Discussion About The Sex Industry - Essay Example

Discussion About The Sex Industry Prostitution is one of the world’s oldest vocations dating back to ancient times of the early civilizations. Regardless of being around for such a long time, prostitution has been prohibited in most countries, including the United States, and is deemed illegal and a criminal offense (Spector 7). Nevertheless, most people agree that prostitution will continue to be practiced, in one way or another, despite being illegal or not. Proponents and activists for the legalization of prostitution have been upbeat in fighting for decriminalization and legalization of prostitution, while anti-prostitution forces have been apt to show the negative effects such a move would have. This paper will review information on legalizing prostitution and seek to show the accrued benefits of such a move to the individual prostitutes, the society and the countries as a whole. It will also aim to decide what the best legal policy towards prostitution should be. Prostitution can be defined as the action or practice of participating in decadent and immoral sexual relations especially for monetary gains (Spector 9). Mostly, it involves men soliciting and paying for various sex services with the women and girls though, in the recent times, homosexual men have been known to engage in acts of prostitution with other men. Some countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have legalized prostitution to some extent but in most others such as the United States, prostitution is a criminal act (Spector 11). In some countries such as Iran, it is castigated by death (Spector 11). Nonetheless, prostitution relentlessly thrives in one way or another whether it is illegal or not. Legalization of prostitution would mean removing the criminal classification of prostitution and being subject to regulation and control by the government – including laws to govern labor, principles and safe practices, taxation and licensing. By so doing, prostitution would be viewed and considered a legitimate business or professions like any other lawful enterprise such as teaching or the medical profession. There are numerous wiles for and against the support of prostitution. Criminalization of prostitution renders the women and girls who engage in the practice vulnerable. Legalizing prostitution would make it easier for prostitutes to report criminal acts against them- especially being sexually assaulted. Prostitutes seek assistance from pimps to make up for contractual and legal help, which is denied them; pimps protect them from their customers and police. Majority of prostitutes are constantly faced with the high threat of rape and violence. For instance, one research findings indicate that on average, a prostitute is raped an average of 31 times annually (Spector 17). Since prostitution is a criminal offense subject to arrest and prosecution, hardly any prostitute reports such violations perpetrated to them, and even when they do the authorities fail to take them seriously or to follow up and act on the case urgently and professionally as they would with other women not engaged in prostitution. For instance, reports indicate that only four percent of women prostitutes who are violated or assaulted ever report the crime (Spector 21). Legalization of prostitution would get rid of the pimps and others, such as clients and purveyors, who exploit and violate those in the prostitution enterprise. Legalization of prostitution would conversely mean government regulation, taxation and a number of laws to regulate the profession. Many prostitutes would not be supportive of this. Without the government control, most prostitutes enjoy a great deal of independence; a prospect that would be taken away by the legalization of prostitution.Legalization would mean fixed working areas- the so-called red-light districts, registration as prostitutes, taxes and other levies charged by the government or various authorities such as local municipalities. The registration could expose the woman and affect/ruin her public record as well as other aspects of her personal life such as getting health insurance and getting custody of her siblings. The cost of enforcing the anti-prostitution laws and fighting against illegal prostitution is quite high yet they do not actually yield much result on reducing prostitution. Legalizing prostitution would considerably cut down these massive costs, which would be channeled elsewhere. For example, in 2002, there were approximately nine thousand prosecutions for prostitution in New York City with each costing about $1200 per individual (since arrest to prosecution) (Spector 37). In total, over ten million dollars were used to arrest the prostitutes, take them through the court process and then eventually release them back onto the streets where they resume prostitution as usual (Spector 39). A recent research indicates that various authorities in the U.S. spend about twelve million dollars annually to battle prostitution (Spector 42). Since prostitution is already illegal but usually consensual, exceedingly few prostitutes will ever report the illegality of sex acts to police. Therefore, police officers must habitually go to the consensual offenders through other means, for example, deceiving and tricking them to enforce the prostitution laws. This entrapment of suspected prostitutes and their clients is usually an expensive and resource consuming affair. Law enforcement officers and the judicial system are overstrained with these prosecutions, mostly with minimal or no bearing on prostitution. The arrested prostitutes and their clients clear their court fines and they roll back to the trade as soon as they are out in a revolving door process. This cyclic phenomenal ultimately does not deter prostitution. Proponents of the legalization of prostitution argue that the legalization would free up and save considerable resources, which would be redirected into combating more serious, violent crimes as well as other sex crimes including molestation of minors and child pornography instead of wasting valuable resources on fighting victimless, consensual acts of prostitution. Legalization of prostitution would significantly reduce incidences of sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, Chlamydia and HIV/AIDS among the prostitutes and their clients. Prostitutes in regulated prostitution have lesser incidences and occurrences of sexually transmitted maladies than in unregulated ventures. A research comparing the incidence of HIV infection among legal brothel prostitution and unregulated street prostitution found out that none of the brothel prostitutes was infected with HIV whereas six percent of unregulated street prostitutes were HIV positive (Spector 76). Legalization supporters relate the low rates of HIV exposure in regulated brothel prostitutes to the stringent regulations such as regular mandatory screening of the prostitutes for sexually transmitted infections. On the other hand, they attribute the higher incidences of sexually transmitted infections among unregulated prostitutes to inadequate regulations and deficient health safeguards. Case studies from European countries that have legalized prostitution can be used to create models for legalizing prostitution in other countries. In Germany, for instance, prostitutes are allocated various clearly defined areas and they must undergo frequent health screening and certification (Spector 85). Those with infectious infections are strictly banned from prostitution. Legalizing prostitution is also a means of creating safer conditions for prostitutes and reducing other crimes frequently connected with the trade. Opponents of validation of prostitution, however, dispute the significance of legalization in reducing street crime. Furthermore, they contend that the budding problems of legal prostitution such as discrimination and corruption overshadow any positive gains. Besides, it would be hard to keep away and separate illegal child prostitutes form legalized adult prostitutes. From a religious point of view, promiscuity is considered a sin; human sexual relations ought to be sanctified and any sexual activity with prostitutes is perverted. Groups supporting moral and religious perspectives against legalizing prostitution are of all religious affiliations, races, social classes and demographic groups. In most cases, they also have social, political or legal objections to the legalization of prostitution. One of the legitimate goals of any social policy is guarantee gender equality. Prohibition and criminalization of prostitution go against attainment of gender equality. Criminalizing prostitution raises the dilemma of the double bind; if we illegalize prostitution without grander redistribution of resources such as income, wealth, and opportunities, we divest underprivileged women of one means- in some cases the only way- of bettering their conditions. Analogously, we do not remedy the problem of homelessness by prohibiting prostitution. One more reason why prostitution should be legalized is that women are unduly castigated for engaging in acts of prostitution; the majority of countries make it worse to sell sex that to buy it. Accordingly, pimps and the male clients are seldom prosecuted. The statistics of detentions and convictions are highly disproportionate; research has shown that men prostitutes are arrested less frequently than women prostitutes are and are handed lesser sentences. A survey of prosecution of 2859 men and women engaged in prostitution indicates that judges had a higher likelihood to find the offender guilty if they were women (Spector 109). Feminists are pitted against legalization of prostitution because quite a number of them view the sex industry as means of sexual objectification and as a way of subordinating, degrading and decontextualizing women and their choices. They argue that it depicts a woman as a slave to man notably by treating them as chattel that can be purchased and traded. Some, such as Giobbe have called for the complete abolishment of prostitution arguing that it is unwanted even by definition and impossible to reform and control (Spector 213). However, other feminists Such as Charge and Jane support its legalization and decriminalization by equating it to a career choice and a means of empowering women (Spector 217). One feminist prostitute is quoted as saying that sex is the best alternative and the most host work a woman can think of (Spector 2190. Legalizing prostitution legal will give the authorities an opportunity to manage the trade rather than ignore it. Pimps, purveyors, organized intermediaries extorting, and using prostitution for their selfish criminal gains will not be able to control the prostitutes again and subject them to inhumane treatments. On some occasions, organized criminal gangs and pimps get prostitutes and they trade them off illegally on the black market, where they are subjected to violence and risky working conditions. Most times when prostitutes work autonomously and underground, they end up being ill-treated and molested by their own clients. Making prostitution lawful will significantly lower rates of underground prostitution that are currently being witnessed today. When a consenting adult wants to solicit for sex, they get a prostitute. Prostitutes are employed in many easily accessible service-delivery points such as spas, strip clubs, brothels, and beauty agencies or as conventional prostitutes on the streets. Statistics indicate that up to three million young women and girls are prostituted annually in the US (Spector 298). If the authorities maintain do not decriminalize prostitution and legalize, it will remain hidden and fundamentally imperceptible to the law as it is currently, this puts millions of young women and girls at risk of being prostituted annually. When two consenting adults choose to offer their body for sexual acts in return for money, it is an individual, subjective decision guaranteed to them under the principles of open, egalitarian civilization. When young troubled juveniles who are yet to develop, any mature skills adopt prostitution it is usually because of pimps and organized (or unorganized) crime syndicates dealing with the sex-for-sale-industry. Making prostitution and creating various control mechanisms and laws to govern prostitution can help avert these occurrences through regulation. It would be easier to make it difficult, if not impossible for the pimps to further child prostitution. Legalization and subsequent regulation of prostitution can accrue numerous benefits. Other risky behaviors that happen in unregulated prostitutions can be averted if prostitution is legalized and regulated in controlled environments that guarantee sufficient health standards both the prostitute and the client. Prostitutes can be freed of the yoke and arm-twisting purveyors and their organized crime syndicates. Child prostitution can be prevented and ultimately considerable health-safety improvements can be reached. In conclusion, prohibiting and criminalizing prostitution sound like an inadequate way of addressing the numerous problems associated with it, making prostitution illegal does not by itself- and will never- eliminate it. No country has eradicated prostitution by simply making it a criminal act. Instead, illegal prostitution flourishes as a black market activity in which the johns-pimps, purveyors and organized crime syndicates take the place of the law as the means of enforcing contracts. Criminalizing and banning prostitution worsens off the livelihoods of prostitutes than before and does nothing to counteract prostitutions’largely negative image of women. Works Cited Spector, Jessica. Prostitutionand Pornography: Philosophical Debate aboutthe Sex Industry. Stanford University press, 2006. Print. Read More