Summary: A Look At Prostitution

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

In order to answer this question, it is important to first understand the histories of both prostitution and human trafficking. Often dubbed “the world’s oldest profession”, prostitution can be found in the records of most major civilizations throughout human history. The first known reference to

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

“Prostitution, often known as the world’s oldest profession, can be traced throughout recorded history,” (Lerner, 236). Prostitution has been a part of history since the beginning of human civilization. One of the first recorded mentions of prostitution was found in ancient Sumerian records from 2400BC listed among other professions such as doctor, scribe, etc. Many countries are in a constant debate over whether or not it is unconstitutional to make prostitution illegal. Currently there are around 80 countries in the world that have legalized prostitution and around 100 countries that have declared it illegal. Germany is one of the countries with the most widespread prostitution industry. Prostitution was declared legal in Germany as of 2002 and since

Though it is expected that the expansion of the sex industry would be controlled by legislation, it actually does the opposite. “Legislation leads to massive expansion” (Sullivan & Jeffreys, 2001). For example in Victoria, Australia, from when it first legalized brothels 1984 until 2004, “sexual service providers” increased from 40 to 184, not counting the growth of illegal prostitution, which was estimated to be four to five times the size of the legal sector (Sullivan, 2005). Also, the demand for sex services grows rapidly after legalization. Many men who before legalization wouldn’t risk buying women, see it now as acceptable; as prostitution becomes legal, treating women as merchandise also becomes ethical and socially acceptable. There is also an impact on the future generations of men and boys; they will now receive the message that prostitution is harmless and fun. Businessmen are now encouraged to carry out meetings in clubs where they provide naked women laying on the center of the table (Raymond, 2003).

Prostitution is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual acts in exchange for money. Prostitution within the United States has been slammed with a charge of immorality. Prostitution has been labeled a vice crime. Prostitution has been abolished, or has it? Prostitution is viewed as "the world's oldest profession" dating back to the times referenced to in the Bible, to Ancient Rome, and the early Victorian Era. The evidence of prostitution in the Bible is in 1 Kings. King Solomon was known to have 300 concubines (in today's terms a mistress or the "other woman"). (The NIV Bible. 1 Kings 11:3) In Ancient Rome there is evidence of brothels (a house or business place where men can visit

Prostitution is a term that ashamed a lot of people, but prostitution is a reality, a reality that has been around us since the beginning of our civilization. Some people say that prostitution is the oldest profession, but the reality is that prostitution is not oldest profession, but the oldest form of violence; the World Health organization defines prostitution as ‘a dynamic and adaptive process that involves a transaction between sell and buyer of a sexual service’ (Why is prostitution criminalized). The material compensation is normally money, jewelry, real state, or even drugs.

Prostitution is considered to be one of the world’s oldest professions. Prostitution is the occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment. Humans have been exchanging sex and money for thousands of years and it is something that persists today. In SuperFreakonomics Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner explain that prostitution emerged due to the sexual desire of men. Men wanted more sex than they were able to receive for free. This created a market in which they were willing to pay for sex, and women, for the right price, were willing to satisfy that need (Levitt & Dubner 23). Today it is a controversial issue because in the United States it is not legal, however in the state Nevada it

The history of prostitution is one that presents with many discrepancies, and despair. However, as Christians, we know the bible speaks of prostitution and even mentions the story of Rahab a prostitute who was guilty of sexual sin. Deuteronomy 23:17-18 states, “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God (ESV). This is only one of many verses that speak of prostitution. This may in fact be the reason that prostitution is considered one of the “oldest profession” to date.

Prostitution which is defined as engaging in sexual relations in exchange for money is one of the most influential aspects that identifies with the illegal trading of humans for sexual exploitation and labor. In the United States of America prostitution is illegal in almost all of the fifty states except for Nevada. Women are the primary victims of sexual exploitation and prostitution is far from a career choice for them. The legalization of prostitution in other countries has spurred human traffickers to promote sexual exploitation which is becoming the world’s fastest growing criminal enterprise. Prostitution outside of licensed brothels in the eight counties where it is legal is a crime although it happens all over the country.

To call prostitution “the world’s oldest profession” isn’t technically accurate, but prostitution has been documented in some of the earliest civilizations. Prostitution has largely been ignored by historians, thereby making it difficult to trace the exact origins, but the earliest known records date back to 2400 BC in Sumer. In fact, the Sumerians used a term, “kar.kid,” to describe a prostitute who was working on behalf of the church. Oddly enough, prostitution is considered one of the oldest taboos, but historical records demonstrate that many of the earliest societies practiced “temple prostitution,” in which the women’s work was believed to honor the gods and the proceeds benefited the church or the state. For example, in 1800 BC, the

Prostitution is regularly referred to as 'the oldest profession' but this is an issue surrounded by controversy as the debate rages on as to whether or not prostitution is necessarily work in the legitimate sense of the word? And if it isn't legitimate work, then what is it? Rape, sex slavery? These are all arguments which will be explored in more depth later in this piece. It is important to firstly establish some ideas about work, and identify the factors which influence whether exchanging sex for cash can be seen as such. In a broad definition, paid work can be described as the exchange of labour, services or skills from one individual to a second party in exchange for cash, established in a contract of some kind. In other words, 'work'

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.

It has been demonstrated that somewhere around 700,000 and two million women are trafficked for work and sexual misuse yearly, with an expected 1.2 million young women trafficked into the worldwide sex (Minnick, 2012). Substantive policies alter the output of services (e.g. market relation) while “procedural influences the processes and membership of policy actors involved with policy-making” (Minnick, 2012). Millions of women and children are forced into sex trafficking, this untimely affecting the number of those who engage in prostitution. A clarification of intervention is needed in order to improve and eliminate the social issues of prostitution.

In France, prostitution is legal but it may not be for much longer due to the amount of reform that has taken place over the past 70 years. Since 1946, France has slowly but steadily gone through the process of abolishing prostitution altogether with groundbreaking legislation and controversy at the focal point. Throughout history, France has been known as the model for regulatory prostitution in terms of having it be a legitimate enterprise. However, controversy and issues of illegal activity, disease, and public outcry questioning the morality of the business has led France to where it is today; an abolitionist country with the goal of abolishing prostitution altogether.