Legalized Prostitution: A Compromise Between Amnesty International and Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution
According to ProCon.org, prostitution was a profession that dated back to 2400 B.C. Though many things since then have changed, the practice of selling sex has been more or less the same. What has changed is the way that people now view the practice. Throughout the years the debate has been whether prostitution should become legal or illegal. Organizations like Amnesty International want to push forward the idea of legalizing consensual “sex work” between two adults who are willingly participating because it would help keep those in that line of work safer than they are now. While on the other side of the issue there are
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Amnesty International is an organization that began in 1961. Their want for the world has been “to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth, and dignity are denied” (Amnesty International). As of today, Amnesty International not only focuses on human rights violations in the USA but also has a team of people all over the world. In 2016, they helped to free about 153 people in the world from imprisonment for using their human rights (Amnesty International). This organization doesn’t see consensual selling of sex and prostitution, which is why "sex work" is used. By coming up with the term “sex work” Amnesty International created a difference between two consenting adults doing what they want with their bodies and money from those who were being forced into this type of work by others to survive. Because according to sex work isn’t legal “sex workers are at heightened risk of … rape, violence, extortion, and discrimination” (Mutasah). This point is driven home when Anastasia L, a sex worker, speaks on why she’s afraid to have more 2 or 3 condoms on hand because of harassment by cops. This point is made because “many human rights cases of abuse experienced by sex workers go unreported to police and other officials because of their sense of futility and fears of further violence” (Decker et al.). Amnesty International has made it a mission to get prostitution …show more content…
According to Simon, though some of these laws work better for just the prostitution aspect and not the human trafficking. This is proven in a graph that shows the summary statistics of sex trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution and more. In this graph, you can see “the min ST is .29 and .75 for HT when PL is just 1 while with 4 PL ST is 65.98 and HT is at 141.80” (Hedlin). So, with this compromise two organizations with two goals that seem would never work together would actually come together and promote the kind of pro-human rights agenda that they are both truly going for. Amnesty International would help to promote the right of those who willing choose sex work and their safety while TFHT would be able to help out those who are forced into prostitution. They would both provide some give and take on a topic in which they would never have seen eye to eye on. In the end making it a world for the rights of all human
Prostitution is said to be the world’s oldest profession. Often prostitutes are thought to be seductively dressed women standing on the street corner calling out offerings of a good time in exchange for payment. That is an accurate depiction however, it is just part of the massive sex industry’s variety of marketing tools used in prostitution. The women and young girls standing on the corner are but a small fraction of a much larger picture and harsher reality.
Amnesty International was founded in 1961 since then they have demanded action on over 44,000 cases of human rights abuses around the world, Amnesty International is supported in 150 countries with over 3 million people helping them. This non-legal response gathers vital information, statistics and often goes to the country to report from the source. In August 2015, Amnesty International’s decision making forum, the International Council Meeting, in Dublin passed a vote to protect the human rights of sex workers. Representatives from around the world adopted this resolution that authorised the International Board to adopt this policy. This policy ensures that all states protect sex workers and equal legal protection against exploitation, trafficking and violence. Amnesty International believe that human trafficking is a abomination in all forms and should be criminalised as a matter of international law. Amnesty International is not a legal response to human trafficking issues, but the organisation has many supporters in many countries that ensure dominance in opinion and change. This policy recoginses the work that Amnesty does to protect trafficking victims, through campaigns around the world they have an influential part in bringing awareness to the cause. Amnesty International is effective in regards to human trafficking as they bring awareness to the cause and fight
When it comes to the topic of legalizing prostitution, some of us will readily agree that it is the oldest profession that involves money rather than the historic hunter and gather. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of the safety of the man or woman selling their body for financial gain. Though I concede that prostitution can be dangerous, I still insist that legalizing prostitution would not only benefit the men and women involved, it would also be a financial gain to the government.
Leuchtag, Alice. "Human Rights Sex Trafficking And Prostitution." Humanist 63.1 (2003): 10. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
“There is no difference in work in which a women sells her hands, such as a typist, and a work in which a women sells her vagina, as in sex work.” Claims author Lacy Sloan. In today’s society, many people believe that prostitution is an immoral act. It is the world’s oldest profession and because it has been long condemned, sex workers are stigmatized from mainstream society (ProQuest Staff). However, the act of purchasing sex between consenting adults should not be prohibited by the government, but regulated for society's overall best interests. Prostitution is illegal and as a consequence prostitutes are often victims of violence and sexual assault; therefore, prostitution should be legalized and regulated to ensure the safety of sex workers.
Hughes persuades me and furthered more onto the issue by explaining the fact of the matter is “by tolerating or legalizing prostitution, the state, at least passively, is contributing to the demand for victims.” (Hughes, D., 2004). When prostitution demands for more victims also known, as workers their will be a supplier to fill those demands and that is where trafficking takes a significant role in prostitution. In 2003, President George W. Bush said, “Prostitution and related activities, which are inherently harmful and dehumanizing, contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons…” (Hughes, D., 2004) Hughes position could not have been more persuasive for me that human trafficking is complimentary to prostitution.
Prostitution, the act of having sex with people in exchange for money, is one of the oldest professions in the world. Prostitution is illegal in the U.S. (except Nevada) and is a topic of much debate. The debate is about if it is moral to be a consenting prostitute or not. The majority believes that being a prostitute is wrong and they have a negative view on it and the women involved. Regardless of opinions, it is still a thriving industry in our society. I am not part of the majority, I believe being a consenting prostitute is in fact moral and is just like partaking in any other service providing profession.
Dianne Post, an international human rights attorney currently living in Pheonix, Arizona, presents the audience with a few main points that should be looked at when determining the legalities involved with prostitution. Her first point is that if prostitution were to be legalized/ decriminalized, true equality for women would be non-existent. She argues that the legalization ultimately just makes the woman available for men’s sexual access at their disposal. Also, she states that basic human rights would be violated and activities that in any other situation would be considered legally actionable, such as “rape, captivity, economic coercion, or damaging verbal abuse” (Post 1), would then become normalized. Her second argument states that by listening to the voice of the very women involved in sex work we can discover...
In doing so we will look at sex work from a cultural perspective. First, we must recognize that culture is a set of experiences, social institution and achievements that are shared by a people, or social group. We will look insider the world of sex workers through the eyes of those that work in the sex fields (Huber 2009). At the beginning of my paper I posted a quote by Maggie McNeil, which is an advocate for sex workers around the world, before that she was a librarian, writer and prostitute. McNeil who feels that societies hang ups about sex and relationships makes society despise the sex worker. McNeil states in an interview “somehow, neither my mother nor the nuns who taught me ever managed to instill in this little Catholic girl any sense that sex is dirty, bad, wrong or otherwise distasteful, and without that unhealthy concept imbedded in one’s psyche prostitution is no different from any other service one might perform for hire” (McNeil 2016).Sexual Attitudes in society are based on what each society deems as normal. Many societies have different attitudes about sex and sexuality. Sociologists have learned that each societies conception of sexual behavior is based on their values and norms. Societal perceptions of sex, sexuality, and sex work has been changing over time, until recently sex work has not been a prominent public issue in the United States. The law and public
Reanda, Laura. "Prostitution as a Human Rights Question." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
Since prostitution has been around there have been labels and stigmas behind the workers, their morals and the job itself. Leaving these men and women to be rejected rights, health care, insurance, etc. Weitzer observes, “[i]nstead of viewing themselves as ‘prostituted,’ they may embrace more neutral work identities, such as ‘working women’ or ‘sex workers’ […] These workers are invisible in the discourse of the anti-prostitution crusade precisely because their accounts clash with abolitionist goals.” Weitzer is hinting at the fact that these women and men see themselves as workers too, deserving of workers rights and protection, just as you and I would expect. But they are declined help and benefits because of the stigma following their line of work, based on societal values.
Rights and protections for sex workers includes a variety of goals being pursued by individuals and organizations surrounding the human and labor rights of sex workers. The goals of these policies generally aim to allow sex work and ensure decent treatment from legal and cultural forces on a local and international level for everyone involved in sex work. Sex workers refers to prostitutes, adult video performers, dancers in strip clubs, and others who provide sexually-related services. The back and forth argument over sex work is characterized as an women’s rights issue, especially by those who argue that prostitution is naturally unjust, but there are also males and gender non-binary individuals involved in offering sexual services. The
The oldest occupation in history, prostitution is one of the only occupations in which those who practice it are not protected by law in many first world countries. That however, sets the stage for disaster; women can get beaten and raped but will not report it out of fear of getting arrested themselves. To protect prostitutes and their patrons, voluntary prostitution of those over the age of eighteen in inevitable and must be legalized.
According to Frey, prostitution is defined as “acting against one’s convictions in order to get a reward” (Frey, 2003). Prostitution at one point of time and still may be a controversial issue within society, some may think it’s illegal for a woman to go out on a corner and sell her body and others may it’s an easy way to make a living. Prostitution is seen by many women as easy making money for their family, drug habits, paying off drug debts, etc. but could lead to many complications such as diseases, death, arrest, etc. In one study, 67% of a group of law enforcement officials expressed the opinion that women did not enter prostitution voluntarily (Raymond, 2003). Raymond also mentions that 72% of social service providers did not think that women voluntarily choose to enter the sex industry (Raymond, 2003).
Prostitution is considered to be the oldest profession in the world. Many people support the idea of legalizing prostitution, while others do not. This controversial debate has been ongoing since the beginning of time. I desire to take a stand on the value of human worth, which is why I oppose the legalization of prostitution between consenting adults in our State.