Legalizing and regulating prostitution will make life safer for sex workers and help crush the pimps and trafficking gangs they exploit. Traffickers thrive because the sex trade is driven underground. Legalize it, and they will disappear. Prostitutes will feel safer when they no longer fear prosecution. Police will be able to focus their resources on fighting the real bad guys – the criminal gangs that exploit sex workers. The experiences of countries such as Nevada, Switzerland and New Zealand show that legalized and regulated prostitution works. Research supports this argument. An analysis of data from 27 European countries found that HIV prevalence among sex workers is significantly lower in countries that have legalized some aspects of sex work than in countries where all aspects of sex work are criminalized. She says that while there is “no perfect solution,” the Nordic model or other policy changes should be rigorously evaluated once implemented. The German experience shows that legalized prostitution does not work. Women are abused hour after hour in huge mega-brothels around German cities.
Human trafficking gangs continue to sell girls from Eastern Europe, South America and Africa for sexual slavery. The industry is still unregulated and under-monitored. It encourages corruption, drugs and other crimes. A report by Germany`s Family Ministry noted that a decade of legalization had brought “no real measurable improvement in social protection for prostitutes,” nor “solid evidence” that the law had reduced crime. Prostitution is morally reprehensible. Reducing sex to a financial transaction undermines normal human relationships, marriage and family. In countries where prostitution has been legalized and taxed, the state has effectively become a pimp. The immorality of sex trafficking has been recognized throughout history and its illegality is essential to protect the sanctity of society`s fundamental values. Prostitution is an affront to the followers of the world`s major religions.
It is true that the current efforts of the various European countries to legalize prostitution are far from perfect. In the Netherlands, elements of the legislation, such as requiring sex workers to register and setting the minimum age of prostitution at 21, could push more sex workers into illegal markets. Not only that, but studies suggest that legalizing prostitution can increase human trafficking. But even those who criticize the legalization of prostitution can see the benefits the legislation can have on sex workers` working conditions. When countries with existing laws spend more time listening to current sex workers, the results of decriminalizing prostitution include safety and respect for a population that has traditionally been deprived of such things. However, the legalization of prostitution has had positive benefits for sex workers across Europe. The best-known country that has legalized prostitution is the Netherlands, where sex work has been legal for nearly two decades. Taking the industry out of the black market and imposing strict regulations has improved the safety of sex workers. Brothels must obtain and renew safety and health licenses to operate, and street prostitution is legal and highly regulated in places like the Red Light District. Not only does sex work become safer when regulated, but legalization also helps eliminate the black market in prostitution and make women safer overall.
In addition, sex workers are not labeled criminals, so they have better access to the legal system and are encouraged to report behaviours that pose a danger to themselves and other women in the industry. Finally, the legalization of sex work will bring many other positive externalities, including tax revenues, the reduction of sexually transmitted diseases, and the redistribution of law enforcement resources. Opponents believe that legalizing prostitution would lead to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, global human trafficking and violent crimes such as rape and murder. They argue that prostitution is inherently immoral and commercially exploitative, reinforces the criminal underworld, and fosters the oppression of women by men. As a possible alternative to sex trafficking, the legalization of prostitution has obvious appeal. It is believed that legalization is not only a desirable policy for many who engage in prostitution on a consensual basis, but also helps the market displace violent clients, abusive pimps and evil traffickers. Proponents argue that legalizing the sale of sexual services increases the supply of consensual prostitution, while legalizing the purchase of sexual services attracts higher consumers, which should make the commercial sex market less exploitative. This reasoning makes sense and it is also what basic economic theory would predict. It seems highly unlikely that anyone can currently say beyond a shadow of a doubt whether the State Department`s preferred approach to combating the demand for or the legalized prostitution route is the policy that best reduces sex trafficking. However, it seems clear that there are reasons to be concerned about the effectiveness of legalization. Despite all its theoretical complaints, it ultimately cannot function as intended.
As debate continues around the world over whether prostitution should be decriminalized, a researcher from the School of Public Health argues in the American Medical Association`s Journal of Ethics for common ground in the United States that would penalize sex buyers and intermediaries, but not people who sell sex (i.e., prostitutes). Proponents of legalizing prostitution believe it would reduce crime, improve public health, increase tax revenues, lift people out of poverty, get prostitutes off the streets, and allow consenting adults to make their own decisions. They say prostitution is a victimless crime, especially in the 10 counties in Nevada where it remains legal. The oldest profession in the world is just that, a profession like any other. Authorities have been trying to ban sex trafficking for millennia, but prostitution thrives in the internet age. It`s time to face the reality that sex work isn`t going away. If we treat it like another service industry, sex workers – male or female, gay or straight – can come out of the shadows and start to shake off the stigma of crime. What consenting adults do behind closed doors, whether they pay for it or not, is none of the state`s business. Let`s forget about “happy” fantasies. Most women are forced into prostitution by coercion or economic hardship. The work often boils down to bought rape. Prostitution is, by definition, humiliating for women.
It reduces them to goods that can be bought, sold and misused. Given that the vast majority of prostitutes are women, legalization would reinforce their oppression by male-dominated societies and be a clear affront to the concept of gender equality. The removal of legal barriers will send a message to new generations of men that women are mere sexual commodities. There appear to be notable similarities between the dynamics of the ivory trade market and the ivory trade. [+] Prostitution. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) What I have found in researching campaigns to legalise or decriminalise prostitution in the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK is that sex industry bosses have an influential voice in such campaigns and often provide funds; And that groups that claim to represent “sex workers” are just as likely to be a voice for pimps as they are for women who make a living selling sex. Our empirical results show that opening a tippel zone [area designated as a legal street prostitution area in the Netherlands] reduces sexual abuse and rape. These results are mainly due to a reduction of 30 to 40% in the first two years after the opening of the tippel area. For tippel areas with a licensing system, we also see a long-term decrease in sexual assaults and a 25% decrease in drug-related crimes, which continue in the medium and long term. “When people argue that prostitution should be illegal, in many cases, their concern comes from a place of morality portrayed as a concern for women`s health and safety.
People believe that legalizing prostitution will only abuse more women, make it harder for prostitutes to get out of the industry, or teach young women that their bodies exist only for the purpose of sexual exploitation by men. Similarly, Denmark`s official figures support the idea of a significant increase in demand after the creation of a legal market. Estimates by the Danish Social Services Agency indicate that after the legalization of prostitution in 1999, the number of prostitutes increased by more than 40 per cent between 2002 and 2009, which would correspond to a significant increase in demand. In neighbouring Sweden, where the purchase of sexual services was criminalised in 1999 (but the sale of sexual services remained legal), a comparable increase in prostitution was not observed. Proponents of decriminalization, including many liberals and some feminists, view prostitution as work, arguing that “sex workers” can be protected by unions and health and safety measures. Decriminalizing the sale of sexual services – so that only buyers break the law – means that prostitutes themselves are not punished. But even when buying sex alone is a crime, prostituted women are forced to take risks. Instead of forcing sex workers to run their businesses in unregulated black markets where their lives are in danger, all with the mislabeled purpose of “saving” women, take concrete steps to save women.
Legalize prostitution, impose strict regulations, and put in place comprehensive support systems that allow sex workers to do their jobs safely.
