that there has been no significant increase in the number of sex workers post-decriminalisation (Abel, Fitzgerald, & Brunton 2007). Though it has not increased the number of sex workers, it has allowed the sex industry to step out of the shadows. Sex workers can now approach clients in public places as soliciting is no longer a criminal offense (Armstrong 2014). Though this is extremely beneficial for street worker who can now spend more time screening their clients (Armstrong 2014), it has not necessarily been to the public’s pleasing. Street workers still experience a significant amount of harassment by the public (Armstrong 2016). Brothels have also experienced some disputes regarding their locations. Between 2004 and 2011 there were 914 operators’ certificates granted in New Zealand (New Zealand Government 2012). The PRA itself does not place any limitations regarding the location of brothels but give territorial authorities power to make by-laws concerning the location of brothels (Abel 2014). There have been reported some cases where local authorities have attempted to severely limit the placement on

We live in a country that contains human rights. We are privileged to the freedom of speech and religion, so why not what we do with our bodies? Marketing your body sexually for a living should not be considered a crime, unless it is against your will. But for those who choose this life, should be allowed to live this way without the concerns of being arrested. Prostitution has many different labels like hooker, escort, call girl and etc. These women involve themselves in sexual activities to men for a certain price. For most, it is their choice to involve themselves in this type of work for various reasons, either financially or freely.

Ashley eventually stopped being a prostitute after she woke up in the hospital beaten by a violent client. People like Ashley shouldn’t be scared to step down and report people that abused and assaulted them; they must have an opportunity to be protected. Making Ashley’s job legal will improve health among health workers, reward them for reporting human trafficking and give them necessary law protection. It will be a giant step towards uncovering illegal money flow and saving taxpayers money, which will help communities financially. Decriminalization of prostitution has to

Prostitution is something that can improve by placing policies in place that will reconstruct the faulty foundation it is known to have and making a profitable but safe environment and business. “Law reform in Australia has led to the opening of some significant new spaces for legal work” (Sullivan). Health, safety regulations, and peer education have

he perpetuation of human sex trafficking and the rising numbers of trafficked victims is also linked to Thailand’s weak government. The combination of widespread corruption among government officials and the lack of enforcement of laws concerning the Thai sex industry has lead to the prominence of human sex trafficking. The 1996 Prostitution Prevention and Prevention Act was implemented to punish pimps, procurers, brothel owners and customers, however; this law and many others designed to protect victims of human sex trafficking are poorly enforced. (Gugic,2014365). This lack of enforcement allows traffickers and brothel owners to avoid punishment by the government. For example, “petty spas” in Thailand open for the purpose of relaxation,