The Issue Of Sex Work Essay

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

Though widely accepted throughout the course of human history, the approval of prostitution in today modern society seems to be a much more grey area. While once legal in every major civilization on earth, prostitution is now illegal in many countries, though sometimes tolerated for the revenue it generates. This cold shoulder toward prostitution began in the Middle Ages, when church officials began to preach of the sins associated with the profession. Their cries, however, fell on mostly deaf ears. Prostitution had become such a large contributor of public revenue in so many countries, that is was protected and regulated by law. In the centuries to come, however, things began to change. With the rise of stringent sexual morality standards associated with the Protestant Reformation, the increased transmission and awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and the implementation of such social movements as feminism, prostitution began to fall out of favor, eventually becoming illegal in many parts of the world. (Jenkins).

For the purpose of this study, male prostitutes and sexual acts such pornography, stripping and erotic massage 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.

The first chapter of this book details what Raymond believes to be the most dangerous myths surrounding sex work, or prostitution as she refers to it. The first point she makes is that “Prostitution is Inevitable.” She claims that this is “the most senseless argument in defense of maintaining the system of prostitution” (Raymond, 2013, p. 2). Raymond backs her claim by explaining that this idea stems from the patriarchy from a time when women were objects. Raymond then continues on to berate the mindsets that say that sex work cannot or should not be banned because the safety of the worker has to be taken into consideration. She compares the “harm reduction” mentality to the same mentality that tobacco industry claimed to be using filtered cigarettes.

The discrimination and brutalization of sex workers is evident in the stories that they share. In the Human Rights Watch report, a sex worker named Brenda told her story stating that she “went into a car with a person. He said he was a police officer and said ‘if you help me I’ll help you.’ He said he wanted oral sex. He showed me a badge. He said if I didn’t have oral sex with him he would call the police and arrest me for prostitution” (qtd. in Human Rights Watch). Due to sex working being illegal, prostitutes are forced to do the bidding of others because of their lower station in life. Sex workers are unable to seek justice through courts because they have no solid ground to stand on from participating in the illegal act of sex working in the first place. The police, clients, and pimps are able to do whatever they want with the sex worker by dehumanizing them and reducing them to property that can be bought and sold. Legalization would bring a transparency to sex working that would permit a legal course of action against violent or coercive offenders. Crime would be alleviated in communities with the currently unknown corrupt and violent assailants going to

The act of prostitution has been a leading topic of moral and legislative debate for centuries. Sometimes referred to as the ‘world’s oldest profession’ because it dates back to around 2400 B.C., prostitution is the practice of exchanging, selling or trading of sexual acts for payment. Although this service is forbidden amongst the world more often than it is not, the debate of its legalization has remained a heated issue (ProQuest Staff).The legalization of prostitution and whether or not prostitution should be considered a victimless crime are two of the main controversies that surround the matter of prostitution.

Sex trade work is one of the oldest occupations in the world, dating back to the days prior to Christ; and despite its age, it is a prominent part of modern society. This report will be presenting why sex trade work is an issue, how it is overlooked and unaddressed, and what can be done to mitigate the current situation.

The world of sex work has been around for many years. The movies portray it as a normal way of life in all the cowboy movies and put a glamorous feel around it. However, Hollywood is about selling dreams and fantasy, though reality is quite different. The reality is that sex work is dangerous. The act in and of its self is not dangerous, but the situations in which it needs to be conducted are. Today’s sex work encompasses more than just prostitution; the Pornography industry, Dom/Sub work, as well as exotic dancing are all considered sex work. The focus of this essay has been narrowed down to just the prostitution aspect of sex work and the decriminalization of it in terms of creating a safer environment for the worker. Decriminalization

“I originally intended to write in defense of legalizing prostitution, but hindsight has made me realize that I cannot defend a profession that dehumanizes its workers.” Tlatenchi, Fredy. "Prostitution Should Not Be Legalized." The Sundial. N.p., 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 07 Sept. 2015. The statement above would lead the author’s readers to believe that prostitution if legal would be no different than it is now, shameful, dangerous, disease ridden and exploitation filled. Prostitution has been around for some time, given it is referred to as the world’s oldest profession. Why is it then, if still illegal, do so many continue their sex work? Desperation? Empowerment? Force? Lack of a moral

Prostitution is often viewed as problematic and blamed for disease and disorder in society; rarely it is considered a work that generates income like any other profession. Stigma has been a particular focus of prostitution laws, in part because policy responses have been premised on the same stigmatic assumptions embedded in the social structure of criminal justice system. Although Germany and Canada have developed different policies and ideologies in the context of ‘abolitionist’ and ‘regulated’ system of prostitution, they share the key distinction of a broader systemic problem that have not erased the underlying stigmas.

Brents and Hausbeck argue the capitalist element of this framework. Sex work is the choice to employ the sale of one's body and or sexuality for economic means. Sex workers utilize their body as their capital to increase their economic stability and survive. This definition illustrates that sex work is work just like any other field, where people utilize their personal capital and skill to achieve economic gains. The author's explain that our economy is already extremely steeped in the sale of sexuality and intimacy and therefore the expansion of the economy to accepted this sector is logical (2010: 16). Moreover, they argue that the increased saturation of sexuality in other forms of work increase people's understanding of sex work and therefore decrease stigma. One way to initiate understanding across fields is to highlight how sex workers are not the only people who's labor is unfairly exploited in a traditional capitalist manner, through overworking and under paying people for their labor (Brents and Hausbeck 2010: 18). Therefore a call for regulation and labor reform for sex work is also a call for reform for all workers creating a sense of solidarity, which could continue to undermine negative associations with the work.

Sex workers have been stigmatized for almost all history. Prostitutes are considered immoral, dirty, and untrustworthy. They are often associated with drugs and gangs. Moran describes her experience as a prostitute as emotionally, physically, and mentally corrosive. She says that she was used and exploited , and used drugs to help her through that time (Moran 1). Both women and men in the sex industry are considered dirty. Society thinks

Prostitution has long been portrayed as ‘the world’s oldest profession’ in the majority of Western literatures (e.g. Snell, 1993; Bullough and Bullough, 1996; Drexler, 1996; Aspevig, 2011). For many decades, prostitution is one of the most notable public issues in the United Kingdom. With only few research (e.g. Freud and Leonard, 1991; Morse et al, 1992; McKeganey, 1994) addressed the side of male as customers of prostitution, many empirical scholars (e.g. Ward et al, 1993; Weiner, 1996; Sawyer et al, 1998; Church, 2001) mainly centred their research on female prostitutes (i.e. sellers of sexual services) and their socio-economic circumstances (Sawyer et al, 2001). Therefore, prostitution is generally perceived as a ‘sin’ and women in prostitutes are commonly referred as a ‘fallen woman’ in most Western and British cultures. Recent era in the United Kingdom has witnessed a scope of discriminate solutions (ranged from legalising to repealing) for prostitution. Although the act of prostitution is in itself legally permitted, activities (e.g. solicitation in public places for sex, brothel ownership and kerb-crawling) encompassing prostitution are unlawful (Aspevig, 2011). When mentioning about prostitution, many Britons regarded that both selling and consuming sex is depreciating or despicable. While any mention of legalising prostitution

The results of this study conclude that sex work has a detrimental negative impact during a person’s lifetime. The hypothesis was well supported by the interviews conducted in the sampling phase. The three stages covered in the study gave detail description of the comparisons with food/ service/styling occupation and sex work. For example, “It used a life course orientation that recognizes the contributions of both distal and proximate factors in explaining outcomes, and it compared working in the sex industry with employment in other service/care work jobs. A life course approach highlights… various life stages influence subsequent decisions and experiences… important experiences from child- hood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood, in addition to basic demographic factors”(pg.1387).

Whether a movie star or a plumber, each of us must work to earn a living. Sex work, also known as prostitution, has been a part of virtually every society in human history (Lerner, 1986). So why has the work regarded as the world’s oldest profession been labelled as illegitimate (Watson, 2015)? In this essay, I will demonstrate that sex work is a legitimate form of work that should be protected by the state.