The battle against forced prostitution or sex trafficking often becomes confused with the fight against free prostitution when there is no distinction according to the laws. Prostitution can be free or it can be forced and the only way to help the real victims is to distinguish between the two. The first step in getting a handle on human trafficking is to legalize prostitution. Those who oppose any form of prostitution dispute the fact that legalization is not the answer. According to their view, sex trafficking or forced prostitution would not exist without the demand for commercial sex. Prostitution encourages the growth of human trafficking by providing a cover in which the traffickers can hide behind in order to sexually exploit women …show more content…
Given these points, decriminalizing prostitution creates a legal framework that can then help to prevent women and children from being coerced into sex trafficking & sexual exploitation. For the most part, the distinction between free and forced prostitution would establish a better relationship between the prostitutes and the authorities. With the fear of being arrested being eliminated, the workers and their clients actually become important sources of information for the police in identifying cases of forced prostitution. Toronto police, here in Canada, have performed many large scale busts against human trafficking and they were all tipped off by the clients of the victims of forced prostitution. Comparatively, in New Zealand where prostitution is legal, the workers are more likely to report incidents of violence. As well, the incidents of underage prostitution have not increased in the legalized world of prostitution and there have been no incidents of sex trafficking identified either. After all, let’s face it, police have a tough time distinguishing on the streets who has entered the world of prostitution by choice and who is being forced into it. This is not a question police would ask when making an arrest if there is no …show more content…
Having legalized prostitutes conducting their business in one place, like in brothels or in specific identified areas, would help to identify those who are illegal or being trafficked. Equally important in the battle against human trafficking, recognizing free prostitution would allow police funds to be focussed on catching the real criminals of forced prostitution. If prostitution were made legal then police would not have to spend countless hours and money trying to eliminate it and protect the community from it. Some of the real crimes become neglected as a result and the true victims of forced prostitution are neglected as well. Resources, time, and energy that can help actual victims of sex trafficking are wasted on rescuing those who don’t want to be. This is very counterproductive financially when everyone is painted with the same brush. Criminalizing prostitution forces it into the underworld where legalizing it would bring it more in the open so that human trafficking can be easily tackled. The legalization of brothels allows the government to have more control over the prostitution industry and gives them more ammunition to prevent the illegal forced trafficking of women who are exploited and coerced to
As prostitution is criminalized, this profession is driven underground which undermines the safety of prostitutes. Legalizing prostitution would provide sex workers with regulatory protection and allow this form of work to be recognized as legitimate. As the author of “Think Again: Prostitution” states, “evidence shows, that criminalization of sale or purchase (or both) makes sex workers-many of whom come from marginalized social groups like women, minorities, and the poor-more vulnerable to violence and discrimination committed by law enforcement. Also, criminalization can dissuade sex workers from seeking help from authorities if they are raped, trafficked, or otherwise abused.” Therefore, sex workers are subjected to unfair treatment that could be prevented if this work was legalized and safe conditions were enforced. The author of "Counterpoint: Prostitution Should Be Legalized” states, “prostitution is legalized and regulated in a variety of developed nations throughout ...
When looking at legalized prostitution you see safer and healthier women, and shouldn’t that always be the point of everything we do? To answer this question it is important that you understand what prostitution is. As defined by the Merriam –Webster dictionary prostitution is “the act of having sex in exchange for money”. In most of the United States prostitutes or sex workers work on the streets, shady alleys or what some would refer to as “crack houses”. Prostitution is sometimes referred to as the longest standing profession, and what is very clear is that it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Brothels and prostitution was frequent and rampant in the past. If you look into ancient Roman society you will find a great deal of art depicting sexual acts between, men and women along with sexual acts between homosexuals. It is also important to know the difference between legalizing prostitution and decimalizing prostitution. Legalizing prostitution means creating a system of regulation with government control. Decimalization means removing all laws against prostitution.
Complications that prostitutes have would not be eliminated by the legalization of prostitution. Prostitutes can make little money and suffer physically and emotionally abuse. Having many prostitutes with HIV positive meaning many of their costumers received HIV and AIDS, which are most likely passing it on. Legalizing prostitution would not eliminate all the negative effects it has on public
In order to understand how sex trafficking affects its victims, one must first know the severity of sex trafficking and what it is. The issue of sex trafficking affects 2.5 million people at any given time (Abas et al., 2013). The form of sex slavery affects many women and children across the world. Even though both males and females are sexually trafficked and exploited, there is a deep emphasis on the sexual exploitation of women and children. This is due to gender discrimination (Miller, 2006). This is because women and children are more vulnerable and appeal to the larger populations of brothels and the so-called “clients” since the majority are men. Ecclestone (2013) stated that children as young as age three are trafficked. Sex trafficking has changed over time; “Today, the business of human sex trafficking is much more organized and violent. These women and young girls are sold to traffickers, locked up in rooms or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and raped repeatedly” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). It is found that many of the victims of sex trafficking are abducted, recruited, transported and forced into involuntary “sex work”. These sexual acts include prostitution, exotic dancing, pornography, and sexual escort services (McClain & Garrity, 2011). What happens to these sex trafficking victims is extremely traumatizing.
Barbara Amaya was sexually abused by members of her members at the age of ten. With a depressed state of mind, Barbara ran away from home at the age of twelve. It was then that she was taken off of the streets by a couple that had the desire to care for her. After a month of being cared for, the couple put her out on the streets for prostitution. Barbara was sold to another sex trafficker that transported her to New York where she experienced sex trafficking for eight years of her life. During this time Barbara was abused, shot, addicted to drugs, stabbed, raped, kidnapped, trafficked, beaten, and jailed. As a result of her addiction to methadone, Barbara was no longer a valuable asset to her trafficker. She was forced out on the streets of New York by herself. Today, Barbara is a sex traffic survivor, who occasionally has flashbacks of her past (Amaya).
Human Trafficking is trading human beings for sex, labor, or any other force trade. Prostitution enforces human trafficking. The number of women enslaved daily is greatly increasing, because the sex industry is growing fast. This is a major problem for our generation and generations to come. Clearly, no one would argue that the selling and buying of people is morally unreasonable, but why is the American government discussing legalizing the profession of prostitution? Many would decide to argue that legalizing the practice of offering sex in exchange for money is a women’s right, she has the choice to do what she desires with her body. Women involved in the practice feel forced to have a career in the sex industry. The legalization of prostitution will cause more pimps to recruit women into the practice and increase the number of women sold into human trafficking. Just because prostitution could be made legal in the United States does not mean that the number of women illegally sold against their free will would be lowered. It will only get higher. With pr...
Decriminalizing prostitution tolerates an industry that destroys and abuses people, particularly women. Keeping prostitution illegal in America has created an environment in which sex workers are subjected to violence, illness, mockery, and discrimination. Prostitutes are people and they have lives too. Banning prostitution will continue the allowance of hard-working citizens to be cheated out of their money his/her money through taxes. Just because some people are uncomfortable with prostitution does not mean that they have to partake in it. Today it’s illegal to prostitute, tomorrow it may be illegal to sell your own ideas and inventions. It’s time to stand up and stop letting the government control us
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...
For instance, while every industry that operates in the US has labor rights associated with it, prostitutes have no guarantees in their work. No one has to provide a prostitute with “rights like a minimum wage, freedom from discrimination, and a safe work environment” (Fuchs). With regulations in place after decriminalizing the profession, prostitutes can be better protected against STIs. This could be accomplished by requiring “sex workers to use condoms and get tested for sexually transmitted diseases” (Fuchs). They will have a greatly decreased chance of contracting disease if they turn down clearly infected clients, and make all clients, whether clean or not, wear condoms. If they were working outside of the law they would feel less incline to do this and would then be at great risk for contracting disease. Illegal prostitutes actually have motives for not using condoms since in cities like New York, “cops were actually using condoms found on women as evidence in criminal prostitution cases against them” (Fuchs). This practice provides the perfect stage for STIs to go wild and spread like fire, with HIV being in the forefront and becoming an even larger epidemic then it is. Giving them labor rights will give them the ability to unionize and fight for their rights together, transferring the power in the business to the workers instead of their bosses, like pimps and brothel owners. With regulations eliminating the pimps, one source of violence is removed from the business. Customers are the other major source of violence and, with legalization, prostitutes would be able to rely on law enforcement to protect them instead of detaining them. Studies have found that among prostitutes “82% had been assaulted and 68% had been raped while working” (Fuchs) and “they were 18 times more likely to be murdered than non-prostitutes their age and race” (Fuchs). This could be
Studies show that many men who are looking for prostitutes and can't find them tend to go to pimps for help. Pimps normaly have underaged sex workers working for them. If prostitution was made legal it would protect minors because you would have to be a certain age to be able to be a prostitute which would limit the pimps supply of child prostitutes. Child prostitution is well known around the world and there are over one hundred thousand in the United States alone. This is even bigger in foreign countries where you have child human trafficking taking place. Legalizing prostitution would help many young minors and would also help by lowering the numbers on minor prostitution taking
Prostitution is common lewdness for hire, the act or practice of a woman who permits a man who will pay her price to have sexual intercourse with her. It is a universal phenomenon with moral, social, cultural, psychological, medical, and other aspects. Although male prostitution is also found, that involving males exclusively is best considered as part of the general problem of HOMOSEXUALITY.
Sex trafficking is a form of contemporary slavery that induces and forces people into a commercial sex trade against their will. Many factors contribute to the sex trade and the exploitation occurs mostly to women and children. Through the age, gender, class, and race many are trapped in a never-ending cycle of coercion and abuse in order to survive in the corrupt society around them.
In conclusion, prostitution should be legalized for the well being of all parties. Labor laws would protect prostitutes, money would be saved on pointless investigations, and the number of Sexually Transmitted Diseases could be potentially decreased. Legalized prostitution could be altered to protect women; laws have to be specific and strict. Prostitution is inevitable, and those who practice it are not criminals.
Little do most know, but on “[a]verage [prostitution] arrest[s], court and incarceration costs amount to nearly $2,000 per arrest. Cities spend an average of 7.5 million dollars on prostitution control every year, ranging from 1 million dollars to 23 million dollars.” Prostitution is the oldest known profession. Currently in 49 countries and counting prostitution is legal. Here in America there is a stigma following the label prostitute. We would rather resort to underground markets of sex labor. Endangering health, rights, and economics. Legalizing prostitution can reduce health hazards by giving heath care, also by giving rights to those that choose prostitution as their profession. In the long term this
Prostitution is one of the root causes of human trafficking, especially sex traffic. Human trafficking is the illegal movement of people (such as: kidnapping), typically for the purposes of forced labor, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Human trafficking is one of the most barbaric crimes in society, because it is importantly violated to human rights. Human could not become a product to sell. In order to supply the labor for the prostitution industry, human trafficking becomes worse when it focus on women, and children. It transfers to sex trafficking. Many women are victims of human trafficking work in brothels, a part of them work as Streetwalker. Some countries give the idea that prostitution should be legalized to reduce the rate of human trafficking and sex trafficking, but they are wrong. Because, if we pass the law for prostitution, human trafficking and sex trafficking will increase in order to supply prostitutes for prostitution industry. Legalizing prostitution is a gift to pimps, traffickers because they will rely on a legal framework to bring