Social Control of Prostitution Essay

Prostitution is defined as “business of exchanging sexual services for martial compensation or financial befits” (Weitzer, R. J, p8). The practice usually happens legally in modern cites like Vegas, Berlin and

Prostitution, also referred to as “the oldest profession,” has always been a controversial and challenging social issue. It is practiced in many different forms including: call girls, convention prostitutes, apartment prostitutes, hotel prostitutes, house prostitutes, bar girls, streetwalkers, and parking lot lizards (). Civilizations such as the Samarians, and countries including Morocco and parts of India engaged in a form of prostitution known as temple prostitution. Temple prostitution is based on the belief that “generative activity of human beings possessed a mysterious and sacred influence in promoting the fertility of nature” (Clarkson). In other civilizations, such as the Roman and Byzantine Empires, prostitution was looked upon as less of a religious ceremony, and more of a sin practiced by “women of evil life” (ProCon.org). Today those differentiating view are still present in modern society, but there are also new ideologies surrounding the everlasting presence of prostitution. This Essay will use the Symbolic Interactionism Theory to identify those new ideologies, and evaluate the meaning of prostitution within three relationship: the husband and wife, the Call girl and client, and the Pimp and the sex trafficking victim.

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

Prostitution is a subject whom many people today have vocal opinions about if it should be legalized and is it moral? Can you imagine how people felt about prostitutes in the 19th century? Today people think the worst possible things of a woman who prostitutes herself and a less rigid view of women’s sexuality exists now almost two centuries later than there was then. In 2011 men and women can have a different view of prostitution and distinctive ways to correct the problem. Men today as they did almost 200 years ago would like to see prostitution legalized and regulated. Women still see prostitution as they did a moral issue that needs reformed. The data suggests that few things have changed when it comes to the punishment and

For the purpose of this study, male prostitutes and sexual acts such as pornography, stripping and erotic massages are excluded from the definition of prostitution. The terms ‘sex worker’ and ‘prostitute’ will be used interchangeably throughout the paper. The term ‘sex work’ was coined to circumvent the stigma that accompanies prostitution and to acknowledge that it generates income, like any other profession in our society (Sondhi, 2011).

There is a widespread discrepancy in the definition of prostitution, most would agree that it is: sexual in nature, and the compensation for performing the sexual act is either money or other material goods; however, the transactions range from specified sexual acts and goods that can exchanged to broader context. These transactions occur in the street, bawdyhouse, massage parlour, and inside a private residence.

Prostitution is sometimes referred to as “the world’s oldest profession,” with the first record of its practice dates back to Ancient Near East civilizations. Despite its age-old existence, not until relatively recently that researches and studies have been conducted in an attempt to obtain a better understanding of and more liberal perspective on a taboo widely perceived as too degrading and immoral to even talk about. When writing about commercial sex in her book “Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale,” Debra Satz challenges many of the bases on which society justifies its censure and outlawing of prostitution and its objectification and alienation of sex workers. She also criticizes the prohibition of prostitution, recognizes the core problems with sex selling, and suggests an alternative, possibly more effective, way in which prostitution should be addressed.

“The demand is the result of a simple biological appetite. When all other sources of gratification fail, due to defects of person or circumstance, prostitution can be relied upon to furnish relief” (Davis, 753). Prostitution in a latent sense saves marriages and allows men to fulfill their sexual desires. “Prostitution embraces an economic relation, and is naturally connected with the entire system of economic forces” (Davis, 749). One societal function that prostitution fills is a release for those who desire the prostitute (latent) and a source of income for the prostitute (manifest).

In Germany, since prostitution has been legalized, they receive health insurance, social benefits, and they pay taxes. In Greece, they have followed what Germany is doing till this day. They have legalized prostitution in New Zealand, Austria, Denmark, Ecuador, and Netherlands.

Originally derived from the Latin word situere, meaning "to offer for sale," prostitution describes the offering and provision of sexual services for financial gain. Pickles, (n.d), further describes prostitution as the carrying on of a trade or business by a person who submits her/himself to another for gain or hire for the provision of sexual services. According to the Australian Institute of Family 2008, sex work is broadly defined as the exchange of sexual services (including oral sex, vaginal and anal sex, sexual touching, masturbation and massage) for payment or reward. There are several avenues of sex work within the community including street work, brothel work, private and escort work whilst also table top dancing , which all

According to the 2014 Merriam-Webster dictionary, prostitution is defined as “the act of having sex in exchange for money” (“Prostitution”). In the United States, the trafficking of sex sales has been illegal since the early 1900’s, with the exception of the 49th state, Alaska (Head). The trade was deemed unethical by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, also credited with the ban of drug use and the elimination of alcohol in the 1920’s. Today, in all but two states, the buying and selling of sexual services is illegal, and typically classified as a misdemeanor in the court of law (US Federal and State Prostitution Laws and Related Punishments - Prostitution - ProCon.org). In recent years, the discussion of the legalization of prostitution has continuously been brought up, as well as discussed vigorously and debated. This leads to today’s resolution: Should prostitution be legalized across all fifty United States borders?

Prostitution is defined as 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 around 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). It 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 different ways to exchange sexual services for payment and many different types of prostitutes. One of these types of prostitutes are brothel workers; brothel workers work in “a house of prostitution,” a brothel, which are normally in areas where prostitution is not criminalized or is legalized (Hock 560). Like prostitution, human trafficking has been around for thousands of years and is still present today.

between and within nations. Thus in the United States areas of minimal regulation exist alongside states with highly interventionist policies. Significant differences also exist in how European governments have sought to control prostitution. The measures adopted range from the legalised red-light districts of Hamburg to the tolerance of window prostitution in Amsterdam and the arresting of male clients in Sweden. Closer to home, across the Tasman in Australia there are distinct differences in the ways state governments view and attempt to regulate the sex industry. These will be examined later in this section.

Prostitution is a profession that has been around for thousands of years despite being a controversial topic in many parts of the world. In the modern world, the ethics of prostitution have been debated with many people viewing the profession as immoral. Prostitution is an exploitative and harmful profession for the sex workers. Since women account for a majority of those who engage in prostitution, these negative impacts affect women more. Also, prostitution is a gendered institution that strengthens and

Prostitution law varies widely from country to country, and between jurisdictions within a country. Prostitution or sex work is legal in some parts of the world and regarded as a profession, while in other parts it is a crime punishable by death. In many jurisdictions prostitution is illegal. In other places prostitution itself is legal, but surrounding activities are illegal. In other jurisdictions prostitution is legal and regulated. In most jurisdictions which criminalize prostitution, the sex worker is the party subject to penalty, but in some jurisdictions it is the client who is subject to a penalty.