Essay about Women's Prostitution and the Criminal Justice System

In the article, Characteristics of survivors of juvenile sex trafficking: Implications for treatment and intervention initiatives, the authors conducted the survey to understand what factors could have possibly contributed to the decision made by teenagers to consider the act of sex trafficking. The belief amongst the authors was that those who have survived juvenile sex trafficking have had experienced some abuse/neglect or even trauma (Hargreaves-Cormany & Patterson, 2016, p. 32). Not only are the researchers wondering about the abuse/neglect, but do the young women have a secure attachment with their family and peers or more of an insecure attachment. By having a secure attachment means that the child has a close relationship with those around them and s/he feels as though their basic needs are being met; physically and emotionally. The teenagers with an insecure attachment are not surrounded with love, respect and nurturing; all the things that one needs to grow in a positive way. The group of individuals that would be interested in this type of research would be that of counselors in trying to figure out what would entice young ladies to want to be sex traffickers and how would one implement interventions and counseling methods. In having teenagers experience situations such as neglect, lack of support, homelessness or even stress, one could be at risk in pursing the act of juvenile sex-trafficking.

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

Bill C-36: Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act is a response to the December, 2013 Supreme Court decision in Attorney General of Canada vs. Bedford. The Act was introduced in the House of Commons on June 4th, 2013 and passed in the House of Commons on October 6, 2014 by a 156-124 vote. It will now be considered in the Senate. Bill C-36 attempts to take the Nordic model approach, penalizing paying for sex while decriminalizing the sale of sex. This paper will present a review of Bill C-36, the importance of decriminalizing prostitution and insight into the ways that I intend to influence it as a social worker.

I think the public order crime prostitution is not a victimless crime because most of the women/ men are forced to stay in that line of work. For example a woman pays a Coyotaje to bring her sister from China over, she told once the sister gets to the states she will be reunited with her sister but they keep her against her will in a illegal massage parlor. They will now tell her sister that she owes more money a huge amount and unless she pays it off her sister will be forced to have to pim herself until her debt is payed off. The sister who 's held against her will doesn’t want to do these thing but she has no choice if she refuse she will be meet by violence and she can’t seek help because she’s in the country illegally.

Next, to make a difference to end child prostitution is people should treat them as the victim, rather than treating them as the criminal. One clearly does not know what is going through their mind, so making judgements and statements does not help their situation at all. Julian Sher discusses that “When these children go get the attention of the system, they are almost always treated as criminals, not victims” (13). For what we can assume is that they did not choose this lifestyle but have just got caught up in it and have a hard time getting out. They are scared of their “pimp” who tells them if you do not do what I say I’ll kill you, hurt you, we’ll sell you to another pimp, etc. In the article, Report urges new approach to child prostitution: “ ‘These are children that are prostituted. These are children that are harmed. These are not criminals, Ellen Wright Clayton, a physician and member of the team, said at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on

The research conducted by this particular NGO identifies the shocking nature of this criminal activity. The most common forms of exploitation are prostitution, slavery, criminal activity, slavery, forced marriage, and forced labour services. In regards to forced labour, six indicators of this activity include: threats/physical harm, confinement, debt bondage, withholding of wages or excessive wage reductions, retention of identity documents, and threat of denunciation to the authorities. In 2003, statistics reveal that, at any given time, there were 4,000 estimated victims of sex trafficking, forced into prostitution. Children as young as three have been trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation.

Decreasing violence and promoting safety is one of the many positive outcomes from legalizing prostitution. Engaging in conversation about the purchase of sex is illegal in Canada. Because of this, Meaghan (2002) argues that prostitutes are forced to work in unsafe locations away from police surveillance, rushing negotiations and not being able to make an safe decision about their client. Seals (2015), found prostitutes are fearful of legal recourse when they are victimized. Legalization would give prostitutes the same protection as the general public and would be able to press charges accordingly. Providing a registered place of business for licensing also limits instances of violence. Seib, C., Dunne, M. P., Fischer, J., & Najman, J. M. (2010), found that prostitutes who worked in regulated brothels were healthier and safer than prostitutes who worked in non-regulated brothels or on the streets. “Elaborate safety measures (panic buttons, listening devices, and management surveillance) allow managers to respond to unruly or violent customers quickly and effectively” (Weitzer, 2006, p. 35). This also would help limit the chance of Human sex trafficking as businesses would be consistently checked and positive relationships with law enforcement would be made.

Males, especially working class males, are responsible for more crime than females, and are disproportionately over represented in crime statistics (“Intersectionalities II”, February 22, 2017). However, when girls are involved in crime this normalization of boys involved in crime creates the notion that “boys will be boys and girls will be good”, therefore authorities and society view girls who deviate as having something wrong with them, usually offered treatment as a probational order by judges (“Intersectionalities II”, February 22, 2017). The offences girls are most likely to be arrested for are, more notably, prostitution, running away from home, and curfew violations (Chesney-Lind and Sheldon, 2004), by girls are also are sentenced much more harshly than boys for these

From the stated statistics it is clear that female criminal behaviour has changed in recent years and has risen a great deal. Denscombe (Chapman & Langley, 2010) offers an explanation for this development suggesting new changes in society that see's women becoming more like men, taking up more masculine activities, roles and opportunities that have risen out of having a more equal society which in previous decades would not have been socially accepted. This wave of risk taking behaviour and 'ladette' culture leads to further types of behaviour that often lead to arrest, e.g. binge drinking, violence. Other male adopted behaviours can lead to gang involvement were women take on a 'tomboy' role and are treated as men (Hagedorn, 1998)

When studying crimes like prostitution it is important to gather information that is accurate in order to fully understand the behavior and how to most effectively

Violence against women is an issue of concern in the United States. The truth is that prostitution can never be stopped and participants – especially

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).

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.

As time progresses, people are becoming aware of sex trafficking as a global problem and they are willing to step up to help the victims return to a normal lifestyle. It has become obvious to the society that underage sex trafficked victims would be able to live a happy life and enjoy their freedom. Accordingly, “Clawson and Goldblatt Grace suggested that in many other facilities, DMST (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) victims often go unrecognized, making both training of staff and establishment of additional organizations dedicated to meeting the unique needs of this population priorities” (Kimberly, 184). Because of how psychologically damaged and unsafe victims are, organizations who protect underage prostitution victims are taught thoroughly about their responsibilities. In addition to programs to help and protect victims, there are also rehabilitation programs for the offenders.

First of all, after learning all the materials in this class I viewed sex tracking differently because my initial thought on this topic was that because the girls were taken unwillingly. Yet, when I learned that girls were enticed by the pimps on the streets because of love, debt, addiction, physical might and authority (Marcus, Horning, Curtis, Sansan, & Thompson, 2014). In addition, according to a classmate, Brenda Muthoni, not all girls who were sex workers were innocent because some girls who had a chance to get out of the business would go back in again. Sometimes it was because of their addiction to drugs because when they needed to have more drugs, they went to their pimps. In other cases, some girls kidnapped or sold as sex workers